Modeling agencies in Estonia: 19 agencies (2026)

The modeling market in Estonia

Estonia's modeling market is small and centred on the capital: of the 19 agencies in the catalogue, 18 work in Tallinn and one in Tartu. We found no agencies of their own in Pärnu or Narva: the Tallinn school and agency JK Club Models has a branch in Pärnu, and Star Kids Baltic holds castings in Narva. Where the agencies are and what each city looks like for a model is covered on the Tallinn and Tartu pages.

The agencies differ a great deal, so look first at what type of agency you are applying to:

• Fashion and mother agencies (11). E.M.A Model Management (since 1992), Beatrice MASS Modelnet (since 1997), MJ Models (since 2004), AL Model Management (since 2012), Tigers by Matt (since 2016), Agency Icon, Vector Management, Genom Management, RM Model Management, COLD Management and Monte Models. They scout new faces and place them with agencies abroad.
• Talent and casting agencies (2). Nordic Face casts people for advertising and film, and VasVal Talent Agency represents models, actors and voice-over talent.
• Schools with an agency (4). Staarikool, Star Kids Baltic (a kids agency, since 2011), Tomson Top Model and JK Club Models. Teaching comes first here; Staarikool and Star Kids Baltic state their prices on their websites.
• A children's model school (1). Lana Models Estonia in Tartu, which Facebook lists as a modelling agency.
• Promotion staff and models (1). Mur Mur Agentuur mainly supplies staff for events and promotions, and also models for media, fashion shows and photo sessions.

A few things are useful to know in advance. The Beatrice MASS Modelnet website is live, with boards and an application form, but the newest item in its events section is from December 2010. COLD Management is a new agency: its roster is only starting, and its website says it never charges models. We found Monte Models, VasVal Talent Agency and JK Club Models only on Instagram, Tomson Top Model on Instagram and Facebook, and Lana Models Estonia only on Facebook. For four agencies (Vector Management, COLD Management, Star Kids Baltic and JK Club Models) we could not identify a company in the register. Where the press has reported on an agency, those reports are on its profile.

Fashion agencies scout new faces, develop them and, as mother agencies, introduce them to partners in other countries, for example in Paris, Milan, London or Asia. Local work is mostly advertising, e-commerce shoots, local and regional brands, events and social media content.

There is a limited amount of work in Estonia, so most models combine it with studies or another job, and those who want to make a living from it go to foreign markets through their mother agency. What models earn in practice is set out with figures in how much do models make.

The country's main fashion event is Tallinn Fashion Week, held twice a year. The autumn 2025 edition ran on 22–⁠24 October, the spring 2026 edition on 9–⁠10 April, and the autumn 2026 edition runs on 28–⁠30 October at T1 Venue. Dates for this and other fashion weeks are in the fashion calendar.

Licence and supervision

Estonia has no licence or register written for model agencies, and we found no association of model agencies. Private job placement (töövahendus) is covered by the Labour Market Measures Act (tööturumeetmete seadus) and the General Part of the Economic Activities Code Act.

• A notice, not a licence. A company or sole trader that provides job placement, or hires people to send them out as agency workers, files a notice of economic activity (majandustegevusteade) with the register of economic activities (MTR) before starting.
• No fee from the job seeker. Under section 27 of the Act a placement provider may not ask the person looking for work to pay for the placement; the state portal says the ban covers every part of the service.
• Supervision. The Labour Inspectorate (Tööinspektsioon) supervises private placement providers. For serious breaches, such as charging a fee, it can ban the activity.

What we did not verify: we found no official statement on whether a model agency counts as a job placement provider under this Act, and we did not search the MTR for the agencies. So we write neither that the catalogue agencies are registered there nor that they are not.

You can check a company free of charge in the Estonian Commercial Register, e-Äriregister. A registry code has 8 digits, and the codes of non-profit associations (MTÜ) start with 80. An agency's profile gives the company's name, code and status wherever we could identify the company.

How a modeling agency works

An agency represents the model: it puts them forward to clients, agrees fees and dates, issues booking confirmations and handles payment. For representing a model it earns a commission on the model's fee. A school or a paid casting is a separate service that some agencies also sell.

Mother agency

A mother agency is the agency in the model's home country that discovered them or first started working with them. It helps with the first test shoots, chooses agencies abroad, negotiates terms and keeps track of how the model is doing. The foreign agency usually pays the mother agency a share of its own commission, so the model does not pay extra for this.

Commission and contract

The agency commission is written into the representation agreement, together with the term, how to end it and which costs may be advanced. A mother agency normally asks for exclusivity in its own country; that is fair if in return it commits to introducing you to partners. Which clauses to check is covered in the modeling contract guide.

The only published commission figure we found is in a 2006 article in the daily Ärileht: the Estonian agency that discovered a model earned ten percent of each job she did abroad. The figure is old and we found no current published rate, so look at what your own contract says.

The Estonian Labour Inspectorate has found that contracts with minors are often titled authorisation agreements when the relationship is in fact employment: the child is told what to do, when and how. Under the Employment Contracts Act, work for which pay is normally given is presumed to be employment, and all the protections for minors then apply.

Boards and requirements

Agencies divide their models into boards, each with its own requirements. The Estonian catalogue has eight boards you can filter by: women (4 agencies), men (4), new faces (4), kids (3), talent (3), curve (1), senior (1) and commercial (1). Agency Icon has the widest range of boards and in 2023 opened the first curve division in Estonia. Nine agencies have no board assigned: their websites do not divide models into boards, or they have no website. The table gives the usual benchmarks; each agency sets its own. AL Model Management, for example, takes applicants aged 14 to 23 from 173 cm, and Agency Icon takes girls aged 15 to 23 from 173 cm and boys from 180 cm.

The strictest requirements apply to the runway, covered in the runway model guide, and all types are compared in types of modeling.

Schools and fees

Four catalogue agencies are model schools as well, and two of them state prices on their websites. That is not representation: a school teaches, and an agency commits to representing you only by contract. The prices we found in October 2026:

Staarikool also charges for a year's place in its model base, and its website says that it admits everyone who wants to join, with no casting, and that paid jobs are paid to the model. We found no price lists for Tomson Top Model, JK Club Models or Lana Models Estonia. COLD Management writes that it never charges models, whether for photos or for classes, and the application pages of E.M.A Model Management, MJ Models, Tigers by Matt, AL Model Management, Agency Icon, Vector Management and Genom Management mention no fee.

We did not verify whether the ban on charging the person looking for work applies to a model school or a paid casting. Exact amounts and sources are on each agency's profile. Before you pay, ask whether the school is a condition of joining the agency's board and how many pupils the agency signs after the course.

How to choose an agency

We do not rank agencies and we do not vouch for them. The catalogue lists every business in Estonia that represents models: fashion and mother agencies, talent and casting agencies, schools with an agency, kids agencies and those that exist only on Instagram or Facebook. We left out only agencies that have closed, schools that do not call themselves an agency and have no roster, casting databases with open sign-up and foreign agencies with no office in Estonia.

Each agency profile shows what we found, good and bad: the address, boards, founding year and history, the company's name, code and status in the register, fees with their prices, schools and press reports where they exist. The best agency for you is the one that works with models of your type, age and goals. Before you sign, check:

• whether the agency has a board that suits you and a live model board;
• which company signs the contract with you and what its status is in the Estonian Commercial Register (e-Äriregister);
• which foreign agencies it works with and where its models work;
• whether the agency charges for a school, photos, a casting or a database listing, how much, and whether the charge is compulsory;
• whether you can take the contract home and show it to a lawyer;
• whether the commission, term and termination are written in the contract as numbers;
• whether you will receive a statement for every job and expense;
• who will accompany a minor to shoots and on trips.

A longer list of questions is in the guide how to choose a modeling agency.

Minors under Estonian law

In Estonia work by minors is governed by the Employment Contracts Act (Töölepingu seadus) and supervised by the Labour Inspectorate (Tööinspektsioon). Updated rules have applied since 13 July 2026. The Labour Inspectorate names modeling directly as work that children aged 7–⁠12 may do.

Who signs the contract

Full active legal capacity starts at 18 (General Part of the Civil Code Act, § 8). Any contract with a minor therefore has to be approved by a parent or other legal representative. Without that consent or later approval an employer may not let a minor work, and a minor may be sent on a business trip only with the prior consent of both the minor and the legal representative.

By age

Working hours

• During term time, minors in compulsory education may work 2 hours a day, or 3 hours for light work in culture, art, sports or advertising, and no more than 12 hours over 7 days.
• In the school holidays the weekly limit is up to 30 hours for ages 7–⁠12, up to 35 hours for ages 13–⁠14 and up to 40 hours for older minors.
• Minors in compulsory education may not work between 8 pm and 6 am or right before school. Exception: light creative work in culture, sports or advertising supervised by an adult may run until midnight.
• Minors may not work overtime, and pay cannot be lower than the adult minimum, which in 2026 is €5.67 an hour.
• In summer a minor in compulsory education may work for no more than two months and must have at least four consecutive weeks off.

Tax and income

Taxes in Estonia are handled by the Tax and Customs Board (EMTA). Personal income tax is 22%, and in 2026 the basic exemption is €700 a month (€8,400 a year). A model can work in several ways:

The entrepreneur account suits beginners: when money arrives, the bank sets the tax aside and forwards it to EMTA, and there are no reports to file. Expenses cannot be deducted, though, so with high costs an FIE may work out better. If you are an Estonian tax resident, you also declare income earned abroad. How to avoid double taxation is explained in model taxes. Rates change, so check the figures on the EMTA website every year.

Working abroad through an Estonian agency

Estonian citizens need no work permit in other EU and EEA countries. Outside the EU you need a work visa, which the foreign agency usually arranges together with the mother agency. In practice:

• The foreign agency often prepays flights and the model apartment and gives you pocket money. This is an advance later deducted from your earnings.
• If costs exceed earnings you end up with agency debt, and the contract should make clear who covers it.
• Some markets, especially in Asia, offer a guaranteed contract.
• A minor may go on a work trip only with the prior consent of both the minor and the parents.

Before you go, ask for the apartment cost, advances, commission and who pays for the trip home if the season goes badly, all in writing.

Press reports about agencies

The catalogue lists every agency, so here we also set out what the media have reported about them. These are reports, not findings by a court or an authority.

• Star Kids Baltic. Elu24 reported on 26 October 2018 that a model publicly accused the agency's founder of unfair competition and of taking money (paid pageant participation, contract penalties of 5,000 euro, an unpaid participation fee abroad) and ended her daughter's contract with the agency. The same article reports a lawsuit against the founder over the Missis Estonia trademark. These are accusations reported by the outlet, not a court finding.

The same fact, with a link to the source, is on the agency's profile. Before you apply, ask the agency itself what it says about this.

Scams and warning signs

As elsewhere, Estonia has fake agencies and "castings" designed to collect money or photos of young people. A fee on its own does not mean a scam: some agencies in the catalogue openly state the price of a school, photo shoots or casting registration, and we say so on their profiles. What matters is whether the price is clear in advance, whether you can take your time to decide and whether you know what you get for it. Warning signs:

• someone writes in an agency's name from a personal account, and the agency's website or account shows no such contact;
• a fee whose amount nobody states in advance, or one you must pay at once;
• work is promised straight away, before anyone has seen plain photos and measurements;
• the "casting" is in a hotel room or private flat, and you are asked to come without parents;
• you are asked for underwear or nude photos, especially as a minor;
• you do not know which company or person you are signing the contract with;
• you cannot take the contract home and are pushed to sign at once.

You can check the company in e-Äriregister. Agency Icon warns on its website that its team scouts only through the agency's two Instagram accounts, so check any other contact made in its name. The Labour Inspectorate advises checking an employer's reliability before starting work and putting agreements in writing. If money was taken or you were threatened, go to the police; children and parents can also call the free 24-hour Child Helpline on 116111.

How to apply

Most agencies accept applications online. They usually ask for your name, age, height, measurements and a few digitals: plain photos without make-up or filters.

1. Take photos in daylight: face from the front and in profile, full length from the front, side and back.
2. Measure your height, bust, waist and hips accurately and add your shoe size.
3. Choose agencies by board: the catalogue above can be filtered. Read on the profiles what we found about fees, schools and the company's status.
4. If you are under 18, give a parent's contact details; a parent comes with you to the meeting.
5. Once invited, prepare with the guide model casting: how to prepare.

You do not need a comp card or professional portfolio at the start: the agency helps you put them together once it takes you on.