Every parent considers their kids to be the most beautiful in the world. They are the apple of their parent's eye. But when twins were born to the Clements family the mother knew instantly that they were special. She had an eye for beauty and the moment her babies were born she knew what profession she was going to put them into and she did. Today her children are amongst the most famous kids in America. Who are they and how did they become what they are today?
Kevin Clements and his wife Jaqi had been pregnant with twins and they delivered before the due date. Nevertheless, there was no complication and the twins were born healthy. This was 2010 and like any new parents, Kevin and Jaqi were not quite prepared for all the parental duties but Jaqi noticed something really amazing about her newborn daughters that was going to be life-changing for the entire family.
The Clements already had a baby boy who was 2 years old in 2010. And even though Jaqi loved her boy she always wanted a girl. The family got a bonanza news when they were told by their doctor that Jaqi was pregnant with twins and they both were girls. Kevin was a handsome man and Jaqi's beauty was a topic of envy amongst her kitty friends. The daughters were going to be beautiful, having the genes of Kevin and Jaqi but just how beautiful?!
On July 7, 2010, twin daughters were born into the Clements family exactly four and a half weeks early. Thankfully they were healthy girls. In an interview later, Jaqi observed, “They came four and a half weeks early but knowing their personalities now it makes total sense that they would show up early, unannounced, and ready to take on anything.” What was so special about them?
Jaqi held identical twins in her arms and she knew right at that moment that she had not laid eyes on a more beautiful pair of girls and the observation was not coming just from her motherly love instincts but as an observer of beauty. Ava and Leah were gorgeous and Jaqi was really excited to clothe them in identical clothes and accessorize them. Secretly, she had also thought of a profession for her daughter.
When relatives and acquaintances came to congratulate the Clements on the birth of their daughters and beautiful family, or when they took their daughters out on a stroll even the strangers noticed the striking appearances of their daughters too. They complimented their flawlessly smooth skin, silky hair, and impeccably symmetrical faces- it seemed like they were baby models from a fashion magazine.
Passers-by casually commented that Jaqi should get her daughters to model. And some relatives even suggested the same. But her daughters were not even a year old yet and she even had a boy to take care of. How was she going to manage baby girls in modeling and a boy at home? Nonetheless, she decided to give it a try and gave a call to a modeling agency in Los Angeles. It was not a good decision though.
Jaqi did sign up her daughters with a model agency but once she got out there she was bombarded by a number of scouts and agents to sign up her babies for various companies. Jaqi was finding it all hard to manage. She said, “It was hard enough to get out of the door most days so my attempt back then was short lived and I decided it just wasn’t the time.” So what was the family going to do?
The first attempt at modeling had opened Jaqi's eyes. Her daughters were getting a lot of unwanted attention even though she knew in her heart that their beauty was unmatched she started wondering if modeling was the right career choice at such a young age. She did not want any negative impacts on her daughters.
The girls were so young and having experienced what it would be like to have them model at such an early stage, Jaqi realized that keeping her daughters picture perfect and taking care of the entire family was not possible. They were infants, after all, they should be allowed to grow up naturally without having to be conscious of how they appear. She pulled them out of the agency but things were going to change after a few years.
Jaqi had realized that it was more important to give her daughters a 'normal life' when they were growing up. The world of glamor and model life is obviously enticing but the girls should be allowed to enjoy their childhood. So the Clements family was like a normal family, going on vacations, enjoying their times together but things were going to change soon.
A child is not capable enough to make decisions and in taking a decision as serious as that of career it is only right that they should be allowed a say. Jaqi wanted to make sure that Ava and Leah had a say in deciding their futures but the problem was that the Clements daughters were still toddlers and they did not have faculties developed enough to decide what was best for them.
Kevin and Jaqi often discussed if and when was the correct time to let their daughters model. When was an age old enough for the twins to get into modeling because with their features they were sure to rock that world. They kept deliberating and Ava and Leah were past the age of 6 now. That is when Jaqi decided something...
Jaqi was a believer of signs and omens. She considered her lucky number to be 7 and she considered it a good sign that her daughters were born on 7th of July. The daughters were going to turn 7 on 7/7/2017. She just knew this was a special date and somehow the right time to introduce her daughters to the world of modeling.
Ava and Leah were developing individual personalities. They took dancing and swimming lessons for extracurricular activities. On their 7th birthday, Jaqi introduced the idea of modeling to her daughters. In an interview, she told, “I presented my idea to the girls that, if they were up for it, in addition to their dance classes and swim team practices they had every week, they could give modeling a try.”
After Jaqi introduced the idea of modeling to Leah and Ava, they were really excited. About their reaction, Jaqi observed, “I was not surprised at all when they started jumping up and down and couldn’t wait to begin!” They were confident girls who loved to perform what they learned in dance classes for their neighbors and relatives. Now that Jaqi knew this is what the girls wanted, she could move forward without anticipation.
The eyes, the glossy hair, and the smooth skin were all prior gifted to Leah and Ava. On top of that, they developed charming personalities. The mother wanted to get a photoshoot of theirs done so they had a portfolio ready to show to big modeling agencies. Fortunately for them, an opportunity was available right next door.
Even though the girls excitedly agreed to the idea of modeling, they were still kids. Jaqi did not want a load of makeup to be put on her little girls or have pretty dresses hamper their growth in any way so unlike before, she decided to take it slow. She said, “I dug out my 10-year-old Nikon camera from a bin in the garage, put a few waves in the girl’s hair, dabbed on a little blush, and out we went to take some pictures.”
Things seemed to be working out in the favor of the Clements family. It was sheer coincidence that one of their neighbors had recently inaugurated her own children's boutique and she needed models for the marketing of the clothes. Not only did the twins get the job, it was good for the future. Jaqi told the interviewer, “I needed some new photos if I was going to get them an agent so I figured this would be a great opportunity for all of us.” Things started to fall in place.
Ava and Leah have awe-inspiring features but modeling talent is not something one acquires naturally, Jaqi realized this when the girls' first shoot happened. She said, “Ava would look at the camera while Leah would stare off into space… Leah would accidentally bump into Ava who of course thought it was on purpose and would shove her back.” But Jaqi had to cut some slack to her girls, they were kids and this was their first time modeling.
Apart from their newness to the whole thing, the girls behaved quite remarkably during the entire shoot. The photos were, to no one's surprise, mesmerizing. Now that Jaqi had some promotional photographs she prepared a portfolio of her girls and decided to go to an agency again. She was not too confident about receiving a reply as it had been 6 years since her last attempt. She was wrong.
Jaqi decided to talk to her previous contacts about putting her daughters in the modeling line again. She told in the interview, “I still had a handful of contacts, so I decided to start there. To my surprise, I heard back from almost every single one asking to set up a time to meet the girls." Jaqi was unable to decide which agency she should go with, in the end, she committed a blunder.
Unable to decide among the shortlisted agencies, Jaqi went ahead with two agencies, DreamRay Model & Talent in Orange County and a Los Angeles agency Zuri Model & Talent. Jaqi thought that working with two agencies would provide more exposure and opportunities to her daughter but she just ended up in trouble.
Things were smooth until one day one of the agents called and said, “Hi, we wanted to let you know we were able to get the girls straight through to a callback for a Barbie Audition tomorrow.” Jaqi panicked as the girls had been to the same audition with the other agent. Luckily, the two worked out a deal among themselves and things sorted out. The girls got the most amazing pictures clicked and were becoming famous children models.
In the age of social media, there is no better platform for marketing. To create a fanbase for her daughters and to have an online portfolio of their pictures for the agencies to look at, Jaqi created an Instagram page. The twins are so adorable and beautiful that the page instantly garnered a lot of followers!
The page gathered over 300,000 followers in a matter of months. Even some celebrity pages do not have that number of followers! It was a great hit and it did serve its purpose of being an online record of Leah's and Ava's work. But it is not as easy to maintain a quality Instagram page as one would think. Jaqi told the interviewer some tricks.
The beauty and charm of the twins was obviously the primary reason for the Instagram account's success but to get a certain class of followers Jaqi made sure to use some tactics. She said, “Now, a little over five months later, the girls have over 380,000 followers.” She continued, “One thing I know for sure if it’s ALL about the pictures… so don’t settle for an average photographer because you want to save a few dollars.” Hear that? The twins weren't the only of the Clements who got into modeling.
The older brother who was now 9-year-old cute boy with all the Clements family charm also got into modeling. Jaqi signed up the same modeling agencies for Chase that were handling the projects for Leah and Ava. What more, Chase even bagged a few commercials and tested his acting skills!
The three siblings only have their parents to be thankful to for their slaying genes and irresistible charm. The members of the entire Clements family could be models and Jaqi even appeared in a few of the girls' photoshoots. The children are healthy and are allowed to eat whatever they want. Dieting at such a young age is not encouraged by the parents.
Jaqi's hunch was, “Aside from the fact that I’m a huge believer in signs and have been told by almost everyone that 7 is a lucky number, I just had a feeling that this year was going to be a fun and exciting year for them.” The mother's prediction turned out to be correct. The girls got a lot of projects and are a household face for some brands.
Modeling did not come naturally to the girls but they learned it with time. And now at 7 years of age, they are quite pro at what they do. Within a week of their first modeling project, they got six other jobs! And it might appear exhausting, indeed is but the girls' excitement never waver and so they do not complain.
The world of modeling is the world of glamour and fame. It tends to get to people's head and these are just kids. Fame and popularity can have a negative influence on children with them becoming arrogant or throwing tantrums so it was really important for the Clements parent to control their children's fame and let them have their innocence as long as possible.
Jaqi though a modern parent, is very protective of her daughters. She doesn't want them to become mature or lose their innocence before their age. Hence, as far as choosing projects and what goes on the social media is concerned she is the one in charge and that is how it is going to be at least till the girls are teenagers.
Instagram photoshoot pictures are perfect but what goes on in the making these perfect pictures can be sometimes ugly. Jaqi also created a website blog in addition to the Instagram page and on the former she blogs the before, after and behind the scenes of the girls' shoot. One one of the blog she says that one thing she has learned “is before trusting someone to guide you, make sure you know who you are getting involved with.”
The blog post is brutally honest and captures the reality of the modeling world. In one of these blog posts, she talks about the negative comments and what potential harm they can bring to the kids if they read them. Some people online voiced their criticism against the use of excessive or any kind of makeup on young girls but Jaqi had a reply for them all.
Jaqi handled all the negative comments gracefully, she replied to them, "Makeup is an integral part of any photo shoot. Whether you’re young or old, makeup is a requirement of almost every single agency on every single set. Given that the girls are only 7, their makeup is always light and natural." She is the mother of the two girls, she knows better than anyone what's good for them.
She continued, “Some kids like to spend all their time staring at iPads, playing video games or watching TV and not communicating with the outside world. My girls enjoy sports and dance AND modeling…I didn’t decide that my girls were going to start modeling, they did. And if the day ever comes that they want to move on to something else, I will 100% support their decision to do that. But for now, kids or not, this is something that they enjoy doing!”
The twins for their natural beauty have been given the title for the world's most "beautiful twins". This title brought more fame to them but it also led some people to compare them with Thylane Blondeau, the 16-year-old French model who started her career in modeling at the age of 6.
Thylane Blondeau started modeling at a very early age. Her personality and attractive features got her projects and collaborations with a lot of leading publications. However, when she was 10, she became a topic of controversy after doing a shoot with Vogue Enfants. The pictures above are from the same shoot and it was tagged inappropriate and scandalous by the majority of the public.
The phase of the scandal was soon over and since that photoshoot, with Vogue, she has been a part of hundreds of other brand shoots. She was on the cover of Dolce & Gabbana’s spring/summer 2017 edition and Jalouse magazine. Currently, she is the brand ambassador for L’Oréal. With the Clements girls, it is different.
Modeling was girls' choice. Jaqi made sure to not impose anything on them that they did not wanna do. Some people commented that the girls somehow look 'sad' in the pictures and infer that they are being forced into modeling or doing it against their will.
Solemnity is the requirement of some shoots and if someone scrolls through the page they will find a lot of happy shoots too. So the comment is completely unwarranted.
Although modeling requires seriousness of a kind, Leah and Ava are kids. They do not just go on a set, pose, get down and go home. The way they goof around with each other and with everyone else on the shoots brings life to the photos.
Modeling life, especially for kids can be exhausting because of all the traveling and work but the Clements family have found ways to enjoy their time together. They convert their travels into small vacations or trips and get to spend a lot of time together as a family. They meet new people, make new friends, build more contacts, everyday gain new experience.
Since the twins have garnered such a huge following online they have become influencers of kids their own age. So a lot of brands send them free clothing, accessories, food or toy products to promote and market. The brands get exposure and shoutouts and the girls get free stuff. Win-win!
Getting Instagram followers is different but retaining them is just another game. Jaqi has learned a few trade tricks now that she is in the business. She spilled the beans on some of the secrets, the first of which is- do not over post. If you are all over someone's timeline, no matter how cool your pictures, they are most likely to get annoyed and unfollow you.
Have you seen these posts which have an uncountable number of hashtags after the caption? It can be annoying to look at but for the person who posted it, it means a lot of organic traffic. The right hashtags increase your visibility in the right circles so, if you want to make your work famous, figure this one thing out!
If you wanna make the right contacts, don't feel shy to tag celebs and big brands, that is what Jaqi did and that is one of the reasons why she got a lot of big brands on board for the twins' photoshoot. Jaqi tags the photographer, make up artist, designer of whatever photoshoot she gets done, it not only acknowledges the professionals involved, it increases the Instagram page visibility.
Following the people from the industry is important and Jaqi made sure to follow pages which she wanted would follow her back- like other kid models, kid clothing stores, photographers, makeup artists and the likes.
In order to spark a conversation or get attention, Jaqi would comment on other model's, stores', photographers' posts. Hoping to build contacts or relationships and it actually worked. One has to be forward on the social media in order to use it to their advantage.
The family noticed a trend in the number of likes and shares they got on their posts. Some were more liked than others. They noticed that where both girls were together in a picture, with their eyes highlighted were liked by more public.
Twins enjoy modeling right now, they might not in the future. They might want to pursue a career in entirely different fields differently. But that is the future and what matters is the present.
What's important right now is that they are gaining memorable experience and having fun doing it.