Presently, due to social media, everyone is able to see what everyone else in the entire world is up to at any moment of the day. The fashion industry has used social media as a tool to promote, sell, flaunt, and include everyone in on the used-to-be-exclusive community. Today, fashion shows are live-streamed globally, Snapchat is used to bring insight to peasants during events like the Met Gala, Twitter gives people instant updates about everything from shows to new collaborations and breaking news, and Instagram has now led to more people being discovered and becoming models.

However, there is a downside to this social media age: fast fashion has become a more prominent issue than ever before, counterfeit items are being sold to the less knowledgeable, and Instagram models have plagued the industry and may lead to the downfall of the once prestigious empire of art.

In the past couple of years we have seen the rise of Kendall Jenner, the Hadid family, the Smith siblings, and other irrelevant people who have become models as well due to the number of social media followers they have. Brands, magazines, and designers have put the focus on people with a high amount of social media followers rather than people with actual talent and skills. These models are booking all the top shows, landing magazine covers, and attending major events due to this concept of exposure. Essentially, the idea is, the more followers a model has, the more people will see and want to buy luxury goods and haute couture.

However, there has yet to be an increase in sales due to this notion; in fact, using Insta-models does not guarantee success since multiple companies have become bankrupt even after the collaborations and campaigns using said models and personalities. Moreover, it should be stated that a good amount of these followers either cannot and will never be able to afford these goods or they are robots and spam accounts; this should be fairly obvious to the dictators of taste and relevance, yet apparently, it is not.

Since social media has become an integral part of the fashion industry, there has been a continuing debate about who has earned the title "supermodel." According to the website Model Management, the term supermodel refers to a well-paid high-fashion model that has worked on an international plane and who has an impressive portfolio working with the world's leading fashion designers. They have personalities and presence, and they are respected not just for their talent as models, but also for their ability and success in making it into the exclusive list of the top earners in the industry. Therefore, when a model starts to be known for their name or for a brand that their name represents, that's when they have moved on to a new level of modeling.

Past supermodels include Twiggy, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and Gisele Bundchen, just to name a few. Of course, I have to mention some of the past male supermodels that include Tyson Beckford, Marcus Schenkenberg, Hoyt Richards, Antonio Sabàto Jr., Mark Vanderloo and Michael Bergin.

These people were scouted at a young age and became incredibly successful due to their talent and relationships with brands, designers, photographers etc. over the years. Models like Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid were not scouted as children nor are they completely respected throughout the industry. Their rise to fame in this industry has been deeply nepotistic and convenient, yet the media continues to use the term "supermodel" for not only these two but a numerous amount of models that have yet to earn this esteemed title.

The ongoing debate has included past successful models and designers as well as the models of the moment themselves and their family. Model Rebecca Romijn stated, "I know a lot of people, legitimate fashion people, can't stand it. Hate it that these, you know, social media stars are now the supermodels in fashion. They are not true supermodels."

Supermodel Stephanie Seymour suggested that they should be called “bitches of the moment” since they are completely different from the supermodels of the past and they should have their own title. Fashion Designer Calvin Klein has stated that the entire industry as a whole is “disappointing,” and that if he were still at the helm of the brand, he would not have featured Kendall in his campaigns. The fashion industry uses social media as a way to interact with the millennial audience; however, Klein believes that brands should not rely on this for success and stability. A part of the general public has also shared their thoughts on various media platforms as well, specifically, when the Twitter account for British Voguetweeted the question: Who said that Kendall and Gigi are not “true supermodels?” Thousands of people simply replied, “everyone.” Based off of those replies, world peace may be achievable.

A large part of the general public continues to love these models because highly respected individuals in the fashion community like the editor-in-chief of Vogue, Anna Wintour, and fashion designer Olivier Rousteing, among many others, keep these models relevant. These models have been given so much privilege and favoritism that they do not have to go castings nor do they have to arrive on time to shows or shoots. They may say that they have respect for the supermodels of the past or the numerous amount of other models that live in awful apartments with 12 other roommates, starve themselves to fit into the regulated measurements, and work extremely hard for the chance to be in an editorial, land a campaign for a major brand, or walk in a couple of shows during fashion week. But, if you talk to less-successful working models, they do not have respect for them since technically they were celebrities first and celebrities are constantly taking away jobs from models.

These models of the moment may also say that because people want to entrust them with the title of supermodel it does not take away from the success and respect from their colleagues; however, it’s kind of a slap in the face for the entire fashion industry and the fans that appreciate the art and genius that becomes part of everyone’s daily lives and is in turn forever a part of history. These girls were handed their careers since they already come from a family with fame, or their celebrity boyfriends and best friends just increased their exposure, and their lack of talent is overlooked. So, if we could collectively stop throwing around the term supermodel that would be great. Maybe in the future, they will have earned this esteemed title, but as of now, they have yet to. Also, if these models have to keep a stylist, who makes all her clients look like copycats of each other, on retainer to put together outfits for them to run errands and get on flights, should they really be called supermodels? For now, the answer is definitely no.