No Agency comes to town

Taken from the autumn 25 issue of THE FACE. Get your copy here.

​“We literally did a casting call on my Instagram that said, ​‘Looking for blonde bush.’”

So says Emma Matell, a London-based casting director with more than a decade of experience. She’s referring to a shoot in the fifth issue of No Erotica, a fashion/​style/​art magazine published by New York talent hub No Agency. It comprises, yes, a series of pubic hair close-ups, and presents vivid proof that Matell was successful in her search for what shoot photographer Marilyn Minter classifies as the ​“rarest” hue of pube.

That spirit – irreverent, collaborative and non- squeamish – is what made Emma a great addition to the No Agency team. In the East London studio space she shares with photographer Sharna Osborne, the newly appointed creative officer of the company’s UK outpost is talking alongside Alex Tsebelis and Chloe Mackey.

Alex started No Agency in New York in 2016, Chloe joined in 2021 and earlier this year, the pair recruited Emma to head up their transatlantic expansion. This meeting today, in an office cluttered with a Pokémon plushies, a garish bikini calendar and various coffee-table tomes, is the formal – and exclusive – announcement of the trio’s team-up to form what they’re officially calling: No Agency London c/​o Emma Matell.

A centre spread of pubes is exactly the kind of subversive storytelling that No Agency has specialised in since its inception. It started when Alex, a ​“nightclub employee and a publicist’s assistant but, like, not”, realised some of his street-cast college friends were being underpaid. At the time, Chloe was working at cosmetics company Milk Makeup. In the early days of their romance (the pair are partners in life as well as work), ​“we would get lunch together and Alex would pick my brains about social media strategy and things to do to differentiate No Agency [from other agencies],” she says.

Leading with a ​“talent-first, looks secondary” approach, the agency has cemented its status as space for talent of all types. Alongside models, its books feature painters, actors, musicians and creatives. Having such a varied roster means the agency can meet the fast-paced demands of small brands, luxury houses and everything in between. So No Agency’s faces include: Cannelle, a Marseille-born musician who can perform a solo music show at a No Agency magazine party and star in a Coach spread; and Yumilka, a poet and Political Science student at Manhattan University. Equally, they can supply a kaleidoscope of creative talent, shot in their bedrooms, for Marc Jacobs’ Heaven, for taking over a Louis Vuitton store front. And now… London, with its new faces photographed here.

No Agency London started with the three of you having a drink during Paris Art Week, right?

Emma Matell: Yeah. We hadn’t planned that at all. But we met and then it was like, ​“Why don’t we do the agency [in London]?” We sat and talked about it, and it made more and more sense.

Alex Tsebelis: There was an idea of, ​“Oh, if we were to be somewhere other than New York, London would be the place.”

Why is London a good fit?

Chloe Mackey: It is the most No Agency city outside of New York, in terms of the taste and the vibe of the creative. Also, the collaborative spirit of London feels like people are ready to jump into other people’s projects and help out where they can, which is something that we pride ourselves on doing for other people. And with Emma and the resources that she can tap into here, we felt like we could do a full thing.

Emma, what did you know about No Agency before this?

Emma: When I was working with [casting director] Maddie [Østlie], I was sending out a lot of briefs to New York [agencies]. A lot of agencies are like, ​“I’ll try and see if this works”, and they’ll see if they have anyone just for the sake of it. Whereas with No Agency, I always knew they’d have someone for my brief.

When you’re street casting, what piques your interest?

Emma: I don’t know what I’m looking for until I see it. As a general point of view, I look for people that can push the idea of what modelling looks like, while still sending a message. I want it to feel radical. It’s basically about pushing people’s perception of what a model is.

The new faces you’re working with in London – how did you scout them?

Emma: We’ve got a board of people that I’ve consistently booked on jobs. They’re all creatives and pretty unknown. We’ve got one person who’s a bit more established in the London scene: [singer] Abigail from The Last Dinner Party.

Chloe: We found Leah Humphris and Savannah Huggins-Chung!

…both of whom we’ve shot for this story! How did you find them?

Emma: Leah and Savannah were scouted within a week of each other. They’re both of Chinese-Jamaican heritage – and they’re born one day apart in the same year! Then we’ve got Ani in Copenhagen, who is an amazing musician and goes by the name ​“Jura Indexspring”. Naadirah Qazi has been in Sinéad [O’Dwyer] shows a few times. She and her sister, Rukaiyah, have a band called Qazi & Qazi. Marley Wendt is an artist, she does loads for Lucila Safdie and Ashley Williams, and she’s also a writer for [fashion criticism publication] Viscose Journal.

Chloe: [Marley’s] definitely an It-girl.

Obviously within the last year there have been so many creative director changes within fashion, and in September we’ll see lots of debut shows. Do you think it’s time that we saw similarly radical changes with casting?

Alex: That’s our goal. Runway is inherently an uninteresting platform – no shade! It’s such a functional thing at the end of the day, especially working with girls who are different sizes, different heights. We’ve never had a board where the majority of the people could be in [traditional] runway shows.

Chloe: And we did quit New York Fashion Week.

Alex: ​“Quitting” fashion week is a bit of humour – what we actually did was change our fee structure for shows in NY away from small fees and towards trade [payment in clothes].

You work with renowned photographers such as Richard Kern, Eloise Parry and Bella Newman. How did you develop those relationships?

Chloe: Richard did the first-ever show package [a showcase for models’ various talents for clients] and he’s always been around – we’ve been working with him consistently throughout the entire history of the agency. Eloise was someone whose work we always admired. She lived in New York for a year around 2021/​2022, and did the show package that year. We built a very close friendship with her super quickly. Our relationship with Bella [happened] the same way.

Alex: With all three of them, they are our best friends, basically. We’re making so much stuff with them.

How does No Erotica tie into all of this?

Chloe: No Erotica started by accident. We don’t bring up No Erotica to our clients because we keep it separate. We don’t want anyone to feel like they have to be in the magazine.

Alex: Being able to do the publications and shoot with different people – people that we don’t represent – and talk to writers and make stuff in a hands-on way; that changed the spectrum of what we do. Hari [Nef, the latest No Erotica cover star] has nothing to do with No Agency, but we get to do that together [because of the magazine].

Is it right that Chloë Sevigny called and asked to work with one of your models for her F*cking Awesome skateboard drop in 2023?

Alex: Yeah! She was like, ​“Hi, not sure if you know who this is? I’m Chloë Sevigny, I’m an actress.” I was like, ​“I know! I’ve definitely heard of you!”

Chloe: And we did actually find a lead for her [after] her famous New York subletting Instagram Story [in which Sevigny improbably asked for leads on a sublet in lower Manhattan].

Alex: Yeah, we do talk to her sometimes. We text occasionally.

Chloe: It’s mostly just him texting her.

We have to end with a question about your brilliant merch slogan: ​“Hi, I’ve been making moves against you”. How did you come up with that?

Chloe: We were drunk in an Uber on the way to a party and we knew someone was there that we had been making moves against. I said that I might go up to them and be like: ​“Hi, I’ve been making moves against you…” It became a bit of a brain worm – and then it turned into merch.

Will you be making more pass-agg merch for London? It feels very on-brand for us.

Chloe: We wanna do something! We wanna do a hat. A hat is a marker of a shift in the agency. We just don’t do them that much. But London is important enough for a hat.

Age: 25

From: London

If you could produce your own shoot, where would it take place?

A farmyard, and it would be a maternity shoot. I love the image of Tori Amos breastfeeding a piglet [in the Boys for Pele album artwork].

If you were to create your own merch drop, à la No Agency, what would you sell?

A Swiss Army knife. It would have a bottle opener, a blade and a mini mirror.

Age: 27

From: London. My parents are French-Canadian and British-Indian.

If you could produce your own shoot, where would it take place?

In the mountains, on a glacier, or inside a cave.

Is there a fashion trend you secretly love, even if you’d never wear it on a job?

Huge, extravagant hats and earrings.

Age: 18

From: South London and I’m Chinese-Jamaican

Describe No Agency in three words:

Fun, laidback and unique.

Age: 24

From: I was born and raised in Norway and I’m half Moroccan. I now live in London

What makes No Agency so special?

Prioritising substance and character over superficial appeal.

Age: 26

From: Reading

Where were you scouted?

Emma came up to me at Pxssy Palace and asked if I wanted to go to a Vivienne Westwood casting – it changed my life.

What do you think makes No Agency talent so special?

The team takes a very catered approach to make talent feel looked after. Also, we’re all so hot.

Age: 25

From: I’m from London and I’m Congolese

What do you think makes No Agency talent so special?

How genuinely diverse the it is. Not just in terms of backgrounds and identities, but also in creative voices, aesthetics and perspectives.

Age: 22

From: Surrey

Where were you scouted?

Through a blog post I did with [FACE friend and writer] Biz Sherbert, which documented 48 hours in my life. Not what I expected to lead to modelling!

What’s something modelling has taught you about yourself?

That being in front of the camera isn’t as terrifying as Iimagined.

Describe No Agency in three words:

Neoteric. Exuberant. Subversive.

Age: 18

From: Kent

Where were you scouted?

At Outbreak Festival. I was actually on a first date and it wasn’t going very well. But when Emma approached it kind of broke the awkwardness between me and my date.

What’s something modelling has taught you about yourself?

That it can be fun to experiment with different looks.

Age: 23

From: Oslo, Norway

Describe No Agency in three words:

I love you.

What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever been photographed?

My bed.

Rukaiyah

From: Birmingham – the second-best city in the world

If you could produce your own shoot, where would it take place?

I would be sitting for an oil painting, just before the break of dawn. There’d be candlelight, a Jacobean building. Maybe somewhere like Knole country house.


Naadirah

Age: 31

From: Born in Glasgow, raised in Birmingham, based in London and surrounded by Sufi ancestors

Where were you scouted?

My sister and I were admiring an Ed Marler jacket at Fantastic Toilles [concept store in London], and I thought someone was watching us. After we left, Emma caught up with us. Weeks later, I made my modelling debut – and history – at Sinéad O’Dwyer during London Fashion Week, as one of two of the first wheelchair-user models on the catwalk.

Age: 21

From: London

Describe No Agency in three words:

Watch this space.

HAIR Sarah Jo Palmer at MA World Group MAKEUP Thomasin Waite at Julien Watson CASTING DIRECTOR Emma Matell at MA World Group CASTING ASSOCIATE Oliwia Jancerowicz PRODUCTION Claire Murphy TALENT Abigail, Lydia, Savannah, Selma, Mahlah, Sephora, Camilla, Leah, Marley, Naadirah, Rukaiyah and Gigi at No Inc STYLIST’S ASSISTANT Romilly Anne