Recently launched for iPhone, Swipecast is an app created for putting models in contact with stylists, photographers, retailers, designers, marketing agencies and basically anyone in regular need of modelling talent. Where there’s a need, there’s an app, and this one is probably making model agencies sweat quite a lot.

If Airbnb has done it in the hospitality sector, and Uber in the transport sector, is Swipecast going to do the same in the modelling industry? The opportunity is certainly there. Last year for example, Marc Jacobs used Instagram to cast his AW14 campaign, inviting users of the app to upload photos with the hashtag #CastMeMarc. The model Rachel Finninger actually described the app as “Facebook-meets-LinkedIn-meets-Instagram.”

The creator of this revolutionary app is Peter Fitzpatrick, a businessman with great knowledge of the industry (he actually owns a model agency in the heart of New York). As he explains, “Agents have favourites and certain girls fall through the cracks. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way for a model to network and access opportunities in real time, in a safe environment?”

While agencies take a 33 % cut of a model’s earnings, Swipecast takes just 10%, and it also gives models control over the jobs they book.

What do you think Swipecast will mean for the modelling industry?