It's Gonna be a Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays Everyone! I must apologise for my slackness with posting of late but I have just spent the past few days holed up in a lakeside cabin in Bavaria without internet access. Now don't get me wrong - I love nature and all, but there is only so much hiking and fresh air that I can take before I start to get a little stir crazy for a healthy dose of fashion and modelling. British Vogue gets 2012 off to just the right start with a gorgeous editorial lensed by Daniel Jackson and styled by Francesca Burns, featuring an eclectic cast of beauties. Veteran models Elise Crombez and Doutzen Kroes lead the charge alongside newcomers Kati Nescher, Emily Baker, Codie Young, Romee Strijd, Maria Bradley and familiar faces Ymre Stiekma, Vika Falileeva and Bette Franke. I love this editorial for its unpredictable line-up of girls and the fact that the models are allowed to imbue each image with a hint of their personality.

Romee Strijd

Maria Bradley

Emily Baker

Elise Crombez

Bette Franke

Codie Young

Ymre Stiekema

Kirsi Pyrhonen

Kati Nescher

Doutzen Kroes

Maria Bradley

Kirsi Pyrhonen

Vika Falileeva

Emily Baker
British Vogue - February 2012
Photographer - Daniel Jackson
Styling - Francesca Burns
Source - models.com

Class of 2011

V Spain highlights the newest faces in modelling for its June 2011 feature entitled "Back to School." Codie Young, Maud Welzen, Kate King, Ruby Aldridge and Marique Schimmel pose for Terry Tsiolis and demonstrate why they are currently under the radar of the most influential casting directors, photographers and magazine editors. Young, Welzen, Schimmel, King et al. eclipsed the competition at the recent Fall/Winter 2011 shows and are only just beginning to convert that exposure into real editorial and campaign traction. Schimmel appears in the latest D&G campaign shot by Mario Testino, and King features alongside established models Liu Wen, Isabeli Fontana and Constance Jablonski in the Dolce Gabbana Campaign lensed by Steven Klein.

Codie Young & Ruby Aldridge

Annabelle Tsaboukas & Kate King

Marique Schimmel & Ruby Aldridge

Hannah Noble & Ros Georgou

Maud Welzen & Kat Hessen
V Spain - June 2011
Photographer - Terry Tsiolis
Source - models.com

Untouched

Models from the past, present and future, team up with photographer Scott Trindle for an exhibition of portraits to mark the opening of Viva Model Management's London office. The exhibition currently showing at the Rochelle School of Art in London, features Viva's superstar models and budding hopefuls in a series of paired-back, black and white portraits. The exhibit entitled "Untouched" takes the audience up-close-and-personal with established names including Natalia Vodianova, Kristy Hume, Raquel Zimmerman, Edita Vilkevicuite, and relative newcomers, Codie Young, Jessica Clarke and Emily Baker, amongst others, in a series of untouched images. With minimal make-up and styling, the uniqueness and natural beauty of each model is magnified ten-fold. 

Jessica Clarke

Raquel Zimmerman

Edita Vilkevicuite

Saskia de Brauw

Natalia Vodianova

Kristy Hume
Above images courtesy of fashionologie.com

In an interview with vogue.com, Trindle asserts that "It doesn't scare me that the images aren't retouched, it adds another layer of interest and intrigue... The fear that surrounds an untouched image is quite amazing - and again I'm no martyr. So much can be adapted in post, and so I suppose the main benefit is purity." Viva's director Natalie Hand adds that "His images stood out because it is just so interesting to see the girls like that: he shot them with no additional hair, make-up and styling. They were shot exactly as they were in person, exactly how they were when they walked through his door. And they looked really beautiful. The blemishes added to their charm. And you could definitely learn something about the model's real character from the pictures."

Amanda Norgaard & Emily Baker

Kirsi Pyrhonen & Maryna Linchuk

Linn Arvidsson & Carla Gebhart

Ping Hue & Rosie Tupper

Laura Blokhina & Taryn Davidson

Kelli Lumi & Emily

Ileana B & Codie Young
Photographer - Scott Trindle
Paired images courtesy of models.com

Natural Resources

At the recent Fall/Winter 2011 shows, Australia emerged as a veritable goldmine for modelling talent with a slew of new Aussie models dominating the runways of New York, London, Milan and Paris. According to Wayne Sterling, the co-founder and editorial director of models.com, "clearly the modelling industry has fixated on Australia and New Zealand as an incredible new source for emerging faces. The results of great scouting speak for themselves and now Down Under stands as a Top 3 scouting resource alongside Holland and Russia."

Leading the Australian charge were established Australian models Abbey Lee Kershaw, Ajak Deng, Julia Nobis, Myf Shepherd, Bambi Northwood-Blyth, Annaleise Smith, Alice Burdeu and Lauren Smith. Newcomers Dempsey Stewart, Codie Young, Ruby Jean Wilson, Rose Smith, and Lydia Willemina Collins eclipsed the competition by landing exclusives left, right and centre, appearing in only the most blue chip of shows. Here is my rundown of five of modelling's most exciting new prospects.

Golden Girls
Codie Young & Dempsey Stewart
NY Times T Magazine - April 2011
Photographer - Angelo Pennetta
Source - models.com

Discovered while working in her mother's tattoo parlour, Sydney-sider Lydia Willemina Collins is represented by Ford Models and is of Dutch and Indonesian extraction. Collins has a cool, androgynous look that is as beguiling as her spectacular bone structure and piercing green eyes. Collins scored a Givenchy exclusive at the Fall/Winter 2011 shows.

Lydia Willemina Collins
Photographer - David Urbanke
Source - davidurbanke.blogspot.com

Photographer - David Urbanke
Source - davidurbanke.blogspot.com

Photographer - David Urbanke
Source - davidurbanke.blogspot.com

Givenchy - F/W 2011
Photographer - Yannis Vlamos
Source - style.com

Sunshine Coast beauty Codie Young amassed a staggering 39 shows in her debut season walking for  the likes of Chanel, Lanvin and Roberto Cavalli. Discovered at the age of sixteen whilst shopping with friends in April 2010, Young was swiftly signed to DNA Models in New York and landed a six month Australian Vogue exclusive. Young is now based in New York and lives with fellow DNA models Maud Welzen, Emily Baker and Jessica Clarke.

Calvin Klein - F/W 2011
Photographer - Marcus Tondo

Lanvin - F/W 2011
Photographer - Yannis Vlamos

Chloe - F/W 2011
Photographer - Marcus Tondo
Runway images courtesy of style.com

Australian Vogue - October 2010
Photographer - Nicole Bentley
Source - models.com

Hailing from Perth, Rose Smith of Next Models logged runway mileage at Chanel and Fendi and has already been photographed by Daniele Duella & Iango Henzi for V Magazine. In an interview for the Vine, Smith reveals that "I'm waiting for my American visa to be approved, and I'll be moving to NYC as soon as it is. In the meantime I am going to Paris to shoot an editorial. I'm definitely ready to make the move..."

Rose Smith
Chanel - F/W 2011
Photographer - Yannis Vlamos

Rose Smith
Fendi - F/W 2011
Runway images courtesy of style.com

Rose Smith
Photographer - Unknown
Source - chicmanagement.com.au

V Magazine - January 2011
Photographer - Daniele Duella & Iango Henzi
Source - thefashionspot.com

Rosemary Smith
Photographer - Unknown
Source - chicmanagement.com.au

Elite's Ruby Jean Wilson landed a trio of exclusives, appearing at Olivier Theyskens Theory in New York, at Giles Deacon in London and at Yves Saint Laurent in Paris, the latter for which she opened. Seventeen year old, Scottish-born Wilson caught the attention of casting directors Ashley Brokaw and Katie Grand, and is destined for a killer show season come September.

Ruby Jean Wilson
Yves Saint Laurent - F/W 2011
Photographer - Marcus Tondo
Source - style.com

Photographer - Unknown
Source - bonaelamour.blogspot.com

Australian Vogue - Unknown
Photographer - Nicole Bentley
Source - thefashionspot.com

It was Perth's Dempsey Stewart who was the standout star of the Fall/Winter 2011 shows, walking in a total of 41 shows including Prada, Burberry and Louis Vuitton. Represented by Wilhelmina Models in New York, Eighteen year old Stewart was discovered in a local modelling competition and modelled extensively in Tokyo before her career took off internationally.

Acne - F/W 2011
Photographer - Fillipo Fior

Prada - F/W 2011
Photographer - Monica Feudi

Philip Lim 3.1 - F/W 2011
Photographer - Marcus Tondo
All runway images courtesy of style.com

Dempsey Stewart
Photographer - Stef King
Source - fashiongonerogue.com