sports illustrated: The Cut

Showing posts with label The Cut. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Better With Age

Hot on the heels of Saskia de Brauw and Aymeline Valade comes twenty three year old classic French beauty Julia Frauche. Frauche was the standout star of the Spring/Summer 2012 collections in September with "who's that girl" appearances at Calvin Klein, Altuzarra, Jason Wu, Reed Krakoff, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Gucci, Celine, Balenciaga, Chanel, Chloé, Givenchy, Stella McCartney, Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana and Marni. With a show list that reads like the who's who of the fashion elite, you could be forgiven for assuming that Frauche was yet another overnight modelling success story. Scouted at the age of sixteen in the south of France, Frauche had zero interest in modelling and was focused instead on her education. Upon graduation, Frauche relocated to Paris to attend college and was approached again to model. It was at this time that Frauche chose to give modelling a try.

Intermission - December 2011
Photographer - Greg Harris
Source - models.com

Dazed & Confused - January 2012
Photographer - Yelena Yemchuk
Source - models.com

Intermission - December 2011
Photographer - Greg Harris
Source - models.com

Following five years of grunt modelling, scraping by with commercial editorial work and money jobs to pay the bills, Frauche switched representation to Next Model Management and decided to give the show circuit one final shot. In an interview with the Cut, Frauche explains "I have been doing this job for five years and I was like, "Okay this is my last chance. I'm going to try the shows and this is going to be the last time for me." The gamble paid off, with Frauche charming casting agents and designers with her mature outlook and womanly allure. Dubbed "baby Raquel" by casting agent James Scully for her likeness to Brazilian supermodel Raquel Zimmermann, Frauche is self-effacing in spite of the buzz surrounding her new found success. Speaking again with the Cut, Frauche recalls "This season, everyone was like, "Oh you're baby Raquel." But it's a really good compliment for me; I'm really happy about it because I love her. She's beautiful, and I hear she's nice, too."

US Vogue - January 2011
Photographer - Mariano Vivanco
Source - thefashionspot.com

Julia Frauche & Olivier Rousteing
US Vogue - January 2011
Photographer - Mariano Vivanco
Source - thefashionspot.com

Frauche has since landed on the pristine pages of American Vogue, Paris Vogue, German Vogue, Dazed & Confused, Intermission, and French Numero, displaying an insouciance and a versatility that women of all ages can relate to. The recent success stories of models well into their twenties, like Kati Nescher and Frauche, heralds a shift in the fashion paradigm towards models that women can identify with rather than a fifteen year old playing dress-ups. As Frauche reveals succinctly to the Cut, "I was a really shy person when I started, so it took time for me to learn how to communicate with people. I learned by travelling, being by myself all the time. I'm more mature now and I know what I want to do." It is this confidence and innate sense of self, coupled with a beauty that is mesmerising which will have Frauche marked as one of the definitive models of the next generation.

US Vogue - February 2012
Photographer - Raymond Meier
Source - thefashionspot.com

Numero - November 2011
Photographer - Liz Collins
Source - models.com

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Showstopper

Toronto native Kate King backed up her stellar Spring/Summer 2011 debut, amassing an incredulous 63 shows at the Spring/Summer 2012 collections. Listed by models.com and COACD as a Top Ten newcomer for the past F/W 2011 season, the auburn haired beauty snagged a Dolce Gabbana campaign in the process, alongside established stars Isabeli Fontana, Liu Wen, Constance Jablonski, Maryna Linchuk and Jac Jagaciak. Eighteen year old King recently switched representation from Elite to Ford Models and is being heralded as one of the most exciting prospects in recent times.

Backstage at Alexander Wang S/S 2012
Image courtesy of Interview Magazine
Source - thefashionspot.com

Championed by influential casting agent, Natalie Joos, who recollects in an interview with V Magazine, "When Kate King walked into my pre-casting for Fashion Week for FW11, my tireless attention shifted. She was this tall, mousy shy girl who reminded me of Ruby Aldridge. But she had a strong, rare kind of beauty, great hair and her walk was flawless." I couldn't agree more with Joos assessment of King. For me, King is a real standout and possesses an air mystery due in part to her olive skin tone, amber coloured eyes and angular bone structure. Looking at King, it's difficult to ascertain her heritage. It's this air of intrigue which makes her all the more alluring and memorable.

Mysterious Girl
Photographer - Craig Arend
Source - thefashionspot.com

Kate King
Photographer - Shirley Yu
Source - thefashionspot.com

In an interview with the Cut, King alludes to her mixed British and Guyanese lineage, when asked if there is anything about the fashion industry that she would change. "Being that I'm a medley of different races, I would love the runways to continue integrating different races and bodies." King is part of an eclectic group of second season girls who are stamping their mark on the fashion industry. Speaking with the Cut, King lists compatriots Sui He and Emily Baker as her tightest buddies, "Emily is so sweet...She's probably one of the girls I'm closest with. I also clicked with this Chinese model Sui He. She's 22, but she looks like a baby." One things for sure, King is certainly no cookie cutter beauty either and with her willowy 178 cm tall runway perfect proportions, is likely to be make an indelible impact in the years to come.

Alberta Ferretti - S/S 2012
Photographer - Yannis Vlamos

Giles - S/S 2012
Photographer - Alessandro Viero

Michael Kors - S/S 2012
Photographer - Yannis Vlamos

Hervé Leger - S/S 2012
Photographer - Yannis Vlamos

Prada - S/S 2012
Photographer - Monica Feudi

Proenza Schouler - S/S 2012
Photographer - Monica Feudi
All runway images courtesy of style.com

Friday, August 5, 2011

Transformations

Sixteen year old Herieth Paul has undergone more than her fair share of changes over the past four years. In 2007, Herieth moved from her native Tanzania in Africa to Ottawa Canada, with her diplomat mother. Two years later, unbeknownst to her mother, Herieth walked into an open casting call for Angies Model & Talent in Ottawa and was swiftly signed up. Now aged sixteen, Herieth is being carefully groomed and developed by Women Direct in New York as one of the agency's most promising new faces.

Under the guidance of Women Direct, Herieth underwent a dramatic change in appearance with her shoulder length silky black tresses being traded for a closely cropped buzz cut, accentuating to her delicate, gamine features and lending her more of a high fashion contemporary feel. Herieth's modelling career has since taken off to a promising start with lucrative campaigns for Diesel and cK One under the belt, and editorial appearances in Vogue Italia lensed by Steven Meisel, and for Dazed & Confused, Teen Vogue, American Elle and Black Book magazine.

Herieth appears to be relatively unfazed by the recent changes and is focused instead on achieving her goals of appearing "on the cover of every magazine." In an interview for the Cut, Herieth is equally poised when asked if "it is difficult as a black model to land high profile work as compared to your non-ethnic counterparts", to which she responds, "Well, I'm new to this industry and I never really thought of it that way. But no, I think that if you work hard you get what you deserve."