Modeling agencies in Italy: 26 verified agencies (2026)

The modeling market in Italy

The Italian market is concentrated in Milan. This is where the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana holds the women's and men's fashion weeks and where most fashion houses, casting directors and sales showrooms work, so almost all agencies are based here too. Our catalogue lists 21 agencies in Milan and one more in nearby Monza. Rome and Florence are smaller markets, with two agencies each on the Rome and Florence pages.

In a 2016 decision the Italian competition authority AGCM wrote that the models represented by Italian agencies are mostly foreign nationals, minors among them, and put the value of the whole national model-management market at €50–⁠60 million a year at the time. For Lithuanian models Italy is usually a seasonal market: they come through their mother agency before the fashion weeks, or for a few weeks of e-commerce, catalogue and advertising shoots. Agency districts, fashion week dates and transport are covered on the Modeling agencies in Milan page.

How an agency works and what you sign

Italy has no specific law or licence for model agencies, so your rights depend mostly on your contract. AGCM describes how agencies sign so-called modeling contracts with models: mandate contracts without representation (mandato senza rappresentanza). Through them the agency secures exclusive representation of the model across Italy and worldwide control of the rights in the photos and videos made on the model's jobs. The glossary explains exclusivity and usage rights.

What a fee is made of

According to AGCM, the client pays the whole amount to the agency, which then pays the model. The client's invoice is made up of:

• the model's fee, usually per working day;
• an agency commission paid by the client, which the agency keeps;
• extra charges for using the images on the client's website, social media and online shops;
• charges for additional time: fittings, rehearsals, overtime and the cancellation fee.

The agency deducts its own commission from the model's share, at the rate set in the contract. AGCM noted that this rate depends on how established the model is and on the agency's prestige, and for the best-known models it can be 0%. Travel, accommodation, transfers and insurance may be paid by the client if agreed; if the agency pays them, they are later deducted from the model's earnings and must appear on the statement.

The price cartel and the AGCM fine

In November 2016 AGCM imposed fines totalling about €4.5 million on the ASSEM association and on agencies that, from 2007 to 2015, had used the association to coordinate the prices charged to clients, including the 20% commission paid by the client, and to agree on models moving from one agency to another. The investigation began when one agency (IMG Italy) applied for leniency and was granted full immunity. ASSEM's current statute requires members' staff to have completed competition-law training.

Boards and requirements

Italian agencies divide their models into boards: women, men, new faces and talent. Our Italian catalogue also includes one agency with a sport board (in Monza) and one with a senior board (in Florence), but no kids' or curve boards yet. Milan is first of all a fashion market, so most agencies look for models suited to runway and fashion shoots; each agency publishes its exact height and age requirements on its own website.

Runway requirements are covered in our runway model guide, and the different kinds of modeling work are compared in types of modeling. You can filter the catalogue by board: women, men, new faces, talent, senior, sport.

How to choose an agency

We do not rank agencies. The catalogue includes only those that meet one of two conditions:

• ASSEM members. The association admits only companies whose main business is model management, that have been registered for at least 3 years, had a turnover of at least €2.5 million in the previous year and employ at least 7 full-time staff.
• Other professional agencies. Italian companies whose VAT number (partita IVA) is shown on their website and is valid in the EU VIES register, that show a live board of models and are covered by at least two independent professional sources.

Before you sign, check:

• whether the agency has a board that suits you;
• whether its VAT number is valid in VIES;
• whether the contract states the commission, length, scope of exclusivity and termination terms in figures;
• which image rights you are transferring and for how long;
• which costs the agency may advance and how they will appear on your statement;
• whether you can take the contract home and show it to a lawyer.

A fuller checklist is in our guide on how to choose a modeling agency, and risky contract clauses are covered in the modeling contract.

Minors

Italy's law on the work of children and adolescents (Law 977 of 1967) defines a "child" as anyone under 15 or still in compulsory schooling, and an "adolescent" as someone aged 15 to 18 who has finished compulsory schooling. The general rule is that work is allowed only after compulsory schooling and not before 15. There is an exception for cultural, artistic, sporting, advertising and entertainment work, so children can take part in advertising and fashion jobs, but only with authorisation from the local labour inspectorate (Ispettorato territoriale del lavoro) and written consent from the parents.

• The employer (the client) applies in the province where the work will take place and attaches the parents' consent. If the application is complete, the authorisation counts as granted after 15 calendar days.
• Work may not go on past midnight, and the child must then have at least 14 consecutive hours of rest.
• The work must not harm the child's safety, health, development or school attendance.
• Before starting, the child is examined by a national health service doctor at the employer's expense, and the examination is repeated at least once a year.

Tax and social security

You become tax-resident in Italy if for most of the year you have your residence or the centre of your personal life there, or are physically present in the country; anyone registered in the population register for most of the year is also presumed resident (Article 2 of the income tax code, TUIR). Most Lithuanian models who come for a season remain non-residents.

For non-residents, the Italian payer withholds a final 30% tax from fees for self-employed work done in Italy (Article 25 of DPR 600/1973). Italy and Lithuania have a double tax treaty, signed in Vilnius in 1996 and in force since 3 June 1999. Whether it reduces the Italian tax depends on the type of income, so before your first fee ask the agency whether it will apply the treaty and what documents it needs from you. If you are resident in Lithuania, you also declare this income there; how to avoid double taxation is explained in our guide on model taxes.

INPS, the social security institute, treats models and photo models (indossatori, fotomodelli) as entertainment workers. When they work for a client, the client pays contributions to the entertainment workers' pension fund (FPLS), whatever the form of the contract (INPS circular 44 of 2025). If your statement shows a deduction you do not understand, ask the agency to explain it in writing.

Visas and the right to work

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens do not need a work permit. If you stay in Italy for more than 3 months, you must register with the town hall's population register (anagrafe) and show proof of your work (Article 9 of Legislative Decree 30/2007).

Other nationals need a work visa to work under an employment contract. The consulate issues it only after the Italian employer has obtained clearance (nulla osta) from the immigration office (Sportello Unico per l'Immigrazione) in the province where the work takes place. Entering visa-free or on a tourist visa does not give you the right to work, so the Italian agency or client starts the paperwork while the model is still at home.

Scams and warning signs

A genuine agency earns commission: in AGCM's description, an agency's income is the commission paid by the client and a share of the model's fee. Warning signs:

• you are asked to pay for registration, a place on the website or a compulsory photo shoot;
• there is no company name or VAT number, or the VIES register does not recognise the number;
• you are invited to a "casting" in a hotel room or private flat, or asked to come without your parents;
• you are asked for nude or underwear photos, especially if you are a minor;
• work at Milan fashion week is promised only through social media;
• you are pressed to sign on the spot and not allowed to take the contract home.

If someone claims to represent an Italian agency, check the contact on the agency's official website or ask your mother agency. More warning signs are listed in the glossary entry on modeling scams.

How to apply

Most Lithuanian models reach Italy through their mother agency, which sends digitals, measurements and a video to Italian agencies and negotiates the terms once an offer comes in. If you apply directly:

1. Choose agencies by board: the catalogue above can be filtered.
2. Take photos in daylight without make-up: face from the front and in profile, and full length. Measure your height, bust, waist and hips accurately.
3. If you are under 18, give your parents' contact details.
4. When invited to come, ask in writing for the contract, the commission, the apartment cost, any advances and who pays for the trip home.
5. Prepare for castings with our guide on how to prepare for a casting.