Last month, New York magazine's The Cutpublished an article titled "Instagram’s Teen Idol on What It’s Like to Be ‘Perfect,’" which catalogued the heavily documented (read: public) life of 19-year-old model Alexis Ren. Her social media feed, though followed by more than 7 million people, looks less like a fashion insider's and more like that of a lifestyle blogger. In the past few months, however, Ren has decided she's ready to change that.
"In the future, Alexis hopes to transition her bikini success into more high-fashion jobs," Allie Jones writes, adding that the model has some big-name ambitions. "I look up to Gigi Hadid," she said. "I love where she’s taken herself, I love what brands she’s working on. I respect her because I understand… I mean, girls like her open the doors for girls like me. So all I can do is thank her.” Gigi’s entrée into the fashion world was also nontraditional; she started racking up Instagram followers after appearing with her mother on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Now she and fellow reality star Kendall Jenner are two of the top models in the world. Alexis could be one TV appearance away from that mainstream success."