Ballet is beautiful, elegant, powerful, and of course - has great fashion.
So one would assume a natural crossover in the ven diagram that is ballet and fashion.
HOWEVER, dancers and models serve different purposes. They have different abilities, backgrounds, experiences, training, and goals in their respective industry.
So while dancers may fit much of the criteria to be a model, this doesn't necessarily make sense the other way around. Models are certain to slay a photoshoot or cat walk in ballet-inspired pointe shoes, no doubt. But there is a line. And that line is, you guessed it, pointe shoes.
It's for the models' safety. Pointe is not just a shoe - it's an entire discipline. And humans were not built to stand, nevertheless dance, on their toes. So it's in the best interest of all parties involved - talent, production, brand, ect - to just cast a dancer if the project calls for pointe shoes.
We're not saying people cannot wear ballet clothing if they are not dances. We LOVE that other art forms take inspiration from ballet! It's actually totally ok if models wear ballet flats. We'll even accept someone donning a pair of pointe shoes if they don't actually try to go en pointe (although once you're strapped in, it's hard to resist!)
But this issue is about safety. For models' bodies and livelihoods. And this benefits dancers too, giving them more opportunities for employment. Management doesn't have to worry about anyone getting hurt and potential liabilities that come with that, and production will actually go faster because a dancer can perform properly and safely in fewer shots. It's actually a win-win-win for everyone!
That being said, please consider hiring a dancer for your next ballet inspired shoot that involves pointe shoes.