They're young, pretty and never need to pick up the check - the latest must-have only for the beautiful people

Daily Mail​

a day ago

An app offering an amazing array of free perks has been launched but there's a catch - you need to be pretty to cash in.
Larissa Drekonja, a former model and actress, co-founded the app Neon Coat, with Dan Berger.
The app offers a selection of experiences, services, or comped food and drink, in exchange for the model or influencer receiving the freebie to post online about it.
The exclusive app is a saddening reminder that being pretty can pay as criteria to join the app requires models to have at least 1,000 followers on Instagram and a substantial portfolio of work, and, for influencers, they must have at least 5,000 followers on Instagram or TikTok.
There are currently more than 12,500 models and influencers who have used the app as well as over 1,500 businesses and brands across New York, Los Angeles, Miami and London.
Lauren Karowski, a travel content creator, finds herself opening the app every day when she's in a city Neon Coat runs in.
'I try to use it to either find things that I was going to do anyways. So again, like getting my eyebrows laminated, getting my nails done, going to a workout class, or it's a really good way to find new like restaurants,' she told the Daily Mail.
'There'll be offers for, you know, comp dinner for two people and drinks. And it's a restaurant I've never heard of. So I'd say I use it like a mix of trying new places, and also just like doing things in my day-to-day life that I would normally do.'
The founders said the app 'fundamentally' works as a marketing service that allows models and creators to work with brands they love and take more control of their finances and career.
Drekonja founded it after her experience as fresh talent landing in New York City from Slovenia as a teenager.
She found the 'exclusive' nature of the industry held herself and other models back from being able to thrive in their career and lifestyle, including just affording the basics.
As a young model, Drekonja experienced late payments, cramped apartments, unsafe working conditions, bouts of loneliness and 'unsavory' promoters.
She created Neon Coat with a vision of helping young women have a very different experience than she did.
In her early days in the industry, Drekonja found that booking anything from routine appointments, dinners, or free haircuts, had to be done through her agents or promoters - and one wrong move or the wrong reputation could bar you from the scene.
'A lot of times, as a model, if you embarrass them, or talk to other people when you were out, or - depending on the promoter - if you said something wrong, if you weren't a party girl, you're just not invited anymore,' Drekonja told the Daily Mail.
'Part of what this was is not like financially empowering, but just empowering talent to be able to pay for daily life in an expensive city,' she added.
Even though the models or creators may be making a lot of money, through agencies or promoters 'you might be on that stipend and then most of your expenses are being deducted from the agency'
'Just for the basics, food, workouts, beauty treatments, the basic things they might need as a model or lifestyle creator in a big city.'
Even though the models or creators may be making a lot of money, through agencies or promoters 'you might be on that stipend and then most of your expenses are being deducted from the agency,' Drekonja said.
'So, it's very limiting what a model can do in an expensive city like New York or London, Paris,' she continued. 'So having Neon Coat definitely kind of puts the control into a model's hand.'
Now, the app has blown up among young influencers and models who can get their hands on free drinks, dinners, or workouts - and all they have to do is post about it.
Karowski found the app was a great way to save money through the collaborations. Since joining the app last fall, she has found it worked much better for her than experiences with promoters or agencies.
'I used to be signed to like an influencer management agency like two years ago, where I feel like I would be like begging for any opportunity, like a comped meal,' she said.
'I think, in my personal experience, in their minds, it's like, "why would I even bother to, you know, set up this nail appointment or why would I bother to set up this dinner?" Because they're genuinely getting no financial like gain from that,' she said.
A major advantage of Neon Coat for Karowski is that it gives creators and models the freedom to 'do as much or as little as you want'.
Now, the app has blown up among young influencers and models who can get their hands on free drinks, dinners, or workouts - and all they have to do is post about it
For lifestyle content creator, Jaynie Miller, the app has allowed her to get to know New York City and build up her portfolio.
'I've been using it for about a month now and I feel like it's a really cool way to explore different restaurants and things around the city,' Miller told the Daily Mail.
'A lot of my content right now has been restaurant reviews or day in my life videos and I'll just hop around,' she said. 'Like maybe one day I'll start with a coffee shop on Neon Coat, and then I'll show like a dinner place that I like going to.
'And in between that, I'll go to a nail salon or a hair appointment and just show how I can like spend my day creating content and trying out new places in the city.'
Like many in the industry, Miller found that finding a way to work with and collaborate with businesses was tough.
'It's a little trickier having to reach out, usually through [Direct Messages] and sometimes you don't hear a response or if you have the wrong email, or they're just not open to collaboration at this time,' she said.
'So with Neon Coat, it's great to know that this restaurant, let's say, for sure want[s] to collaborate.'
Even models signed to agencies have been encouraged to bolster their social media presence with the rise of Instagram models and influencers.
For Valeria Nanclares, she has seen the industry change over the course of her 14 years in modeling.
'I always was like, "Oh, I don't have to post that much on social media, because I'm a model. I don't need those other followers,"' she told the Daily Mail.
'But that perspective definitely has changed over the last five years for me, because like, now it has become a thing. You really have to have a good social media and good followers, because some brands, not all of them, but they would prefer someone with more followers than someone who doesn't have [them].'
Berger and Drekonja told the Daily Mail that, not only does Neon Coat help the talent, but it also offers businesses an opportunity to promote their brand with creators and models who are already interested in their service or product.
Drekonja said that Neon Coat allows businesses to increase 'the likelihood of matching somebody that the brand actually can identify with, rather than just getting a[any] model and having a shoot.'
Craig Houston, managing partner of Jack & Charlie's No. 118, found that filling the restaurant with attractive influential people who post about their experiences there worked incredibly well for the business.
'The West Village is an extraordinarily competitive market,' Houston, who offers around 30 to 40 comped meals on the app per month, told the Wall Street Journal.
'The energy in the room is really what the business is about.'