Sisters face modelling’s harsh reality in Seoul

MULLUMBIMBY sisters Sascha and Sabine Worley have returned from South Korea after a 67-day modelling contract that exposed the industry’s harsher realities.

For Sascha and Sabine Worley, modelling isn’t about standing still and looking pretty, it’s about knowing when to “lock in”.

“The thing with modelling is you could be the prettiest person in the world, but if you don’t know how to connect with the camera… it’s over,” Sascha said.

That connection has taken the sisters far from home, most recently to South Korea, where they undertook a demanding contract that tested their resilience and widened their outlook on life.

While the industry often projects glamour, their experience in Seoul revealed a far more confronting reality.

In Korea, the expectations began before they even arrived, with pressure to meet strict beauty standards constant and, at times, extreme.

“The beauty standard there is very pale and very skinny,” Sabine said.

For the sisters, that meant actively avoiding sunlight in the lead-up to their contracts.

“It was summer at home, but I had to wear long sleeves and long pants for the last three weeks before we left, just to be really pale,” Sascha said.

Both said they were even “painted white” on certain jobs during their time in Korea.

The sisters sustained a high level of success in Korea, each securing up to 20 bookings during their stay.

But behind that success were long hours, raw experiences and often difficult living conditions.

 

They lived in a small Seoul apartment shared with other models, where mould spread through the space.

“It was growing mould everywhere and the door was disintegrating,” Sabine said.

“I actually think when I’m older, I’m going to die from some strange disease like mould poisoning.”

Workdays could stretch up to 12 hours, sometimes with just a 10-minute break and minimal food.

During wedding shoots, Sabine said models could be treated “like pieces of play dough”.

“There’s four women putting a dress on you, telling you to suck in, grabbing parts of your body and trying to squish them into places that shouldn’t be squished,” she said.

“It’s very painful.”

The sisters said the local industry’s strict working culture often left little room for basic human needs.

“If you felt unwell, you still had to turn up,” Sascha said.

Sascha experienced that firsthand after being hospitalised during their first week in the South Korean capital.

Following a severe allergic reaction, she was taken to hospital in an ambulance, struggling to breathe.

While in the emergency room, the sisters witnessed a man die just metres away.

“He was behind a paper curtain making this sound I’d never heard a human make before,” Sabine said.

 

Despite being told by doctors to remain in bed for three days, Sascha was called back to work the next morning.

“The booker told me, ‘It’s not an option. You must come,'” she said.

“I’ve never felt less of a human in my entire life.”

The physical demands were equally confronting, with the sisters often forced to undertake shoots in freezing conditions while wearing minimal clothing.

In one shoot, they worked outdoors in minus 10-degree conditions wearing activewear.

“We thought we had hypothermia after,” Sabine said.

Despite the challenges, both say the experience reshaped how they see themselves and the industry.

“We are products that they bought, but we wouldn’t change it for the world,” Sascha said.

“I feel my value has grown so much as a model because of what I went through.

“I’ve seen the other side of it.”

Alongside modelling, both have built careers in social media, a space they say offers more creative control.

“With modelling, you kind of fit someone else’s image,” Sascha said.

“With social media, you can be a bit truer to yourself.”

 

Sascha said the content that performs best is often the least curated.

“It’s always the things you least expect,” she said, pointing to a chance TikTok video she made that led to her being scouted by LA-based agency The Industry.

“I just posted two videos lip syncing to a house music song, and they both went viral,” she said.

“I was later told by my manager that The Industry had contacted her, and they pretty much signed me on the spot.”

She expects to begin work with the agency within the next year once the relevant visas are obtained.

Both thanked Chic Management Brisbane, which helped secure their South Korean opportunity and continues to support them.

“After everything we’ve been through together, we are so grateful for our managers at Chic Brisbane who gave us nothing but support throughout the hardest parts of our trip,” Sabine said.

That success has also come with challenges, as the sisters navigated small-town scrutiny.

“I think it’s a big thing for girls in high school who start modelling to get picked apart because of it,” Sascha said.

“It’s been tricky growing up in a small town and doing something so different to what everyone else is doing.”

While their journey to the global modelling stage has been far from simple, the sisters remain certain of their place in the industry.

“We’ve chosen this life, so we’re committed to it,” Sascha said.