MODEL PROFILES: ERJONA ALA

Born on 12^th July 1995, Norwegian model Erjona Ala made her debut in the modelling industry at the age of 15. Competing in the International Elite Model Look contest in 2010, she narrowly missed out on first place, coming in as the runner-up. However, Erjona still caught the attention of the industry, signing with Ford Models the following year. 

She made her catwalk debut in March 2011, walking in the Balenciaga show as an exclusive – an incredible honour for a newcomer. Her spot in the Balenciaga show made her an automatic standout: www.models.com featured Ala as their ‘model of the week’ as a result.

In June, Erjona modelled in resort shows for Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang, Louis Vuitton and Proenza Schouler. She made her couture debut the following month, walking in the Autumn / Winter show for Alaia Couture. But her big runway moment came in September, when she appeared in a mammoth 65 shows. She opened shows for Monique Lhuillier, Cynthia Rowley, Clements Riberio, Margaret Howell, Marios Schwab, Temperley and Haider Ackermann. She also scored closing spots with Sonia Rykiel and Thakoon.

For a model just months into her career, a season of this magnitude is still a rarity in an industry where a reputation can take years to build. Not only did Erjona walk in some of the biggest shows of the season, she was selected to open and close several high-prestige shows. Erjona’s look proved a winner on the runway circuit, neither leaning too strongly in either direction of editorial edge or mainstream glamour. It helps explain why Erjona would appeal to designers with aesthetic viewpoints as different as Monique Lhuillier and Marios Schwab. When a model’s look ‘connects’ with designers on this level, the effect tends to be incendiary. Like her peers Lara Mullen and Romee Strijd, Erjona has made her reputation, not through covers or campaigns, but the catwalk. Even in an increasingly digital age, the continuing importance of the catwalk should not be overlooked. 

With fashion undergoing a virtual reset every six months, a successful show creates its own momentum: the fabulous Gucci collection for Autumn / Winter 2012 created a huge stir on its debut in February, and its profile has been steadily growing over the past few months, culminating in an amazing cover spread for Italian Vogue. The catwalk still sets the pace: with campaigns, editorials and blogs relying on what comes down the runway. The magic of seeing a great collection coming down a runway in real time hasn’t lost its appeal. 

Erjona’s career then bridged out into editorial work, with a major spread in W magazine’s October issue. ‘Sects and the City’, photographed by Craig McDean, was a series of group shots featuring different fashion ‘sects’. Erjona modelled with Milou van Groesen, Ming Xi, Jess Gold and Cole Mohr in Twenties-style glamour, pre-empting the launch of Baz Luhrmann’s film The Great Gatsby’ (due for release next year). Erjona becomes a dead ringer for screen siren Louise Brooks, in a severe bob, floor-length gown and pearls. 

In March 2012, Erjona scooped the cover of British magazine ‘Dazed & Confused’. Photographed by Roe Ethridge, the ‘2012: if it’s not exciting, you’re not doing it properly’ issue, featured Erjona surrounded by banks of flowers, channelling 1980’s androgyny in washed denim. Erjona also appeared in their Spring / Summer season preview. Modelling luxury sportswear, Erjona worked the trend that, after two summers spent on the sidelines, is now feeling the love. With Team GB grabbing the golds, sportswear feels less niche and more on-trend. Erjona proved ahead of the curve, giving the sportswear a sleek sophistication; moving it away from its track and field associations to a more urban, fashion-led look. 

Erjona went ultra high-fashion in June with a spread for Bon magazine. Photographed by Marcus Ohlsson, ‘Television / Night Vision’, is right at fashion’s sharp end, establishing Erjona’s ability to work a complex shoot where themes are densely-layered and the model’s performance has to respond in kind. Erjona proved a brilliant choice for this shoot, with her looks easily lending themselves to such a premise. It often takes years for a model to be able to perform at this level – Erjona coolly handled the pressure, proving she could even take on fashion’s toughest assignments.

Her CV of edgy editorial and catwalk bookings paid off in June when it was announced that she would form part of the Autumn / Winter Louis Vuitton campaign. Photographed by Steven Meisel, Erjona joined Elena Bartels, Hedvig Palm, Julia Nobis, Marie Piovesan and Ros Georgiou. Posing in a train carriage, the models manage the blend of retro and modern that sums up the look of Vuitton.

Moving on from his blockbuster Spring / Summer collection, Vuitton creative director Marc Jacobs returns to his quirky roots this winter with clothes trimmed in burgundy, with models clutching leopard-print totes. They are classic colours and prints, but given the Jacobs treatment: everything is fringed, furred or otherwise embellished. The idea of excess is at the centre of the Autumn / Winter season. Taking on a more-is-more approach, designers are adopting decadent fabrics such as velvet, fur and brocade to suggest wealth and a feeling of plenty. While some commentators have given the Louis Vuitton collection (and campaign) mixed reviews, this ad represents the core values for the coming season. The collection may be divisive, but in terms of what it says about fashion for the rest of 2012, it is impossible to ignore. For Erjona, the booking was nothing less than a stunning coup.

The most recent booking on Erjona’s CV rivals the Vuitton ad in terms of covetability, with Ala appearing on the July cover of Italian Vogue. If this wasn't enough of a score, the July issue also features a first look at the international collections - and Erjona was invited to the party. 

How Italian Vogue presents the collections for the upcoming season sets the bar for the rest of the fashion industry: much imitated, but never bettered, Italian Vogue still remains the benchmark in terms of editorial: it is an important and highly prized booking for any model to get. Photographed again by Steven Meisel, Erjona takes to the cover with Julia Nobis, Lida Fox, Mackenzie Drazan and Vanessa Axente. All dressed in dark chiffon gowns from Gucci, this fold-out cover has a supernatural, gothic theme at its heart. Italian Vogue’s message is clear: embellishment and luxury may be the focus, but they are not the same animals they were five years ago. This time, the playground of luxury has a macabre feel: the models are ‘at play’: on swings, on bikes, but the effect is anything but playful. Here, luxury is not something easy-going and uncomplicated: the right to continue making this kind of fashion has been hard-won. Fashion has come through the eye of a financial storm, but emerges as a different industry. The ideas are back, but our notions of decadence and glamour have changed and matured. Gucci’s darkly seductive collection is glamour with a twist, and has made a major impact, both in terms of editorial and appearances on the red-carpet. But Gucci is not this season’s lone wolf: every designer this season has contributed to the new breed of glamour – still beautiful, just a little older and a little wiser. 

Gucci deftly taps into the zeitgeist this season, and for a model, there’s no better collection to hitch your wagon to. Erjona’s association with Gucci – and the cover of Italian Vogue – has cemented her reputation as one of fashion’s rising stars. A choice booking for both catwalk and editorial, Erjona’s star is not just on the ascent, superstardom is within touching distance. In the space of just two years, Erjona has gone from runner-up to fashion’s front runner. 

HELEN TOPE

MODEL PROFILES: JOURDAN DUNN

Her career boasts one of the most famous ‘discovery’ stories in modern modelling history. Born 3 August 1990, Jourdan Dunn was found by a model scout whilst out shopping with her friend at the Hammersmith branch of Primark.

She was approached by an agent from top agency Storm, the same agency that is also responsible for launching Kate Moss’ career, and Jourdan signed with them in 2006.

In February 2007, Jourdan made her runway debut at the Autumn / Winter shows for Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren and Salvatore Ferragamo in New York and Milan. In September, Vogue named her a ‘rising star’.

Jourdan’s success continued, with runway appearances for Alexander McQueen and Hermes in Paris, and in February 2008, Dunn got the attention of the mainstream press when she became the first black model to walk for Prada in over ten years. The last black model to do so was Naomi Campbell.

The year continued to bring new honours, including accompanying designer Peter Som to the Costume Institute Gala in May, scoring her first Italian Vogue cover in July and also undertaking an ad campaign with British high-street giant, Topshop.

The cool, street-wise series of images, shot by Emma Summerton, launched Jourdan into the big-time: every fashion-conscious teenager now knew her name and face.

The lucrative professional relationship between Dunn and Summerton continued with editorials in Italian Vogue, and in November, a cover of British Vogue, with Dunn appearing alongside Eden Clark and Rosie Huntington.

In November 2008, Jourdan was nominated for and won ‘Model of the Year’, as voted for by the British Fashion Council. She topped the year off with a cover of French Elle. In February 2009, she opened the Autumn / Winter collection for Jason Wu, plus appearing in shows for Oscar de la Renta and Vivienne Westwood. She also had the honour of closing shows for Betty Jackson, Issa, Thakoon and Twenty8Twelve.

This brief summary of Jourdan’s career to date (temporarily on hiatus due to a pregnancy announced in July this year, with the baby due in December), shows that designers are definitely willing to hire (and re-hire) a black model.

Race in fashion is a contentious issue – even more so than weight. It has been said with alarming regularity that fashion, as a whole, is racist – deep down to its very core. It is true that even a cursory glance over a variety of fashion publications that the editorial balance is skewed in favour of white models, both in terms of editorial content and ad campaigns.

But the astonishing rate, at which Jourdan’s career blossomed, belies this idea. How can fashion be racist and still rave over beauties like Dunn? Jourdan herself was interviewed by iD magazine and refuted the notion that the industry will only hire a small number of black models at any one time. A brief scan of Jourdan’s friends within the industry also questions this commonly-accepted idea: Emanuela de Paula (Brazil-born), Sessilee Lopez (America), Honorine Uwera (Rwanda) and Arlenis Sosa (Dominican Republic). This is not a roll-call of an industry only interested in promoting a blonde, blue-eyed template of beauty.

These names are not necessarily well-known outside the immediate fashion industry, but Jourdan has certainly not been alone on her rise through the fashion ranks. Chanel Iman has also scored much press coverage as well. The fashion industry thrives on finding new faces – and ethnicity doesn’t seem to be the primary decider in whether a model gets signed by an agency.
By choosing to focus on Iman and Dunn almost exclusively, the press have been omitting other girls who are making a name for themselves. Models like Emma Pei and Toni Garr may not be household names, but they are well-respected and making a handsome living.

So Jourdan is right to challenge the idea of only a few black models working at any one time – we have ample evidence to the contrary. What is more puzzling, and perhaps more unsettling, is the question of why these girls aren’t better known? Is there a cap on success in the fashion industry if you are not white?

We all know that modelling is basically a sales pitch in heels. Whatever is being modelled, sells not just the thing itself, but an aspiration, an idea attached to it that if you buy this dress / bag / tube of lipstick, you will become more beautiful by association.

A quick glance of Jourdan’s CV throws up something troubling. She has had plenty of success on the runways and in landing high-profile editorials and covers, but aside from affiliations with high-street stores Benetton and Topshop, Dunn has no other campaigns to her name. True, Jourdan hasn’t been working that long, but if you compare her CV to that of peer Karlie Kloss , who has already landed a coveted fragrance contract with Marc Jacobs, you can’t help but think that something else is going on here.

We consider ourselves to be living in a multi-cultural society, but the facts do not compare well when we look a little closer at the wider fashion world, beyond the runways and the editorials of high-fashion. If fashion truly does reflect what is going on in society today, then why was Jourdan the first black model to walk for Prada in over a decade?

Many fashion insiders are reluctant to get drawn into the racism debate, not necessarily because they have something to hide, but because with this issue, there are no easy answers.

Casting agents for the big cosmetic firms hire faces on one key component: sell-ability. The controversial, but indisputable fact, when unit sales are directly compared, is that a white / non-ethnic model will sell more tubes of mascara than a black model. This then creates a vicious circle: cosmetic companies may want to go with someone more ethnically-diverse like Jourdan or Chanel, but if a white model sells more products, they have to make a decision based on economics, not aesthetics. By not using a black model, the cosmetic company are then continuing the self-fulfilling prophecy that a white model sells more units, and are then even less likely to use a black model for their next campaign. Consumers then only see white faces in beauty campaigns, and subconsciously make the semantic leap that a paler face is to be interpreted as inherently beautiful. They then respond by buying the tube of mascara, again fulfilling the prophecy that in terms of sales, a white model is a more profitable signing.

This leads back to one question. Why are cosmetic companies using white models so much in the first place? Is it because the public can’t see a black model as being beautiful, and by implication, aspirational? Does the problem lie with the cosmetic companies, or with us, the consumers? Are they in fact only following the agenda that we have set out for them? Who really decides what is beautiful? The problem appears to lie not with reality, but with perception.

For centuries, the template of beauty was not predominantly, but exclusively, white. Beauty was built around European features: big, child-like eyes, small noses and chins. The differing facial proportions on faces outside Europe – Africa, India and Asia – were not considered beautiful because they did not match the European ideal.

The preference for petite features is of course grounded in issues not just of race, but of power and inequality. Those who had the lion’s share of the power set the terms of what was considered beautiful. If you did not match the ideal, you were not beautiful – even if in reality you were actually better looking than your European counterparts: reality and perception – very different things.

The uncomfortable truth is this template has been clearly internalised by all of us. Why else would sales of a magazine cover featuring a black model perform so badly in comparison to those featuring a white model? Even now, it appears the struggle for equal and comparative pegging in the modelling industry is lagging behind the times. If lighter skin and features that lean towards European proportions are still seen as preferable, is there any hope for the industry at all?

The fact that the race issue is being discussed so openly means that there has been a revival of interest on diverse kinds of beauty within the modelling industry. Jourdan Dunn, Chanel Iman, Devon Aoki, Alek Wek, Arlenis Sosa and Emma Pei are proof that the fashion industry is more than willing to employ ethnically-diverse models – not as a gimmick, but because these models are extremely good at what they do.

While this is a debate that will continue to spark discussion, what is good news for models entering the industry today, is that the fashion world itself has no qualms about hiring new faces from around the world.

Part of this has to do with new designers such as Peter Som, Derek Lam and Thakoon coming from diverse backgrounds themselves. Their own history and personal understanding of the race issue makes them in turn more aware – and awareness is the key to breaking down barriers.

American designer Jason Wu used an array of black models for his recent Autumn / Winter and Spring / Summer runways to prove this point. To say that fashion does not regard ethnically –diverse models as being beautiful is simply not true. The problem is with perception: and that problem is centred squarely on consumers’ shoulders. We are the ones not buying it; we still prefer a magazine with a white model on the cover and vote with our cash accordingly. Cosmetic companies choose primarily European models not because of some hidden agenda, but because it is what sells. If we really are serious about wanting to see a more even representation of models out there, on the catwalk, in magazines and campaigns, a conscious effort is required to make it happen.

This changing of attitudes will take time, but there is definitely cause for optimism. The flourishing success of Jourdan Dunn’s career shows how high-fashion is willing to embrace new talent. There is no easy solution to the race issue, but while designers and editors continue to explore the wealth of diverse modelling talent available, there is hope that perception will eventually follow reality. The whole point of beauty is that it is beyond definition.

Fashion likes to think of itself as cosmopolitan and part of that attitude is its openness to new kinds of beauty from around the world. But it will take the continued efforts of high fliers such as Jourdan Dunn to keep reminding us that fairness and equality are always in fashion.

HELEN TOPE