For models
The Portfolio Standard
Houses decide in seconds. Your book doesn't need a big-budget shoot — it needs the right five frames, honest measurements, one short reel, real credits and a description worth reading. This is exactly what casting directors expect to see, in the order they expect to see it.
The five frames
Every book needs these five
Digital 01 — The headshot
Digital 02 — The profile
Digital 03 — The full length
Digital 04 — The three-quarter
Digital 05 — The editorial
Use this
Shoot in soft daylight — window light or open shade beats any filter
Plain, uncluttered background — a wall, not a bedroom
Fitted, neutral clothing — houses need to see your lines, not your wardrobe
Little to no makeup for your digitals, hair off the face
Recent frames only — nothing older than twelve months
High resolution, sharp focus, honest color
Not this
Mirror selfies, car selfies, bathroom lighting
Beauty-app smoothing or heavy filters — agents spot them instantly
Sunglasses, hats or hair hiding your face
Group photos, party shots, ex-partners cropped out
Watermarks, logos, collages or text overlays
Heavy retouching — if you walk in looking different, the booking ends there
Beyond the photographs
The rest of the book
Houses cast by numbers before they ever read a name — your measurements decide whether you get opened. On Solis you enter them in US units: height in feet and inches, bust, waist and hips in inches, plus shoe size, hair and eye color.
Measure honestly, barefoot, against a wall: bust at the fullest point, waist at its natural narrowest, hips at the widest. Round down your height and you won't get the call; round up and you'll lose the booking in the fitting. Agents compare your numbers against your full-length frame — they have to match.
Re-measure every few months and keep them current. An out-of-date book wastes everyone's call time — starting with yours.
One short professional video lifts a book above the pile. Thirty to sixty seconds is plenty: soft daylight, plain backdrop, fitted neutral clothing — the same discipline as your digitals.
Walk toward the camera and away, turn slowly both sides, then look into the lens and say your name, height and city. Hold the camera steady or prop it — shaky phone footage undersells you.
Upload it as an MP4 from your dashboard under Reel. No music, no effects, no montage — a walking video is what agents are trained to read.
Credits are your track record: each one names the brand or publication, what the work was — campaign, editorial, runway, lookbook, e-commerce — and the year. Three real credits outrank ten vague ones.
New to this? Test shoots count. 'Test editorial — photographer's name, 2026' is an honest starter credit and every working model began with one.
Never invent a credit. This industry is small, houses know each other, and a single false credit ends trust permanently.
Two to four sentences, plain words. Who you are, where you're based, your lane — editorial, runway, commercial, fitness — and one thing that makes you memorable. That is the entire assignment.
Skip the clichés: every agent alive has read 'passionate about fashion since childhood' ten thousand times. Write what you can do — 'walks in heels for eight hours', 'swims competitively', 'speaks French and Yoruba' — because those are the lines that get searched for and remembered.
No emoji, no hashtags, no life story. The photographs show the look; the description tells the house what it's like to book you.
A description that works
"Editorial and runway model based in New York, 5'11", with four seasons of show experience and e-commerce work for three national retailers. Trained dancer — comfortable with movement direction and long call times. Available for travel."
Thirty-two words. Lane, stats, proof, availability — nothing else needed.
Included with every profile
Your comp card builds itself
Every Solis profile comes with a digital comp card — the one-page summary casting agents actually work from — and you never have to design anything. It assembles automatically from your first five pictures: your cover photo up front, the next four frames beside it, with your measurements, details and selected credits laid in.
Casting agents can open your comp card straight from your portfolio page and download or print it to bring into their casting session. No file uploads, no PDF to maintain — update your photos and the card updates with them.
Which is why the order of your book matters: your first five photos are not just your gallery — they are your comp card. Lead with the headshot, follow with the frames above, and every agent who opens your card sees you at your strongest.