Elite Model Management

Elite Model Management (MM) is a French modeling agency that originated in Paris in 1972.[1] Elite MM is a subsidiary of Elite World S.A., whose main shareholder Silvio Scaglia controls his stake through Elite World Group (EWG), a management company where Elite MM is one of brands along with The Society Management, Women Management, Supreme Management, Elite Model Look, and Women 360.[2] In 2004, the agencies in New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, and Toronto separated and formed Elite Model Management North America.[3] Although Elite Model Management North America and Elite World Group share the same logo, they have separate ownership and are not part of a business network.[4]

History

2000s restructuring

In 2002, Elite MM, along with several other New York City model agencies, was sued for hundreds of millions of dollars in a class action that accused them of fixing fees for the past 30 years. The following year, Elite opened offices in Asia. At the same time, an employee was awarded $5.2 million in a suit concerning passive smoking in the US office of Elite.[18] As a result of the bad publicity, the over expansion of Elite, and the loss of talents, Elite World SA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004. Elite Models New York City was put up for auction and bought by Florida businessman Eddie Trump for $4.4 million, who asked Casablancas to come back and advise him. Elite Models NY together with Los Angeles, Miami, and Toronto became Elite MM North America separate from Elite World SA.

In August 2005, Elite World SA reestablished Elite MM in Singapore using it as the satellite office for their new South East Asia operation.[19][20] Elite Models branches in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Philippines were also added in August 2005.[21] In October 2005, the Elite Model Look contest was added in Singapore.[22] By 2006, Casablancas' appointment was short-lived and Elite World SA went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

In 2009, the president of Elite World SA (the parent company of Elite MM), Bertrand Hennet, was arrested on drug charges.[23] At the same time, acquired Elite Models Copenhagen, which was founded in 1966 under the name Copenhagen Models by legendary scout Trice Tomsen and formally a licensee of Elite Models (now Elite Models Management Copenhagen ApS controlled together with its licenses by Elite Licensing Company SA owned by Elite World SA). After Tomsen decided to distance herself from the day-to-day work, she was replaced by Munir Bouylud as the new director there.[24] Also in 2009, Elite Models London opened nearly 20 years after its first attempt to have offices in London. It was also in 2009 that Elite Models Chicago and Atlanta severed ties with Elite World SA and were renamed Factor Women.[25]

Sexual misconduct allegations

Allegations of an "ingrained culture" of sexual assault and rape by Elite's male employees, especially its boss Gérald Marie, have dogged the agency for decades. In 1999, a BBC investigation filmed Marie saying he hoped to seduce the contestants at the annual Elite Model Look show, as well as assaulting an undercover journalist and offering her money for sex. He was temporarily suspended from Elite and, in an interview at the time, said: "I'm destroyed ... I'm finished". But Elite countered with a libel action, which was quietly settled with an apology from the BBC, which also agreed not to rebroadcast their documentary.[36]

Marie was married to Linda Evangelista between 1987 and 1993, at the time of many of the alleged offences; Marie is alleged to have raped several aspiring models in their flat while Evangelista was away on assignment, including a 15-year-old girl. Supermodel and actress Carré Otis claimed in her 2011 memoir, Beauty, Disrupted, that she was raped "countless" times in the flat by Marie starting around 1986, when she was 17. Otis and others have also claimed that rape by ancillary employees, such as hairdressers, drivers and photographers, was commonplace.[37] In October 2020, Evangelista said: "During my relationship with Gérald Marie, I knew nothing of these sexual allegations against him, so I was unable to help these women. Hearing them now, and based on my own experiences, I believe that they are telling the truth. It breaks my heart because these are wounds that may never heal, and I admire their courage and strength for speaking up today."[38]

Elite's activities are also alleged to have been regularly used as a "front" for "pimping out" young models to wealthy men unconnected to the modelling industry. Adnan Khashoggi, the Saudi billionaire arms dealer, is said to have admitted to at least one such introduction, to a model who became one of his "harem wives". She said that in the early 1980s he routinely browsed photographic portfolios of young women, with his assistant "asking whom he would like to meet, and discussing meet-up fees of between $35,000 and $50,000."[39]

In the wake of the MeToo movement, the allegations increased; as of November 2020, at least 15 women had spoken out against Marie and were cooperating in an investigation launched by French prosecutors.[40][41] Marie has denied all the allegations via his lawyers and said he intends to fight any charges laid against him. Despite this, more publications are claiming his alleged sexual misconduct was an open secret for years in the fashion industry.[42] Gérald Marie's contract with Elite MM ended in December 2010 and the company was sold in 2011 to its current owners Elite World Group, for whom Marie has never worked.

type	Private modeling agency
founded	1972
location	Paris, France
area served	Worldwide
key people	Silvio Scaglia and Paolo Barbieri
industry	Fashion
parent	Elite Model World Elite World SA Elite World Group
homepage	elitemodel.com

Elite Model Management

History

Founding

New York expansion and model wars

1980s expansion

1990s partnerships and expansion

2000s restructuring

2010s and current ownership

Sexual misconduct allegations

See also

External links

References