Modeling agencies in Latvia: 17 agencies (2026)

The modeling market in Latvia

Latvia's modeling market is small and almost entirely based in the capital. Of the 17 agencies in the catalogue, 16 work in Riga, and LIME Agency says on its website only that it is based in Latvia. We found no agencies of their own in Jūrmala, Liepāja, Daugavpils or other cities: what exists there is branches of the Riga kids model school Babochka, which the school lists in Jūrmala, Daugavpils, Salaspils and Jelgava. Which streets the agencies are on and how to get there is covered on the page modeling agencies in Riga.

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

• Fashion and mother agencies. Natalie Models, Terri Model Agency (since 1992), Moon Models (since 2015), Bro Models (since 2016), Freyja Models, Perluca Management, DEAM Model Management, The Runaways, 2B Models and LIME Agency. They scout new faces, and some of them act as mother agencies and place models with agencies abroad.
• Kids agencies. Baltic Kids Models (Babochka) has a casting photo database for children from 0 to 15 and a model school. Santa Model Management presents itself as a kids and teens academy and agency; we found it only on social media.
• Agencies for older models. Modnye Models is an agency and school for women aged 30 and over, and Cult Models Agency presents itself as an agency for models aged 40 and over; we found it only on Facebook and Instagram.
• A fashion house's agency. Gints Bude Model Management is a unit of the Gints Bude fashion house, which also runs a paid models' studio.
• Casting agencies with a database. Baltic Casting Agency (since 2006) and 8 Studios pick people for advertising and film; anyone can submit a profile to their databases.

Two things are useful to know in advance. The 2B Models website is live, with a women's board and an application form, but its company, Agency 2B SIA, has been in liquidation since 26 October 2023. The website of The Runaways was locked behind a password on 11 October 2026, so we took its boards from an archived copy of the site. Where the press has reported on an agency, those reports are on its profile.

The market resembles Lithuania's. Fashion agencies scout new faces, develop them and introduce them to partners in Paris, Milan, London, New York, Tokyo and other markets. Local work is mostly advertising, e-commerce and catalogue shoots, campaigns for Latvian and regional brands, and social media content. There is only so much of it, so most models combine modeling with studies, and those who want to make a living from it usually head to markets abroad.

The country's main fashion event is Riga Fashion Week: the 43rd edition runs on 20–⁠24 October 2026. Dates for this and other fashion weeks are in the fashion calendar.

For Lithuanians Riga is close, and EU citizens need no permit to work in Latvia, so some models work with agencies in both countries. For the Lithuanian market see modeling agencies in Lithuania, and for real earnings in figures, see our guide how much do models make.

Licence and supervision

Latvia has no law, register or licence written for model agencies. A few general rules touch this business.

The NVA job placement licence

Under Cabinet Regulation No. 458 a company may provide job placement services only with a licence from the State Employment Agency (NVA), which runs for three years. A licence holder may charge a job seeker only for necessary costs: document preparation up to €50, transport and health insurance. It may ask for at most half of that in advance, and if the employer pays the provider, the job seeker may be charged nothing at all. The regulation has no exemption or special rule for models.

The NVA list of 2 October 2026 has 408 licensed companies, and none of the agencies in our catalogue is on it or on the register of annulled licences. We found no official statement on whether a model agency needs this licence, so we write neither that it is required nor that it is not.

Agencies and schools

Agencies may not recruit models in schools. At a hearing of the Saeima Human Rights and Public Affairs Committee on 17 February 2026, the State Education Quality Service said that outsiders may not be in a school without a teacher present and that career events must not be used for advertising or recruiting.

Checking a company

The Latvian Register of Enterprises (Uzņēmumu reģistrs) publishes the data of every company as open data: by name or number you can check, free of charge, a company's status, officers and any liquidation or insolvency entries. An agency's profile gives the company's name, number and status wherever we could identify the company.

How a modeling agency works

An agency represents the model: it puts them forward to clients, negotiates 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 database listing is a separate paid service that some agencies also sell.

The mother agency

A mother agency is the agency that discovered a model or first started working with them. It helps with the first test shoots, chooses agencies abroad, negotiates terms and follows how the model is doing there. The foreign agency pays the mother agency a share of its own commission, so the model pays nothing extra for this. If you already have a mother agency in Lithuania and a Riga agency approaches you, talk to your agency first: it can agree terms with the Latvian partner so you do not sign two conflicting contracts.

Commission and the contract

Latvia has no specific law capping a modeling agency's commission or the length of a representation agreement, so everything depends on your contract. It should state in figures the commission, the term, how it can be ended and which costs the agency may advance and deduct later. A mother agency usually asks for exclusivity in its home country; that is normal if it commits in return to introducing you to partners. A Latvian contract may be written in Latvian, so ask for a translation or an explanation and do not sign anything you do not understand. The clauses worth checking are covered in our guide to the modeling contract.

Boards and requirements

Agencies divide models into boards, each with its own requirements. The Latvian catalogue has five boards you can filter by: women (9 agencies), men (4), new faces (4), kids (1) and senior (1). Seven agencies have no board assigned: their websites do not divide models into boards, or they have no website. The table gives typical guidelines; each agency sets its own. Freyja Models, for example, states 171–⁠181 cm and ages 13–⁠24 for girls and 181–⁠191 cm and ages 16–⁠26 for men in its application terms, and Perluca Management takes applicants from 175 cm aged 16–⁠22.

Runway has the strictest requirements, covered in our guide to becoming a runway model; all the types are compared in types of modeling.

Schools and fees

Some catalogue agencies run paid model schools or studios, and a few charge for a place in a database. That is not representation: a school teaches, and an agency commits to representing you only by contract. The prices we found on the agencies' websites in October 2026:

Terri Model Agency and Gints Bude Model Management run paid studios as well. Perluca Management writes on its website that it asks for no money to be scouted or to join, and the application pages of Natalie Models, Moon Models, Bro Models, Freyja Models, DEAM Model Management and 2B Models mention no fee. 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 Latvia that represents models: agencies with their own model schools, kids agencies, casting agencies with a model database, agencies that exist only on Instagram or Facebook, and one whose company is in liquidation. We left out only agencies that have closed, schools that represent nobody, casting offices for actors only and foreign agencies with no office in Latvia.

Each agency profile shows what we found, good and bad: the address, boards, founding year and history, the company's name, number and status in the register, fees with their prices, schools and press reports where they exist. We show no association membership: the Latvian Model Agents Association, founded in 2008, is still in the register, but we found no sign that it is active. The best agency for you is the one that works with models of your type, age and goals. Before you sign, check:

• that 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 Latvian Register of Enterprises (Uzņēmumu reģistrs);
• which agencies abroad it works with and where its models are working;
• whether the agency charges for a school, photos or a database listing, how much, and whether the charge is compulsory;
• that you can take the contract home, have it translated and show it to a lawyer;
• that you will get a statement for every job and every cost;
• who will accompany a minor to shoots and on trips.

A fuller list of questions is in our guide how to choose a modeling agency.

Models under 18

Latvian law answers two questions here: who signs the contract, and on what terms a child or teenager may work.

Who signs

Minority lasts until 18 (Civil Law, section 219). Until then the child is in the parents' custody, and the parents represent the child in personal and property matters (sections 177 and 186). So the agency contract for a minor is signed by the parents, and if they live apart, they make important decisions about the child together.

Working conditions

Section 37 of the Labour Law defines a child as anyone under 15, or anyone up to 18 still in basic education, and a teenager as someone aged 15 to 18 who is not a child in that sense. Children may not be employed in permanent work. From 13, with a parent's written consent, a child may do light work outside school hours. A child may appear as a performer in an advertising, cultural, artistic or sporting event only with a parent's written consent and a permit from the State Labour Inspectorate. The employer applies, the inspectorate decides within 5 days, and the permit sets working and rest hours, duration and prohibitions, including that the child may not be involved in events that assess the child's appearance (Cabinet Regulation No. 205). Working hours are limited by sections 132 and 138:

• children from 13 may work up to 2 hours a day and 10 hours a week during the school year, and up to 4 hours a day and 20 hours a week during holidays (from 15, up to 7 and 35 hours);
• teenagers may work no more than 7 hours a day and 35 hours a week, and for those still at school, study and work time are added together;
• under-18s have a five-day week and may not work at night; for children, night means 20:00 to 06:00;
• anyone under 18 needs a medical check before starting work, repeated every year.

Section 15 of the Law on the Protection of the Rights of the Child also protects children from economic exploitation, night work and work that gets in the way of their education. When modeling is arranged under a service or representation contract rather than an employment contract, parents should agree the same limits in writing.

Appearance-demonstration work: Regulation No. 407

The one legal act aimed at the model business is Cabinet Regulation No. 407 of 2009 on involving children in activities connected with demonstrating outward appearance. It was issued under the Law on the Protection of the Rights of the Child.

• A child may be involved only with the written consent of a parent or guardian.
• Only a company, a self-employed person, an association or a foundation may do so, and only if it complies with data protection law and has had no child-rights violation in the past three years.
• The written contract states the kind of event, how the child's data and images will be used, the payment, the duration and a confirmation that a family doctor has checked the child within the past year.
• The contract may not restrict education or carry disproportionate penalties for leaving.
• Forbidden are night events from 22:00 to 6:00 for children under 16, underwear modelling, nudity and sexual poses, and publishing a child's pictures online where they can be publicly rated or commented on.
• Work with a foreign partner needs a written cooperation agreement.

Tax and income

In Latvia a model usually registers with the State Revenue Service (VID) as self-employed (saimnieciskās darbības veicējs), and does so before starting work. Some clients hire on an employment contract and withhold the tax themselves.

You become a Latvian tax resident if your declared place of residence is in Latvia or you spend 183 days or more there in any 12-month period. A non-resident's wages for work in Latvia are taxed at 25.5% when paid. If you are a Lithuanian resident, you also declare income earned in Latvia in Lithuania; how to avoid double taxation is explained in our guide to model taxes. Rates change, so check the current figures on the VID website each year.

Working abroad through a Latvian agency

Latvian citizens, like Lithuanians, need no work permit in other EU and EEA countries. Outside the EU, for example in Japan or the US, a work visa is needed, usually arranged by the foreign agency 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.
• Everything appears on your statement. If costs exceed earnings you end up with agency debt, and your contract should say who covers it.
• Some markets, especially in Asia, offer a guaranteed contract – an agreed minimum for the length of your stay.

Before you leave, ask for the apartment cost, advances, commission and who pays your 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, together with the agencies' own replies. These are reports, not findings by a court or an authority.

• Natalie Models. The Latvian public broadcaster LSM reported on 8 February 2026 that the agency is mentioned in correspondence in the published Epstein case documents: a November 2009 email to Epstein describes a casting organised in Riga by the agency's owner, and emails of December 2009 with the agency discuss a possible trip to Miami by a Latvian girl. LSM also writes that the agency ran the Baltic Beauty Contest in 2011 and 2012 and that the 2011 jury included Jean-Luc Brunel, co-owner of the agency mc2. The article does not say that any model travelled through the agency; the head of the agency told LSM he is sure that the girl did not travel to the USA and said he knew nothing about Brunel's past.
• 2B Models. The Latvian public broadcaster LSM reported on 8 February 2026 that the agency is mentioned in the published Epstein case documents: a message Epstein received on 3 January 2010, whose sender is not disclosed, speaks of an intention to visit the '2B Riga' agency. The article does not report any contact by the agency, any trip or any contract. The agency's former owner stated to LSM in writing that neither he personally nor the company has been connected with activities of this kind. According to the Latvian Register of Enterprises, SIA 'Agency 2B' has been in liquidation since 26 October 2023 (by the shareholder's decision of 18 October 2023). As of 11 October 2026 the company had not been struck off the register.
• Gints Bude Model Management. NRA reported on 17 February 2026 that at a Saeima committee hearing on model agencies advertising in schools, the centre Marta pointed to a guest lecture by the fashion house Gints Bude at Riga Secondary School No. 13 in 2023. Officials told the hearing that agencies may not advertise or recruit in schools.

The same facts, with links to the sources, are on the agencies' profiles. Before you apply, read both the report and the reply, and put your questions to the agency itself.

Scams and warning signs in Latvia

Latvia, like everywhere else, 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 or a database listing, 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; for children Regulation No. 407 forbids this;
• 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 on the spot;
• models are being sought in a school during lessons or at a career event.

Check the company in the Latvian Register of Enterprises, ask another agency for a second opinion, and if money was taken or you were threatened, go to the State Police.

How to apply

Latvian agencies usually take applications online. They ask for your name, age, height, measurements and a few digitals – plain photos with no make-up or filters.

1. Take photos in daylight: face front and 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 and read on their profiles what we found about fees, schools and the company's status. Write in English if you do not speak Latvian.
4. If you are under 18, include a parent's contact details; a parent comes to the meeting.
5. When you are invited, prepare with our guide model casting: how to prepare.