A house model is a fashion model who works near-exclusively for a one fashion brand, house or label. A house model can also be associated with specific prodcuts sutch as cosmetic or perfume brands.
The role of the house model was clearly defined around the 1850s when Charles Frederick Worth gained a reputation for showing his designs to clients upon live models. His own wife, Marie Vernet, had been a model for the Parisian drapers Gagelin and Opigez before they where married, and she continued to model for Worth's first designs.
London couturier Lucile, is credited with training the 1st professional models in about 1897. She is also associated with the 1st runway or catwalk fashion shows. By the 1920s, it was standard practice for fashion houses to employ in-house models. Such a profession was considered normal enough to be the job of the heroine of the 1927 Alfred Hitchcock film The Lodger.
From the late 1940s, models began to become well-known by their names. They could also move from one house to another. Lucie Daouphars aslo know as Lucky (ca.1922-1963)) was originally a house model for Jacques Fath then became the top model for Christian Dior. Dior gained a reputation for his models, who he gave nicknames such as Alla and Victoire. His models would also model for fashion photographs. Many photographers preferred photographic models such as Dovima, who were not associated with any specific fashion house. One of the few exceptions to this rule was Joanna Lumley, who worked for Jean Muir in the mid 1960s, and was often photographed wearing Muir's designs.
Some house models gained insight into the fashion industry through their jobs, and went on to become designers in their own right, such as Emmanuelle Khanh, who modelled at Balenciaga and then Givenchy from 1957 - 1963 before launching her fashion label.
Present day, the definition of the house model in the present day is less defined. Couturiers continue to employ house models, although it is rare for the model to be affiliated exclusively to a one brand or label. A model may be called a house model for a certain designer due to being frequently featured in that designer's ads or runway shows, without exclusivity. eg. Kate Moss's well known work for Calvin Klein, specifically her Obsession advertisements is a small part of a wide-ranging modelling career. Julia Stegner, the house model for Hugo Boss for some years, also did modelling for other fashion houses and brands.
The house model may not be exclusively a model. A celebrity or an actor may play a role similar to that of the house model by being the public face of a brand. eg. L'Oreal has many spokes people including Andie MacDowell and the Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai to endorse its beauty products and act as the face for them.
