MODEL PROFILES: DARIA WERBOWY

She is one of the most respected names in the modelling industry; but it is extraordinary to think how close Daria Werbowy came to never making it as a model at all.

Born in Poland in 1983, Daria moved to Canada with her family in 1987. Spotted by Toronto agency Susan J. Model and Talent Management in 1997, Daria’s first big break came when she was invited to sign with Elite Model Management in 2001.

Moving to New York, Werbowy began an exhausting round of go-sees with some of the biggest names in the fashion industry. Travelling across Europe, Daria did not find herself being welcomed with open arms. The response to her cool, feline features was lukewarm at best. Her Baltic-blue eyes and spare frame even provoked some to tell her that she would ‘never make it as a model.’

Left devastated by the experience, Daria decided to go home to Canada and rethink her entire career. Not only had the go-sees yielded nothing, but Daria’s first attempt at walking in a runway show came to an abrupt halt too. Her debut was scheduled to take place at New York Fashion Week, September 2001.

The effects of the terrorist attacks on the city are well-documented, and the fashion world was by no means immune. It was as if a switch had been flicked. The way fashion was viewed, and the way it viewed itself, changed overnight.

From that point onwards fashion became a little more considered. What was truly important? What really mattered? True, fashion would never move mountains politically speaking, but that is perhaps somewhat missing the point. Fashion may seem a frivolous exercise in vanity to some, but the importance in carrying on as normal cannot be overestimated. It sends out a message loud and clear: we are not that easily beaten.

Fashion became more balanced in its approach: a little nicer, a little kinder and very gradually, more inclusive. The boundaries of beauty, what was deemed beautiful, were re-classified.

Having just one type of model in favour seemed wasteful and short-sighted. The fashion world took stock: what else was out there? It was this change in thinking that would become crucial to the success of Daria Werbowy.

This willingness to embrace diversity was all Daria needed to succeed. After returning to Canada, Daria rethought her position on modelling. It was too early to throw in the towel. Making the decision to try again, Werbowy made a call to IMG and headed back to New York in 2003.

Three days later, she was walking in a Marc Jacobs show, and just a week after that, Daria found herself doing a shoot for Prada with photographer Steven Meisel. Daria’s moment had arrived. The following years were a whirlwind of runways, editorials, covers and campaigns. To list them all is a dizzying process. It is staggering to think that one person could achieve so much in such a short space of time, but Daria did.

In July, August and October 2003, Daria appeared on the cover of Italian Vogue. The most high-fashion of all the Vogues, landing the cover is the most coveted honour a model can hope for. To land three in one year is simply an extraordinary achievement.

In October 2003, Daria walked in runway shows for designers Jil Sander, Chloe and Alessandro dell’Acqua among others. After many false starts, Werbowy had finally found her stride. The success she encountered over the next few years was carried by its own momentum. In 2004, she renewed her contract with Prada, cementing a connection with the fashion brand that led to her becoming the face of its first ever fragrance.

Shot by Ridley Scott’s daughter Jordan, the television commercial for the fragrance was a landmark in how perfume was marketed. Painstakingly shot across several locations, the advert became a mini-film, watched by thousands on YouTube.

Daria was now the face of Prada perfume. One of the most anticipated beauty launches in modern history, fashion’s worst kept secret was finally out, with Daria’s face on billboards across Europe and America. In December 2004, Daria was put on the cover of ‘W’ magazine, heralded as ‘Fashion’s Newest It Girl’. This wasn’t exactly news for the fashion crowd, but this was Werbowy’s debut, introducing her to the public.

Any hopes of remaining anonymous were quashed in 2005 when Daria was named the face of Missoni and Chanel. Daria was also selected to appear in an YSL campaign, shot by Juergen Teller. These were all big names; any lingering doubts that Werbowy might not have the ‘right look’ for the major players of the fashion world were firmly kicked into touch.

In February 2005, Daria became a record-breaker, setting a new world record for opening and closing the most runway shows in one season. This was an incredible accomplishment. Daria’s ultra-blendable look, the thing that had refused her entry into the fashion just three years earlier, was now allowing her to set the standard for everyone else. Opening and closing 12 shows, Daria was now the face of the moment. Her delicate, Eastern-European face worked so well for any look a design house might require, she found herself in constant demand.

In November, she signed a contract with French beauty brand Lancome, an affiliation that continues to this day. In 2006, she renewed her contracts with Chanel and Missoni, and in 2007, became the face of Lancome’s fragrance ‘Hypnose’. All this work made Daria a very rich girl. In July 2007, she was named the 9th highest-earning model, with an estimated income of $3.5 million. In April 2008, that figure rose to $3.8 million.

In late 2007, Werbowy became the face for prestige labels Valentino and Hermes. With both labels possessing an extraordinary pedigree, this seal of approval from the more conservative end of the fashion spectrum meant a great deal. Daria was no longer just a fashion face. She was part of the establishment.

Nearly seven years into her career, Daria can still beat newcomers to those lucrative contracts and editorials, which pays testament to her enduring appeal. She is not a big name; ‘Werbowy’ lacks the instant kudos of a Deyn or a Moss. But that doesn’t matter. Every success she has attained, every editorial, cover and campaign, has been on the strength of her modelling alone.

That strikingly-original face has made her both rich and respected – not a bad combination. In the modelling world, her enviable career is the pinnacle every new model aspires to. For a girl who was once told she’d never make it in the industry, Daria has proven herself to be one of the most consistent talents working today.

What Daria’s incredible career tells us is the importance of timing. The rejection she experienced in 2001 was not wholly personal, but simply a reflection of what was happening at the time, both in fashion and the world beyond it.

By making the choice to give modelling another shot, Daria was returning to a very different fashion world than the one she left. Everything post 9/11 had changed, and priorities shifted. Fashion was opening up to the idea of new possibilities, and Daria was absolutely in the right place at the right time.

Hard work and persistence certainly play their part in making a great model, but where Daria succeeded was her realisation that while rejection is never easy, it is rarely personal. Daria wasn’t turned down because she wasn’t good enough (she has ample evidence to the contrary), but because the fashion world wasn’t ready for her yet.

Success is a thing that can be measured, but failure is more of a relative term. By that I mean that failure is only failing to the point where you allow it to defeat you. There is no shame in losing out – Daria’s career hit the skids in 2001 and by 2004, she had appeared on three Italian Vogue covers: in modelling terms, the very definition of success.

Her subtle, Polish features which were once so out of step are now a perfect fit. But Daria’s success can be pinned down to something more tangible than plain good luck. She is in fact a model who is solidly tutored in the basics of modelling. She has learned the hard way not to rely on her looks alone. Werbowy has cultivated a signature runway walk that is distinctive but not obtrusive. She has an instinctive empathy with designers, moulding herself to their vision.

She may no longer have to prove herself, but Daria is consistent in producing beautiful, striking images and a runway presence that doubles as a masterclass. She is more involved in being a model, than acting the part for the tabloids. For Daria, the work is the motivation. She came so close to not making it, that slacking simply isn’t her style.

Werbowy is the best kind of role model the modelling industry currently has. Focused, dependable and hard-working, these are not bad things to be. The cover tries, the unbroken runway record, the amazing rota of photographers Daria now counts as friends. None of this would have happened without Daria’s own determination to succeed. That drive to succeed and flourish, more than anything else, is the single most important attribute a model can possess. Forget the face, the body or the walk. Without self-belief, it all counts for nothing.

Sometimes the fashion industry does get it wrong. Daria didn’t experience immediate career gratification on her signing with Elite, and that failure is what has moulded her character on and off the runway. It was failure that sent her back to Canada, which compelled her to return to New York two years later, and it is that failure that has created one of the most successful and enduring careers in modelling history.

HELEN TOPE

MODEL PROFILES: HELENA CHRISTENSEN

Born on Christmas Day 1968, Helena Christensen had an early start in modelling, landing her first job at the age of 9. The camera’s fascination with her classic Danish features started there and then, but few would guess that Helena would make a name for herself as the model who gave it all up for a life behind the lens.

Helena Christensen’s route into fashion wasn’t particularly straightforward. In 1986, she took part in, and won, the Miss Denmark beauty contest. Helena’s win wasn’t enough to secure her attention from the people who could ignite her career. She made the critical decision to leave Copenhagen and head for Paris.

In the mid-Eighties, Paris was the undisputed champion of the fashion world. Milan was in the process of falling in love with a young designer called Gianni Versace, and London was experiencing a lull in the post-punk era, where power-dressing didn’t really sit that well with its reputation for ground-breaking, button-pressing fashion. If you were serious about having a career in fashion, on any level, it was quite simple: you moved to Paris.

The city stood on its heritage (the Chanel two-piece suit was being revived at this time by affluent Americans keen for a piece of European chic), and the thrill of the new, supplied by Christian Lacroix and Yves Saint Laurent. Paris was unrivalled for its energy, creativity and excitement.

Helena arrived in Paris, but it took another three years before she would be discovered. Photographer Friedemann Hauss has that claim, calling her a ‘natural’ in terms of modelling ability. A year later, she appeared on the cover of British Vogue.

1991 was especially noteworthy for Helena’s career. Never someone who believed in being conventional, Helena began her career by taking part in a beauty pageant, and in 1991, her next big move was to co-star in a music video.

Music videos had been around since the late Seventies, but it was in the Eighties that the true power of the video to crystallise an artist’s image was fully realised (think of Michael Jackson’s video for ‘Thriller’). Budgets during the late Eighties and early Nineties increased significantly, with record companies hiring stylists to dress their artists and make everything that little more polished. But Chris Isaak’s record company had more in mind for their artist’s video than some hair gel and a wind machine.

The video was directed by legendary photographer Herb Ritts. Shot entirely in black and white, ‘Wicked Game’ was a smouldering epic and was a hit around the world. Sensual and dreamily hypnotic, Isaak and Christensen took the music video to a whole new level. The end result was beautiful, sophisticated and shot with the care and attention to detail of a high-fashion editorial. As with Kate Moss’ iconic shoot for Calvin Klein, the ‘Wicked Game’ video propelled Helena to international stardom. She made the transition, virtually overnight, from fashion girl to pop culture icon.

Her new-found fame won Helena entry into the upper echelons of the Paris fashion world. Following the video, Helena was booked by Karl Lagerfeld and photographer Peter Lindbergh. Her name now established, Helena’s modelling career really took off. Working for everyone from Bill Blass to Versace, Helena Christensen’s runway career leaned towards the European and classic-American labels. Using her timeless features and languid sensuality, Helena became one of the most recognisable faces in the business.

Returning to film, Helena also made a cameo appearance in Robert Altman’s 1994 film ‘Pret a Porter’. A satire on the eccentricities of the fashion industry, Helena became the face (and body) of the film, appearing on film posters, draped in nothing else but a feather boa.

Helena’s effortless ability to smoulder in front of the camera was put to the ultimate test in 1996 when she was asked to be one of the first Victoria’s Secret ‘signature angels’, along with Tyra Banks, Rebecca Romijn, Stephanie Seymour and Karen Mulder. Featuring in the world-famous lingerie catalogue and television commercials broadcast across the US, Helena Christensen’s career trajectory could not have aimed any higher. Earning her fashion stripes on the runway, and bolstering that income with high-profile campaigns, Helena’s career made her, along with Kate Moss, one of the faces of the Nineties. This success made Helena’s next move all the more baffling. In 1999, she co-founded Nylon magazine with Michael Neumann and announced that she would be officially retiring from the catwalk.

Only the year before, Helena had walked in runway shows for Dior, Chloe, Helmut Lang and Dries Van Noten. This was not a model losing her touch; Helena was at the very peak of her career.

The fashion world was left stunned by the decision, but to Helena, it made perfect sense. Her motivation in pursuing a modelling career was never about money or fame. Helena was focused not on achievement for its own sake, but what felt important and valuable. Many may have thought differently, but as far as Helena was concerned, there never was a ‘Christensen brand’.

Her decision to call time on a career that many would have stuck with while the going was so good, took tremendous courage. Making the choice to move on and try something new, signposted that Helena was not afraid to go down the path less travelled. As the fashion world moved into a phase of using younger models who possessed an ethereal, Pre-Raphaelite quality (such as Lily Donaldson, Gemma Ward and Lily Cole), Helena’s decision to bow out suddenly seemed quite smart.

In the next few years, Helena Christensen delved into her budding interest in photography, which ended up taking her back to where she started. Continuing to work on Nylon, Helena also learnt the trade of taking a good photograph. Developing a keen eye for composition, Helena immersed herself in the world behind the lens.

In 2007, Helena announced that she would exhibit a collection of her photographs, ‘A Quiet Life’ in Amsterdam. Helena’s series of quiet but searching portraits and landscapes struck a chord with the art community. This wasn’t a model at play – this was someone deadly serious about creating images that matter.

The fashion world hadn’t forgotten about her either. That same year she was asked to make a brief return to the catwalk for the 60th anniversary Dior Couture show. In March 2008, her two loves of fashion and photography collided when she was asked to shoot an editorial with model Valentina Zelyaeva for Spanish Vogue. Since then, her photographs have also appeared in Marie Claire and Elle.

Helena’s work follows the theatre principle that actors make the best directors. Her insight into how a photograph is composed, and knowledge of what it takes to get that image, has placed her uniquely within the world of fashion photography. Her astutely observed images settle the argument, once and for all, that a model (especially if she is successful) cannot purse an intellectual cause.

By walking away from her career at its height, Helena Christensen earned the respect of the fashion establishment. Although it is governed by pounds and pence, the fashion industry loves nothing more than a good romance, and there is nothing more beguiling than the idea of a top-of-her-game model that leaves it all for a life behind the camera.

Though officially retired from the catwalk, Christensen has returned to modelling on and off, including editorials for Harper’s Bazaar, French and Italian Vogue.

Fashion has remained in love with Helena Christensen not because she left for the right reasons, but because she wasn’t tempted to stay for the wrong ones. By following the path that most interests her; Helena Christensen has forged a unique place in modelling history. Now in her forties, she still features on the covers of publications such as Instyle, Elle and GQ, indicating how little her appeal has abated over the years.

Helena’s greatest achievements have come about when no-one else was looking. No-one expected the Danish model with the smouldering gaze to become such a success beyond the immediate perimeters of modelling. Nylon continues to flourish with Helena as its editor, and with another photography exhibition scheduled for 2010 at Tokyo’s NEXUS Gallery, Helena shows no signs of slowing down. Never ruled by the bottom line, the unexpected quality to her career is the thing that motivates her: that roaming sensibility is what keeps Helena moving on, and moving forward.

HELEN TOPE

MODEL PROFILES: AGYNESS DEYN

Some careers are born by design, others by good fortune. Agyness Deyn was not born Agyness Deyn, but through a series of events the girl from Littleborough, who once worked in a chippy, became an internationally acclaimed model.

The girl who professes herself to be ‘happier mixing with [her] small circle of friends’ than attending fashion parties, is now at the epicentre of contemporary fashion. Agyness is part of a group of friends – designers, models, collaborators – who have grabbed the reins of modern fashion. When you can count designers like Henry Holland and Gareth Pugh as personal friends, the term ‘outsider’ no longer applies.

Everything about Agyness is the result of reflection and change. Deyn was born Laura Hollins in Littleborough, 1983, and only thought of changing her name when deciding to pursue a modelling career. Consulting her mother’s friend, who specialised in numerology, she was advised to change Laura to Agnes. Laura took the advice and further altered Agnes to the more unusual (and memorable) Agyness. The strategy, while unorthodox, paid off.

Agyness’ second piece of good fortune came when she was working in a fish and chip shop in 1998. The up-and-coming designer Henry Holland was a regular, met Agyness and the two immediately bonded over their love of fashion. Agyness was even scouted by a modelling agency rep whilst out shopping with Henry in Kentish Town. She signed with Select and began runway work in September 2006, modelling for Marc Jacobs’ diffusion line, plus cutting edge designers Proenza Schouler and Zac Posen.

Her runway debut, which already had her marked as someone outside the norm (even in fashion terms) was confirmed when, in November 2006, Deyn appeared on the cover of Italian Vogue sporting a bleached, cropped pixie-cut. Making that bold decision to change her image so drastically put Agyness on the map. But as with Twiggy forty years before, a hair cut is never just a hair cut.

Deyn’s incredible new look made her unmissable: the peroxide crop was exciting and fresh, something that ran counter to the ultra-feminine, doll-like look that was in favour at the time. Harder and tougher, it was something that went perfectly with the neon bright, Eighties-influenced clothes being produced by designers such as Richard Nicoll. Deyn’s attempt to get herself noticed could not have been better timed.

Her haircut, combined with her love of British fashion, nurtured as a result of her friendship with Henry Holland, made Agyness a startling presence both on the runway and in real life. Teaming her cropped hair with boyish, urban separates and eclectic accessories made Agyness eminently watchable.

Her own personal style, something that grew organically from her radical change in image, became a regular feature in fashion magazines. Her trilby hats worn with Wayfarer sunglasses made a vital connection not just with the fashion press, but more crucially, with the British public.

Her look, merging the best of designer and high-street fashion, became an inspiration for teenagers across the country. Girls began to crop and bleach their hair to match Deyn’s. The cool yet casual look played perfectly to fashion-conscious students of both sexes who were looking for something with more personality than a hoodie and a pair of jeans. Deyn rapidly became a taste-maker: whatever she wore, however she wore it, it was profiled, studied and copied. Through her personal style, Agyness Deyn connected with an entire generation in a way that few other contemporary models have managed.

Born in the dying days of the New-Romantic movement, Deyn’s punk-inspired look owes a great debt to Vivienne Westwood’s work during the late Seventies and progression into the early Eighties. The wild excess, tempered with a very real awareness of design and fashion history, is a British tradition that has translated to street fashion across the globe.

The mix of rebellion and high fashion that is embedded in Deyn’s look has formed a whole new level of street style, quite separate from the label-led sportswear trend. Whereas many fashion watchers presumed that the age of influence ended with Kate Moss, Deyn’s unique homage to street fashion has secured a revival of interest in the industry.

Deyn forms part of a later generation than Moss who came to modelling already equipped with an awareness of how modern media works. Deyn entered the industry with an understanding of the link between the popular press (tabloids and broadsheets) and the more traditional fashion media. Once absolutely divisable, it is now commonplace to find a tabloid devoting at least a page to a fashion story on a daily basis.

Previously scorned for its ‘outlandish’ and ‘unwearable’ creations, fashion receives a kinder deal as newspapers, eager to boost their own sales, have sharpened their approach to fashion journalism. They report fashion events with the same attention once reserved for domestic politics.

Fashion now sells papers on its own intrinsic merits, rather than on a dated notion of ‘shock value’. It is taken much more seriously, because the public have made that personal connection with what they wear, and what it says about them, and that connection has been bridged by people like Deyn.

Agyness’ triumph can be summed up in terms of how she has made street icon and fashion icon one and the same. Working with the best of British avant-garde design talent such as Gareth Pugh and landing campaigns for established labels like Burberry and Hugo Boss, proves that Deyn is the ultimate chameleon.

Deyn has, within the space of three years, become an unrivalled influence in contemporary street fashion. She has successfully challenged our pre-conceptions about what constitutes everyday style. Her commitment to transforming herself into one of the fashion world’s top players shows how, even early on, Agyness was prepared to take personal responsibility for her own career. To become one of fashion’s most recognisable faces takes more than self-belief.
It took tremendous nerve, but by having the guts to change her look when it wasn’t delivering the results she wanted, Agyness became one of fashion’s elite by rebranding her own image into something more daring and fashion-forward.

While everything from her hair to her name may be manufactured, it is important to see Deyn’s progress as something that did not happen merely as the result of wishful thinking. She took charge of her own success by turning herself (physically and emotionally) into the model she wanted to become. Marketing is as much about perusading yourself that you belong as convincing others of the fact.

In the short term, Deyn’s immediate legacy will be her extraordinary influence on street fashion.

But what will endure is her willingness and determination to craft her own future, leading us away from the notion that people who have succeeded have done so because they let success happen to them. It may not be the name on her birth certificate, but Agyness has built a name for herself in the fashion world that is synonymous with style and influence, and not being afraid to take a risk right at the moment when it counts the most.

HELEN TOPE

MODEL PROFILES: JESSICA STAM

Born in 1986, Jessica Stam headlines a chorus of new models who are rapidly re-defining the term ‘supermodel’.

Jessica, a Canada native, was famously discovered in 2001 by modelling agent Michele Miller. Stam and her family were on their way home from an amusement park and stopped off at a coffee shop. This is where Miller spotted Stam and immediately recognised someone with serious modelling potential.

A year later, Stam took part in, and won, the LA Model Look contest. Her win secured interest from the fashion industry, and Stam became a bona fide fashion girl, working with photographer Steven Meisel who was so impressed, he dubbed her his muse. With a nod of approval from one of the world’s top fashion photographers, Jessica ended up opening the A/W Miu Miu show in Paris. Five years on, Stam still refers to it as the label that started her career.

Stam’s name went supersonic in 2005, with the announcement that Marc Jacobs would be launching a handbag called ‘The Stam’. An honour usually reserved for pop-culture icons, the Stam bag became an immediate fashion hit. The elegant quilted design with a chain draped from the handles became a contemporary classic, with the high-street stores clamouring to make their own version and bask in some of the reflected glory. More importantly for Jessica, it made her surname recognisable, even if many had trouble putting a face to the name.

Stam’s career was at an all-time high, with Jessica landing campaigns for companies as diverse as Giorgio Armani and H&M. At both ends of the fashion spectrum, Jessica was making an impact. But beyond the industry itself, Stam was relatively unknown. To be this famous within the fashion world, but virtually a stranger to the world at large, was crossing into new territory.
The fashion world had been used to models staking fame on a global scale: Evangelista, Turlington and Campbell were celebrities first, and models second. The term ‘supermodel’ coined in the Eighties, was applied to any model that was recognisable by one name. If I say ‘Cindy’, it is impossible to not follow with ‘Crawford’.

Models, right up until the early Nineties, if they were famous, they were very famous indeed. They routinely shot magazine covers – not celebrities as is now commonplace. Actresses made movies, models did the modelling. But with the advent of celebrity culture in the late Nineties, cover girls found themselves sidelined in favour of singers and actresses. No-one was being offered $10,000 to get out of bed and if they did, they were smart enough to keep quiet about it. The age of the supermodel was over.

However many campaigns Jessica managed to rack up, she remained a nameless face in the pages of a magazine. Her lucrative beauty and fragrance campaigns were, and remain, a speciality but Stam was still unknown to the public.

This state of affairs changed in November 2006, when Jessica was asked to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. The highly-publicised fashion event, broadcast yearly on U.S television, showcases the lingerie mega-brand by means of a famously sultry catwalk show that is watched by millions at home and millions more on the Internet.

Its popularity is incredible for a fashion event, and acts as a platform for models who might not ordinarily work the editorial circuit. Connected with names such as Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks, Victoria’s Secret has a degree of influence that cannot be overestimated. Being asked to walk in the show was a watershed moment. Jessica had an opportunity to make herself a visible presence – no longer a nameless fashion girl, but to become a modelling superstar.

Stam, in the moment she stepped onto the Victoria’s Secret runway, made her crossover from high fashion to the mainstream. Her approachably pretty face was perfect for the brand, and that stomping, editorial walk helped lend the lingerie a little high fashion cache too. The success of Stam’s appearance cemented the brand’s determination to use not only curvier models, but to celebrate the best and brightest of modelling talent working today.

It did Jessica’s career no harm either. People who had heard of (or even owned) the Marc Jacobs Stam bag could now confidently put a face to the name, and those who hadn’t were now introduced to what the fashion world had to offer.

With this success to push her forward, Stam’s progression became an irresistible force. In 2007, she became the face of Christian Dior and jewellers Bulgari, and opened the Valentino Couture show in Paris.

Stam’s career trajectory – from the truly cutting edge to the (fashion) girl-next-door - shows just how modelling has changed during the intervening years since supermodels were last considered cultural currency.

Despite Stam’s diverse range of campaigns, her fame is nowhere near the all-encompassing nature of Cindy Crawford’s, or Linda Evangelista’s. But instead of pursuing fame to even greater heights, Stam has thrived on this life, half in the shadows and half in the spotlight.
Stam represents the new-world vision of what a supermodel should be. A chameleon rather than a celebrity, Jessica has been so successful in crossing over to the mainstream without losing her edgy fashion credentials, that it has become obvious that the notion of the ultra-visible, ultra-famous supermodel is outdated and irrelevant.

The term ‘supermodel’ had to be re-defined for the new celebrity age. If models couldn’t out-perform celebrities, they had one more ace to play. They used their anonymity to become true fashion chameleons, adapting to any campaign or any designer’s vision. They went back to Modelling Basics – and the strategy worked. They did what celebrities couldn’t: they became someone other than themselves. Not hemmed in by their own image or ego, the creative possibilities were endless.

Stam’s success has ushered in a new, more discreet brand of supermodel. She is professional, competent and acutely aware of what the fashion industry wants - the type of insight that can only come from someone who is an insider themselves. Creating characters, a mood or a moment on camera is what models do. The subtle nuances of a good model are unattainable by a celebrity, however comfortable they may be in front of a camera. The reason why Jessica remains so in demand is because, first and foremost, modelling is a skill – some people fake it well, but possessing that instinct to create a magical moment on film is something that cannot be replicated, no matter how good the actress.

Celebrities may well have cornered the market in boosting magazine sales, but girls like Jessica are on a fundamental level, keeping the modelling industry alive, simply by being good at their job. Stam is part of a new generation who are carrying the torch for high-end fashion and all it represents. It is no coincidence that the fashion world has, within the past five years, turned its back on ‘bling’, preferring to embrace the softer side of sartorial: tailoring, elegant and timeless chic. Trends still come and go, but not with the clockwork ferocity they once did. Fashion is looking for something, and someone, that will last. There is a lot to be said for the model that is in it for the work, not the ego boost. The clothes-horse girls of the fashion industry are its lifeblood: they are ultra-adaptable, hard-working and don’t take themselves too seriously.

Unlike their celebrity counterparts, Jessica and her peers are less concerned with their image, than getting on and getting the job done – no tantrums and no excuses.

HELEN TOPE

MODEL PROFILES: CHRISTY TURLINGTON

In the world of modelling, there is perfection, and then there is Christy Turlington.

Born in 1969, Turlington turned 40 this year, and her career shows no signs of slowing down. Scoring new contracts for A/W 09 campaigns with Bally, Escada, YSL and cosmetic brand Maybelline, Turlington is living proof that there is mileage in good bones.

After being discovered whilst horseback riding with her sister, Christy began modelling aged 14. She graduated from high school a few years later, moved to New York and began modelling full-time.

One of the world’s most successful supermodels, with a career spanning two decades, Turlington is the embodiment of modern, classic beauty. Her perfectly proportioned face, with its equally balanced and symmetrical features, is unusual even for the modelling world, and this is what has kept her in demand.

Her face, as rare as a flawless diamond, is the reason Christy is so embedded in popular culture. Along with Kate Moss and Gisele Bundchen, Christy is part of that exclusive club of models who are known well beyond the perimeters of the modelling industry.

Christy’s look is clean-cut American, but her dark eyes and winning smile are from her mother, who was born in El Salvador. Turlington’s look is classic with traces of the exotic – a map of America itself.

Her perfect features pitch her square-centre of the modelling industry. Sandwiched between the catalogue crowd and the edgy, editorial girls, Turlington’s classic appeal is anything but mediocre. Christy has consistently outperformed every passing whim the fashion industry has for the quirky and unusual. When the dust settles, and the mood passes, the fashion world once again wants that clean-cut modern face that can sell anything, without a preconceived image or media-fuelled reputation getting in the way.

Turlington’s brand of beauty remains covetable because it goes with any trend, any season and any designer. To prove it, Christy has a CV that is the envy of every working model. Her ready-to-wear and couture catwalk credits include Chanel, Prada, Balenciaga, Dior Haute Couture and Atelier Versace, plus a famously successful collaboration with godfather of American cool, Calvin Klein. Pairing Turlington with Klein’s sleek, minimalist designs proved massively profitable, not least of which was Christy’s series of iconic campaigns for the ‘Eternity’ fragrance.

Her success has been analysed in countless interviews and features, but essentially it can be boiled down to one simple point: Christy’s face (and image) represent the basic principle of modelling. Designers want a flawless base that presents, rather than competes with, their clothes.

In the best possible sense, Turlington is a blank canvas on which editors, stylists and designers can project their ideas. Turlington can turn her hand to anything in the fashion sphere, from high fashion editorials, to bringing out that warm, welcoming smile to persuade women to buy a tube of lipstick. With another American Vogue cover recently under her belt, it is clear that the fashion industry is by no means losing interest.

In modelling, experiencing a career ‘second act’ is rare, usually an honour reserved for models that have paid their dues. Turlington’s new phase coincides with fashion’s rekindled love affair with all things Eighties, including its models.

With contracts from Chanel to Escada, open any fashion magazine and it’s as if Christy never went away. Returning to modelling after a career break spent furthering her education at NYU and Columbia University, her resurgence is about more than a nostalgic fashion industry paying lip-service to a once-great career.

Christy’s gravity-defying bone structure has made her comeback totally credible. Advertisers wanting sell lipstick to consumers over 40 can use her, but she can still go toe-to-toe with the younger girls. Not aligning herself with any particular trend has meant that Turlington is able to slot back into modelling like she never left in the first place.

The term ‘classic’ often gets a bad rap in fashion circles (a little too safe), but when it comes to modelling, classic beauty lasts the course long after the fads have gone. When Yves Saint Laurent said that ‘fashions fade, but style is eternal’, he could have very easily been talking about Christy Turlington.

Once part of the modelling trinity (Turlington, Campbell and Evangelista), Turlington found the level of fame induced by her popularity a double-edged sword. It brought her work, and plenty of it, but she had no enthusiasm for the fame game itself, disliking intensely the tag ‘supermodel’ and everything it stood for. The expectation of acting like a diva sat uneasily with Christy, who preferred being ‘the nice girl’, even picking up after herself at runway shows and hanging clothes back on rails when she was done.

It is therefore not surprising that Christy chose to take a break at the very height of her career. Aged 25, Turlington took a sabbatical and went to New York University to study art history. The move baffled industry insiders, but to Christy, who had been modelling since her teens, it made perfect sense. She was on a search to find meaning and purpose in her life.

She found it. Inspired by the Russian and Islamic religious paintings she studied during art history classes, Turlington transferred to a Comparative Religion course. Exploring different types of spirituality showed Turlington, in her own words, ‘how we are all connected. It was an awakening for me on so many levels.’

Her search for meaning, as she returned to modelling after graduation, came full circle in 2005 when she was asked to become the ambassador for humanitarian organisation CARE. Now undertaking a Masters in Public Health at Columbia University, Christy’s enthusiasm for this cause is self-evident in every interview she gives.

On her return to modelling in her late thirties, it is striking to see how Christy’s newer photo shoots differ from her earlier work. Look closer, beneath the make-up and thousand-dollar clothes, and you will see a woman who is at the forefront of a new age where caring is no longer seen as the soft option.

Her photographs, while absolutely beautiful, have always been about something extra. It is not a chilly, aloof kind of beauty that keeps us looking at Christy. She has brought knowledge and experience with her which takes a fashion shoot beyond the pedestrian. The former art history student is now creating art herself.

Christy has always done things differently, and when she chose to return to modelling, she did so on her own terms. Christy has become her own woman in the intervening years, and as a result, has become a better model.

Not many careers enjoy second acts, but Christy found favour again because she is using what she has learnt to make fashion more meaningful. In a recession age, the pursuit of meaning beyond the dazzle of a brilliant career is longer seen as pretentious. It is becoming essential.

By not compromising who she is, Christy has become not only one of the world’s leading models, but a real life role-model - and there is nothing more beautiful than that.

HELEN TOPE

MODEL PROFILES: KARLIE KLOSS

Known almost entirely for her signature walk, Karlie Kloss is part of a sartorial revolution introducing high fashion to a whole new audience.

Born in 1992, Karlie Kloss is one of the youngest models working today. Raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Karlie’s first love was ballet. Modelling did not even factor as a prospective career until she was discovered at a charity fashion show in St. Louis. In 2007, she signed with Elite Model Management before moving to NEXT in 2008.

Already confident in terms of movement, Karlie’s age proved not to be the barrier you might expect. She made an immediate and striking impact as she began to book jobs as a runway model.

Instead of imitating the girls-of-the-moment, Karlie walked her own way. Casting her eye line down, Karlie’s walk became an evocative, swaying motion coupled with what has now been dubbed ‘the death stare’.

Karlie’s decision to do things differently paid off: that small tilt of the head ensured that Karlie’s eyes locked with the photographers recording every show. The effect was mean, moody and gloriously menacing. Karlie turned her walk into a performance, creating an incredible and unforgettable catwalk presence.

Karlie’s rebellious swagger soon got everybody’s attention. Bookings for runway shows increased, and Kloss found herself being requested for ad campaigns and fashion editorials around the world. She rapidly became a favourite with designers, working for Chloe, Viktor & Rolf, Marni, Pringle and Marc Jacobs.

Only two years into her career, Karlie has become part of the fashion landscape, appearing in publications across the globe, and her arrival could not have been better timed. Fashion has always been infatuated with youth, but this time round, it taps into something darker, off-centre and with bite.

Karlie and her peers (Ali Michael, Jourdan Dunn, Imogen Morris-Clarke) are fashion’s obsession with the teenager reinterpreted for the 21st century. They are cool and edgy – that’s a given – but more importantly, they are authentic. Being actual teenagers, they are primed for showing high fashion how to do attitude and make it current. Karlie’s Neo-Gothic presence on the catwalk ties in beautifully with the ‘Twilight’ frenzy that is informing many high fashion trends this season. Her enigmatic stare, is unnerving and soulful, and something that would send most vampires scurrying into their crypt.

Fashion needs new faces to keep it inspired and Karlie’s face is proving particularly inspirational. Working for the top designers in the world, she is imbibing their designs with a dose of real-life teen spirit. Karlie’s good fortune can also be attributed to how teenagers are now choosing to interact with the fashion world.

A few years ago, most teenagers (barring the privileged), had very limited access to the world of high fashion. Magazines and advertisers, while using models in their late teens, aimed their efforts at the ready-to-spend market of 20-30 year olds. Still young enough to want that ‘cool’ factor, but old enough to have the means to finance it.

Teenagers’ fashion was largely limited to urban street styles and sportswear. Even with mega-brands such as Topshop, teenage fashion was failing to connect with the design influences affecting the rest of the high street. As it was out of financial reach, it was assumed that teenagers would not be interested in what Oscar de la Renta was producing this season.

This assumption was blown out of the water with the introduction of ‘Teen Vogue’ in 2003. A partner to the world-renowned fashion bible, this magazine took on a bold mission statement: it introduced high fashion to a teenage audience.

The success was immediate and resounding. Teenagers soaked up the new cutting-edge concept: it was sophisticated, but still fun. Engaging with a generation left cold by traditional fashion media, it was a palpable hit.

Pitching high fashion to teenagers in a way that didn’t patronise or preach had a massive rolling effect. Teenagers became far more fashion-literate: not just learning the big names such as Dior or Gucci, but more avant-garde designers such as Proenza Schouler and Zac Posen.
Their new-found enthusiasm spilled over into the virtual world: blogs, message boards and Twitter provided teenagers with a means to express their deepest fashion desires. Fashion went underground. What teenagers have done with their fashion knowledge is to take it away from mainstream culture and elevate its participants (mainly models) to cult status.

The teens who know their Marchesa from their Missoni are using the internet to not only find out more about their favourite models, but to share information with others. This generation is becoming as familiar with Ali Stephens and Rachael Rutt, as the previous generation were with Sonic Youth and Kurt Cobain.

The latest models to make a mark on the industry are becoming celebrities, but in a very different way to their predecessors. Whereas names like Evangelista, Campbell and Turlington became famous when they went mainstream (landing notable cosmetic campaigns), this generation is becoming famous precisely because they are under the radar. Karlie and her peers are acting as style ambassadors, making fashion fun, exciting and relevant.

The virtual world is rapidly becoming responsible for shaping teenagers’ perceptions of the real world. Being online provides a safe, democratic space in which to sit, think and evaluate. What do I think of this? Do I like it? Do I hate it? But far from being a device that separates and isolates, the internet is proving to be invaluable in bringing like-minded people together. It is a tool that will ultimately transform the way we interact with the fashion world, and the way it connects with us.

Karlie’s star is on the rise because she embraces this new concept of celebrity, even making videos for YouTube, demonstrating that famous walk and making high-end fashion more accessible.

In these times, fashion knows that it cannot afford to lose supporters, and now footage of catwalk shows is readily available to view online. You have a front-row seat to the most influential designers on the planet – no sneaking into Bryant Park necessary.

Being more inclusive has proved a success, and letting people in (especially the young; the potential buyers, editors and designers of the future), will end up being crucial to the survival of the fashion industry.

Karlie’s dynamic approach to runway (which would have corrected by an agency 10 years ago), shows how the industry is attempting to move forward and try new things. By allowing Karlie to go against the grain, she has gone to the top of the industry. Her selling point, that unique intensity and drama will ensure her career continues to flourish well beyond this decade. It is an important lesson for anyone wanting to make it to the ‘the top’. If you want to stand out, don’t blend in.

Karlie’s success shows us that fashion is no longer out of touch and out of reach. By welcoming the brave and the new, the fashion world is proving that it is willing to include the people who will shape its future. Whether it’s Karlie packing an emotional punch on the runway, or a fashion magazine stepping up to the challenges of a new century, fashion is all about being on the inside – a concept every teenager is familiar with.

HELEN TOPE

MODEL PROFILES: SASHA PIVOVAROVA

Four years may be a long time in politics, but in the world of fashion – it’s even longer.

From 2005 to 2009, the world has turned on a dime, and the fashion world has had little choice but to change and adapt to circumstance. Nowhere is this shift more evident than in the career of model Sasha Pivovarova.

Born in 1985, Sasha’s career in modelling began in 2005 when a photographer friend introduced her to IMG. Just a few months later, Pivovarova was making her debut at the Prada show in Milan.

Sasha, born and bred in Russia, built on her grand beginnings and steadily began the ascent to the top of the fashion world. Opening and closing shows for designers as varied as Preen, Balenciaga and Chloe, Pivovarova also worked with top photographers Steven Meisel and Patrick Demarchelier, shooting Vogue covers for France, Italy, Britain and Japan.

Her start in the modelling industry, with Prada, yielded results when the design house signed her up for an exclusive three-year contract. She also scored another first when she walked for Prada at six consecutive shows. Sasha modelled their ready-to-wear fashion along with eyewear and perfume. The relationship between model and brand set, Sasha was the face of Prada.

Sasha’s incredible success was not an isolated incident, but belonged to a wave of East-European and Russian models who invaded the fashion industry. Spear-headed by Daria Werbowy, the girls from the far side of Europe were (and continue to be) in huge demand.

Pivovarova, along with Natasha Poly and Natalia Vodianova, formed a charm offensive on the fashion industry. Their brand of beauty – aristocratic features paired with a definitive editorial edge – left the fashion world helpless to resist. Mastering both sides of the coin – having a strong, editorial look equally matched with conventional, knockout beauty – provided designers with the best of both worlds. These girls married a sense of the exotic with the familiar, and that Baltic beauty was what kept getting Sasha booked over and over again: it worked within designers’ comfort zones and produced a portfolio worthy of envy.

This glamour age in modelling coincided with our own ‘boom ‘era. It may have been short-lived, but high-end brands were doing well, and luxury brands were doing even better. No-one thought the worse of a celebrity for laying down serious cash for a must-have handbag. No-one had heard of the term ‘credit crunch’, simply because it hadn’t been invented yet. There was no need: everyone was doing just fine.

Fashion’s love affair with Russia was not just directed at the models it was producing. As the good times continued the number of affluent Russians ready to spend sky-rocketed. This meant a golden time for luxury and designer goods. Billionaires were buying designer goods in huge quantities, making Russia a key market for high-end fashion. For the first time, Russians were buying the fashion as well as starring in its runway shows and campaigns.

The celebration of decadence and luxury continued as Sasha scored a contract with Armani – another brand that translated particularly well in Moscow. Sasha’s career could not have been riding much higher: she was the model of choice for editorial shoots as well as raking in big bucks for big-name campaigns and endorsements. It was, in essence, the career models dream about when starting out in the industry.

But in 2008, the economic bubble burst. The property market collapsed, consumers lost confidence and the luxuries market seemed more than a little shaky.

An ordinary model might have quaked at the prospect of losing contracts. But Pivovarova was made of sterner stuff. With that quintessentially Russian toughness, Sasha held her nerve – and more crucially – kept her cool. She kept an open-mind too and found that the work did not disappear: it merely changed focus.

The high-end brands concentrated less on ready-to-wear (because, let’s face it, the first thing that goes in any budget-trim is the £3,000 coat), and re-shifted their priorities to the fashion consumables: accessories, cosmetics and perfume.

Where Sasha had advertised Prada dresses, she now advertised its perfume, which went on to do rather well. Her selling savvy transferred effortlessly to the smaller items, because she understood that selling a product (regardless of its price) relies on a model’s ability to sell a dream. A pair of sunglasses isn’t just two lenses and a frame: they are a gateway into another world.

Sasha’s easy-to-read beauty played well to the cosmetics and fragrance market. Her flawless skin and perfectly-set features ensured that if someone couldn’t afford an Armani evening gown, they would definitely be tempted to purchase a lipstick. After all, no-one stops buying lipstick, no matter how bad things seem to get. This seismic shift in marketing luxury is what has saved many designer names from going under in the worst recession since the 1930’s. They go with what people can realistically afford, and sell them the aspiration of luxury in a way that doesn’t pander or patronise. Those who have used this strategy have made millions.

Sasha has profited from this about-turn in her career by going with new opportunities and making the most of them. She has since the downturn worked for mid-range brands such as Gap and Zara, and now has an exclusive contract with skincare brand, Biotherm. By using models of Pivovarova’s standard, these firms are showing that they understand how to sell a product to a cash-strapped public and still stay in business. They use the best faces available, because with them, they bring the memory of better and more affluent times. More than ever before, models are not selling a tube of lipstick or a bottle of perfume: they are selling the idea of hope.

Sasha’s career has gone on from strength to strength, not just because of her extraordinary beauty, but because she kept an open mind and adapted herself to new opportunities. Many models would consider going from Gucci to Gap a bit of a step-down, but Pivovarova has been smart about lending her modelling kudos to these brands and both model and company have succeeded where others have notably failed.

Almost five years into a phenomenal career, Sasha is looking to the future. Having maintained an interest in art, she is developing her talent and has already exhibited in New York and Paris, with some of her work even featuring in French Vogue.

Whether she chooses to continue with fashion, or concentrate on art, what is for certain is that she has conquered the fashion world completely. She has been the face of luxury and the selling point of populist brands and accomplished both with impeccable style. Whatever the future holds next for Sasha, like the best military general, she knows that whatever has been done, there is always more to accomplish: it is a smart philosophy to live by, both now and for the times to come.

HELEN TOPE