The Kendall effect: the science behind becoming a supermodel

Sep 7, 2015

With models protruding from our world left, right and centre, it seems nowadays any pretty girl is in with a chance of running the catwalk.

Timing, personality and, of course, looks all go into consideration when creating a supermodel.

But a new study has found that the rise of a supermodel is not as random as it seems.

Researchers from the Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing looked into "the social and professional determinants of success in the fashion industry".

The scientists wanted to figure out – before anything was announced – who the coming season's catwalk star would be.

They named the study The Kendall Jenner Effect (of course), and it actually is a bit tricky to get your head around.

Are you ready for the equation?

So, between the months of September and December 2014, the school's research professor, Emilio Ferrara, and his team counted how many Instagram posts various top models did, and assessed how many likes and comments each post got on average.

Next, using the Fashion Model Directory, they assembled portfolio data – including how many times the model had appeared on the catwalk so far, as well as other statistics like their height and shoe size.

This information was then fed into multiple algorithms, which lead the team to predict how popular the model would be in the upcoming fashion month.

Although, as this might sound all well and good, the New York Magazine noted that walking a maximum number of shows is not necessarily a measure of how popular the model is.

In fact, once a model gets to the point of when she only has to walk in a few select shows, for a few select brands, like Cara or Gisele for instance – that is the true measure of supermodel success.