Cody Chandler

Cody Chandler is a New York based founder and talent manager whose work spans image direction, creative strategy, and talent development across fashion, art, food, and fitness. Over the course of his career his clients have included Prada, Gucci, Dior, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Thom Browne, JW Anderson, Marc Jacobs, Nike, ON, and Adidas.

Chandler, who grew up in South Carolina, started out casting for fashion for veteran agent Barbara Pfister, who took him under her wing when he moved to New York. In early 2017, he resolved to challenge the widespread exclusion, homophobia and transphobia he saw in the fashion and modelling industry.

As well as improving queer representation, which Chandler sees as a force for normalising otherwise marginalised identities, New Pandemics provided a safe space for its models to collaborate with brands looking to improve their approach to diversity — namely by ensuring that the model’s gender pronouns are respected and that the brand is educated on the significance of issues facing the LGBTQ+ community. “I want to support people within the agency, but I also want to support the community as a whole,” Chandler said in an interview with Dazed.

New Pandemics had a roster of 18 models, who have been featured in titles such as Vogue Italia, Harper’s Bazaar and Dazed and brands including Prada, Marc Jacobs , Adidas and Nike.

Chandler has since founded Bicep Reps, an agency for athletes, bodybuilders and training-driven talent. The agency treats strength and physical development as cultural currency, bridging the worlds of sport, fashion, and fine art. Alongside his agency work, he manages chefs and cultural figures whose work moves across disciplines, developing creative concepts and brokering collaborations between artists and brands.