Rebecca Romijn denies 'talking smack' about Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid and social media stars as supermodels

'They are not true supermodels,' Romijn was quoted as telling Entertainment Weekly

X-Men actress Rebecca Romjin (Getty Images)

In today’s world, follower count can mean everything.

For anyone in a high-profile industry, it can especially mean influence. Social media has become integral to achieving success, a change that has become particularly prominent in the world of modelling where models often attract legions on fans via their Instagram accounts.

Rebecca Romijn has denied "talking smack" about two high profile social media stars after reportedly criticising the way social media has come to dictate the success of models. Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid are both two of the most followed figures on Instagram despite having modelled for a relatively short space of time compared to the next generation.

The X-Men actress and former Victoria's Secret and Sports Illustrated model was asked by Entertainment Weekly for her opinion on the generation of models such as Jenner, and Hadid, “who are more famous for their social media presence than their runway experience”.

“They are not true supermodels,” Romijn was quoted as saying. “And the thing is, I have always looked to Vogue magazine to lead the way, not be a follower. I rely on Vogue to set the standard, not follow what everybody else is doing. So I have been disappointed that fashion magazines have been supporting this trend of social media stars to set our style standards. But it will change; fashion always does.”

She wrote on Twitter after the interview was published.

Frank Spadafora, former casting director and head of the analytics app D’Marie Archive, told The Independent social media is increasingly becoming the way models are found and then maintain their fame.

It is also a way of increasing their earning potential, with the average value per post to Instagram for female models at $1,245.51. Male models are charging $704.02 per post to Instagram on average.