Element of Surprise

Whilst it's always lovely to see established models like Natasha Poly, Karmen Pedaru, and Raquel Zimmermann booking campaign after campaign each season, every now and then it's nice to see casting directors taking a leap of faith in a newcomer. Valentino's campaign shot by the amazing Deborah Turbeville, features four of modellings up-and-coming talent; Bette Franke, Fei Fei Sun, Maud Welzen and Zuzanna Bijoch. Turbeville's enigmatic photographic style perfectly captures the romanticism and mysterious ethereal-like beauty of Valentino's Spring/Summer 2012 collection. Each of the four models is uniquely beautiful and possesses that indefinable star quality that is campaign worthy.

Maud Welzen, Zuzanna Bijoch, Bette Franke & Fei Fei Sun
Valentino - S/S 2012
Photographer - Deborah Turbeville
Source - fashiongonerogue.com

Hervé Leger enlists photographer Camilla Akrans to capture the exquisite beauty of former America's Next Top Model alumni Fatima Siad for its Spring/Summer 2012 campaign. Siad looks every bit the warrior goddess in a gladiator inspired bandeau dress whilst posing alongside a white horse. The Somali-Ethiopian model has more than earnt her stripes, having branched out on her own in the modelling world, turning heads at the recent Spring/Summer 2012 collections with appearances at Hermés, Dries Van Noten, and Andrew Gn.

Fatima Siad
Hervé Leger - S/S 2012
Photographer - Camilla Akrans
Source - fashiongonerogue.com

Chinese newcomer Xiao Wen Ju scores the campaign coup of the season with an only girl slot for Marc Jacobs. The designer enlists twenty year old Wen Ju to be the first Chinese campaign star for the prestigious label. The Xian native represented by IMG Model Management has been modelling for only a year and has already appeared in Love, American Vogue, French Revue de Modes, V Magazine and Interview. Wen Ju's wide set eyes, doll-like features and petite frame bring a freshness and an element of surprise to the Juergen Teller lensed campaign images. Wen Ju was hard not to notice at the Spring/Summer 2012 collections where she walked for the likes of Louis Vuitton, Loewe, Dsquared2, Missoni, Anteprima, DKNY, Rag & Bone, 3.1 Philip Lim, Cushnie et Ochs , Peter Som and of course, Marc Jacobs.

Xiao Wen Ju
Marc Jacobs - S/S 2012
Photographer - Juergen Teller
Source - models.com

Diamond in the Rough

It's no secret that the America's Next Top Model franchise has yet to produce a single credible model in its entire 17 Cycle run. Well all of that is about to change with 24 year old ANTM Cycle 10 reject, Fatima Siad, who caught the eye of casting director Russell Marsh at the Paris Spring/Summer 2012 shows. Marsh cast the Somali-Ethiopian model in the Dries Van Noten show alongside big name models including Karmen Pedaru and Sigrid Agren, and the effect snowballed from there with Siad landing appearances at Hermes, Andrew Gn, Moncler Gamme Rouge and Thierry Colson.

Surprise Package
Arise - Issue 13
Photographer - Itaysha Jordan

Arise - Issue 13
Photographer - Itaysha Jordan
Source - fashiongonerogue.com

Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, Siad had a particularly turbulent childhood, having undergone female genital mutilation at the age of seven. Siad's parents divorced at an early age, and she and her two siblings were raised by her mother. Siad and her mother fled to the US when she was thirteen, following the death of her two sisters at the hands of the Somali army during the civil war.

I'll admit that when I first noticed Siad at the Andrew Gn Spring/Summer 2012 show in Paris, I had no inkling as to her identity nor the ANTM connection. I was enamoured by her refined and elegant features and her immaculate skin tone. I'm hoping that the exposure garnered at the Paris shows will open doors for Siad in the seasons ahead as she possesses an exquisite beauty that deserves recognition.

Andrew Gn - S/S 2012
Photographer - Filippo Fior

Thierry Colson - S/S 2012
Photographer - Unknown
Source - thefashionspot.com

Hermes - S/S 2012
Photographer - Alessandro Viero

Dries Van Noten - S/S 2012
Photographer - Yannis Vlamos

Moncler Gamme Rouge - S/S 2012
Photographer - Marcus Tondo
All runway images unless otherwise
noted courtesy of style.com