There is no single height requirement for models: each agency sets its own line for each board and publishes it on its submission page. Fashion and runway boards set the tallest minimums, fit boards ask for a narrow band around a sample size, and commercial and parts boards often set no height line at all; the table below records what ten agencies' pages said on October 1, 2026, with the measuring method agencies expect.
Why there is no single height rule
No law or public body sets a minimum height for modeling. The US Department of Labor's O*NET profile for models describes the job through its tasks, such as posing for photographers, traveling to go-sees and dressing in sample garments, without stating physical minimums. The lines come from agencies, which set them board by board, and they are tightest where clothing has to fit a particular body: the Stetts FAQ describes fit models as people with the specific measurements designers are looking for. Commercial and parts boards, which sell a look or a single feature rather than a sample size, are where relaxed lines or none at all turn up. Our overview of types of modeling explains how those boards differ in the work itself.
Published requirements by type of modeling
Every row below comes from the agency's own submission page, read on October 1, 2026, in the units it used. These are examples of how lines are drawn, not an industry average, and the same agency may change them at any time.
| Type of work | Agency page | What it publishes |
|---|---|---|
| Fashion mainboard, Australia | Chadwick Models | A minimum of 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) for women and 6 ft (183 cm) for men |
| Fashion mainboard, London | Prime Models London | At least 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) to apply, with no professional photos needed |
| Fashion mainboard, London | Kult Models London | Minimums of 172 cm for women and 183 cm for men, with phone photos accepted |
| Runway, fashion print and commercial print | TCM Models and Talent | One adult range for all three open-call divisions: women 5 ft 7 in to 6 ft, men 5 ft 11 in to 6 ft 4 in with suit sizes 38 to 44 |
| Big and tall men | TCM Models and Talent | 6 ft 4 in to 6 ft 6 in, suit sizes 48L to 50L |
| Curve | The Dragonfly Agency, Los Angeles | A curve board line of 5 ft 9 in to 6 ft, taller at the bottom than its women's mainboard |
| Sirena Models, Los Angeles | 5 ft 7 in and above for its women's print search | |
| Fit, standard women | Fit Angels, London | 5 ft 6 in to a maximum of 5 ft 8 in, UK sizes 6 to 24, and the same dress size all over |
| Fit, petite and showroom | Fit Angels, London | Petite fit at 5 ft 2 in to 5 ft 3 in; showroom at 5 ft 8 in to 5 ft 11 in in sizes 6, 8 and 10; men S to XL at 5 ft 10 in to 6 ft 1 in |
| Fit, Los Angeles | Metric Models FAQ | Women typically 5 ft 6 in to 5 ft 8 in and men 5 ft 11 in to 6 ft, with sizes 4, 6, 1X and 2X and men's Medium/32 and Large/34 named as most requested |
| Parts: feet | Closeup Models | No height line; women's shoe sizes 6 to 8.5 and men's 9 to 10.5, adults only |
| Parts: hands | Hands by TDA | Asks for height, dress size and UK shoe size but sets no range, and says no experience is needed and no fee is ever charged |
Three patterns stand out. Runway had no separate line on any page we read; at TCM it shares the fashion range, so read the mainboard numbers if runway is your goal. Fit boards care about a band, not a minimum, and the band sits below the fashion lines. And parts boards measure the part: shoe size for feet at Closeup, and for hands the details our hand model checklist covers. Shorter applicants have more routes than the fashion rows suggest; the petite model guide maps them.
How to measure your height the way agencies will
Agencies measure you again at the first meeting, so an honest number saves an awkward moment. The method below adapts the standing-height protocol in the CDC's NHANES 2021 Anthropometry Procedures Manual to a wall at home. Muse Model Management, for one, asks applicants for height measured in bare feet.
- Take off your shoes and remove anything on top of your head: clips, buns and braids all add height the manual tells examiners to remove.
- Stand on a hard floor against a flat wall, weight even, feet flat, heels together and toes pointing slightly outward.
- Check that the back of your head, shoulder blades, buttocks and heels touch the wall, or as many as your build allows without leaning.
- Level your head in what the manual calls the Frankfort plane: an imaginary line from your ear canal to the lower edge of your eye socket should be parallel to the floor, with your eyes looking straight ahead.
- Have a helper lower a hardcover book or set square flat against the wall until it presses firmly on your crown, compressing your hair.
- Breathe in deeply and stand as tall as you can while the helper marks the wall under the book; the manual uses the deep breath to straighten the spine and make readings repeatable.
- Step away, measure from floor to mark with a rigid metal tape, and repeat the whole process twice more. Record the reading the measurements agree on, in both centimeters and feet and inches, because agency forms use both.
Centimeters, feet and the rounding trap
Height lines are published in whichever unit the agency prefers, and their application forms convert between units differently. Five feet eight inches is 172.72 centimeters, so it falls between whole centimeters, and agencies resolve that in opposite directions. The height menu on the Next Canada submission form pairs 5 ft 8 in with 172 cm, while the form on the Sutherland Models application page lists 172 cm as 5 ft 7½ in and keeps 5 ft 8 in for 173 cm.
That half inch is exactly where many fashion lines sit. If you measure 172 cm, one form will describe you as meeting a 5 ft 8 in minimum and another will not, and an agency in London that publishes its minimum as 172 cm is drawing the line somewhere else again. The fix is simple: record your height in centimeters to the nearest half centimeter, choose whichever option on each form matches that centimeter figure, and never pick the rounded-up imperial label to clear a line. Put the same centimeter figure on your comp card and in every email, so a booker comparing your paperwork sees one number.
A measurement record to keep with your digitals
Clothing measurements are taken differently from height, with a soft tape snug but not tight. The descriptions below follow the instructions on the Metric Models FAQ, and the international standard ISO 8559-1 describes how body measurements are defined for clothing development, so a brand's own instructions may be more exact than these; follow them when you are given them.
| Measurement | Where the tape goes | Your figure and date |
|---|---|---|
| Height | Barefoot, using the wall method above, recorded in both units | ________ cm / ___ ft ___ in, on ________ |
| Bust or chest | Around the fullest part and across the back, arms relaxed, after breathing out | ________ on ________ |
| Waist | The narrowest point, found by bending to the side and noting the crease | ________ on ________ |
| Low hip | The fullest part of the seat, heels together, tape parallel to the floor | ________ on ________ |
| Thigh | The fullest part, about one inch below the crotch, as the Metric instructions put it | ________ on ________ |
| Shoe, dress or suit size | The size you actually wear, with the country system named | ________ on ________ |
Re-measure on a fixed schedule and before every submission, and update your comp card when anything changes; our comp card guide explains which stats belong on it and which stay private.
If you are outside a published range
- Check whether the line is required or preferred. Some agencies label their numbers as preferences and invite people outside them to apply anyway, as one Vancouver agency in our Canadian modeling guide does.
- Look at a different board, not a different number. Fit boards want specific bands rather than height alone, and our fit model guide explains how fit work is booked.
- Consider commercial print and lifestyle work, where pages such as Hands by TDA or commercial divisions set no line, and parts work, where size of the part matters more than stature.
- In the table, the curve and big-and-tall lines sit above the standard ones, so height that rules you out of one board can fit another.
- Never pay anyone to assess your height, measure you for representation or sell you a program that promises to change your eligibility; those offers belong with the warning signs in our modeling agency scams guide, and schools that promise to fix it are discussed in do you need modeling school.
- Do not round up. A booker who measures you shorter than your submission has learned something about your other numbers too.
Limitations of this guide
The table is a dated sample of published lines from ten agencies' pages, not a survey, and it cannot tell you what any agency accepts in practice or what clients request this season. Agencies change their pages without notice, some publish nothing, and a page that sets no line can still have clients with strict preferences. The measuring method is adapted from a clinical survey protocol for home use and will not match a calibrated stadiometer exactly. Nothing here is a reason to change your body: if pressure about measurements is affecting your health, talk to a doctor.