Former VS Angel Clara Alonso Opens Up About the Realities of Being a Model

Brought to you by the editors of People en Español.

Clara Alonso has a lot to celebrate. The former Victoria’s Secret model gets to travel the world for work, married her beau Robert Serafin last month, and was just made the new face of European lingerie brand Yamamay. But life as an in-demand model isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.

The Spanish beauty opened up to Hispanic newspaper El Pais about her insecurities, the pressures of social media and how the modeling industry is evolving.

Although she now fronts a new lingerie brand, and has often walked Victoria’s Secret runways scantily clad, she wasn’t always comfortable revealing so much skin. “At the beginning of my career it was hard… There are so many people around you… and it embarrasses you to have people see you [like that],” she said. “But nowadays I’m used to it and I feel just as comfortable in lingerie as I do wearing clothes.”

“At some moment I did feel judged and rejected,” she said referring to the early years of her career. “But if you ask any model,” she added, “they’ll tell you that they felt something similar.”

Alsono also spoke with the Spanish paper about her struggle to adapt to the news demands of social media. With over 167k followers on Instagram, her feed needs a lot of time and attention. “Many clients no longer ask to see your book or call your agency to ask about previous jobs, they go directly to your Instagram and see where you travel to and who you work with,” she said. “Many times I’ll be traveling and working, and I don’t have time to update it. It’s an added pressure, it’s a second job.”

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On a positive note, she said she recognizes that the fashion industry is much more progressive than it used to be. During this season’s New York Fashion Week, for example, there were a record number plus-size models working the runways, and greater diversity is visible across ad campaigns and magazines spreads. Zara recently launched the ‘Timeless’ campaign featuring women over 40; Transgender model Teddy Quinlivan was the sixth most-booked model this season; and Ashley Graham made history as the first plus-size model to grace the cover of Vogue this past March.

“I think it’s extremely important for everyone to feel included and for everybody to feel like they can identify with what’s out there in the market,” Alonso said.