MODEL PROFILES: BETTE FRANKE

Born in the Netherlands on December 3^rd 1989, Bette Franke was discovered at the age of 14. Whilst out shopping with her mum in Amsterdam, Franke was spotted by Dutch modelling agent Wilma Wakker.

Franke made her international catwalk debut two years later, opening and closing the Jil Sander show in October 2005. Also appearing for Dries Van Noten, Hermes and Emanuel Ungaro, she was named ‘this year’s model’ by WWD. 

Bette’s rise was meteoric, with two contracts signed in early 2006: one for the new Stella McCartney fragrance ‘Stella in Two’, and a cosmetics fragrance with YSL. Franke had signed for two of the biggest brands just a year into her career. Her distinctive face – an intense gaze coupled with the classic sexbomb pout – helped to separate her from the slew of European models flooding the industry.

Returning to the runway in February 2006, Franke added Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Chloe, Givenchy, Lanvin, Marc Jacobs and Prada to her list of credits. She was dubbed a rising star by www.style.com and scored a role in the new Dolce & Gabbana campaign.  Her big-money signings kept coming with a solo campaign for Oscar de la Renta and appearances for Calvin Klein and Hugo Boss.

Franke’s look leant itself so deftly to campaign work, it wasn’t until August 2006 that her talents were applied to major magazine editorials. Appearing for the first time in French Vogue, Bette modelled with Jessica Stam and Han Jin. Bette was a shoo-in for French Vogue, at the time still under the directorship of Carine Roitfeld. Her sultry looks were perfect for French Vogue’s penchant for paying homage to icons such as Bardot and more recent faces such as Emmanuelle Beart and Isabelle Adjani. Described by designer Anna Molinari as having a ‘strong personality and harmonious curves’, Bette’s charm cast a spell that was clearly hard to resist.

Bette had her big runway moment in September 2006, with a mammoth 62-show season. Franke booked shows with Alberta Ferretti, Balmain, Chanel, Jonathan Saunders, Marni, Missoni, Roberto Cavalli, Vera Wang and Versace. A year and a half into her modelling career, Franke was becoming a favourite with the biggest designers in the world.

Shooting her second French Vogue editorial in October, in 2007 she continued to make in-roads with her campaign CV, becoming the face for Blumarine and Celine. Her career hit another high point in October with her very first appearance in Italian Vogue. Photographed by Nathaniel Goldberg, ‘Morning Beauty’ saw Bette modelling exquisitely detailed eveningwear. Beautifully nuanced, Franke gave a performance that lacked for nothing.

Bette’s career moved up another notch with a cover try for Japanese Numero in November. Appearing in the ready-to-wear season in February 2008, Bette booked shows with Anna Sui, Derek Lam, Hussein Chalayan, Michael Kors and Rue du Mail. It was one of her most aesthetically-diverse seasons to date, with Bette working the austere chic of Chalayan with Michael Kors’ Park Avenue glamour. 

Bette’s next RTW season saw her opening shows for Erin Fetherston and Jenny Packham in February 2009 (long before Packham had the Royal seal of approval). Franke’s ability to get picked by up-and-coming designers continued later in the year with Bette walking in shows for Todd Lynn and Mary Katrantzou. Franke ended the year with consecutive editorials for Italian Marie Claire, by photographed by Thierry Le Goues. 

Normally a regular on the catwalk, Bette did not return to the runway until September 2011, but her timing was impeccable. Making her comeback in style, Bette appeared in 54 shows including Alexander Wang, Burberry, Isabel Marant, Nina Ricci, Tom Ford and Valentino. She returned on top form in a season that was all about celebrating the feminine. Spring 2012 has already made its presence known, with pastel colours and delicate fabrics dominating the high-street. This look was just tailor made to make the most of Franke’s features. While some models offer quiet consistency, others shine when the mood of the moment coincides beautifully with what they have to offer. Franke was uniquely placed to take advantage of fashion’s softer season.

Bette ended the year with an appearance in V magazine. Profiling her agency, ‘DNA Powerhouse’ Franke joined current face of Armani, Milou van Groesen, Lindsay Ellingson, and Victoria’s Secret regulars Doutzen Kroes and Alessandra Ambrosio.

Bette’s return to fashion included her biggest couture season to date in January 2012. Walking for Chanel, Dior, Elie Saab, Giambattista Valli and Valentino, Franke’s love affair with the runway continued with another huge RTW season of over 50 shows. Franke’s standing in the industry had lost none of its power, with Bette appearing alongside new modelling talents in a piece for British Vogue. ‘Spring Forward’ featured the best of the S/S collections, including new faces Romee Strijd, Kati Nescher and Codie Young.

Her editorial credits kept coming, with a spread in February’s Harper’s Bazaar and an editorial for Spanish Vogue in March. ‘Uno, Dos, Tres...Mambo!’ saw Bette mastering classically fiery prints from Pucci, plus sultry picks from D&G and Sonia Rykiel.

Then came Franke’s biggest signing to date. Shot in Mexico by Deborah Turbeville, Bette was the latest name to become the face of Valentino. Working with Zuzanna Bijoch, Fei Fei Sun and Maud Welzen, Franke modelled the delicately-worked lace pieces against the backdrop of ancient ruins. Romanticism writ large, this was a perfect collision of model and campaign, celebrating Valentino’s new (and highly successful) exploration of soft, feminine fashion.

Spring 2012 has been Bette’s most prolific season in years, with an amazing 5 campaigns in circulation. Working with male model Harry Gilliam in the new Hermes campaign, Bette joins Anna de Rijk for Hogan and is photographed by Mikael Jansson for Dior Eyewear. Her laser-beam stare comes into its own here, with Bette’s beauty shining through the ad. In an age of laser surgery and contact lenses, eyewear is a tough sell. Bette’s performance in this campaign will have you reaching for your specs.

With two high-fashion editorials in April’s Dazed & Confused and Dutch Vogue, Bette has never been in higher demand. Modelling Twenties-inspired flapper fashion from Gucci, Ralph Lauren and Etro for Vogue and channelling psychedelic pin-up meets Marie Antoinette for Dazed & Confused, Franke is at the top of her game.  

It’s no surprise that this has been Bette’s season. Her looks lend themselves so perfectly to the big trend of the moment that she couldn’t help but clean up. No-one can deny that Bette’s career has been strong, packed with editorial and runway credits, but to get to that next level, a little luck can go a long way. As fashion turned to its more feminine side, Franke grabbed onto that opportunity, and in the process became one of the most popular models of the past 12 months. 

To be a career veteran at the age of 22 is only something that could happen in the modelling world, but Franke finds herself with a career that has never looked better, at a point where other models are contemplating their Plan B. 

Bette’s steady stream of editorial and runway work has ensured that she is now as hotly pursued as a newcomer fresh from their first season. Nine years after her remarkable discovery, Bette’s career is still managing to defy the odds and astonish us all.  A perfect marriage of skill and instinct, Bette Franke is proof that is never too late to be what you might have been. 

HELEN TOPE

MODEL PROFILES: ANNA DE RIJK

Born in the Netherlands in 1988, Anna de Rijk was first discovered at age 16 by a photographer who was attending her neighbour’s Xmas party.

Shooting her first international editorial in June 2006, Anna scored her first cover in October with Dutch Elle. Making her runway debut in October 2007 for Vivienne Westwood and Veronique Branquinho, Anna’s career was very much on a job-by-job basis. Working for two years, but somewhat under the radar, Anna’s initiation into full-time modelling didn’t start until February 2009 when she walked for Blumarine, Christopher Kane, Dries Van Noten, Lanvin, Louis Vuitton and Prada. Just a month after her comeback, after being in modelling for three years, www.style.com pegged Anna as a rising star.

In July, Anna booked slots in the couture shows for Chanel and Valentino – an unusual honour as Anna at 5’ 9”, is at least two inches shorter than most couture models. Her summer was peppered with editorial work for Dazed & Confused and British Vogue, but in the latter part of the season, Anna was announced as one of the faces of the new Autumn / Winter Prada campaign.

It is the sort of casting that dreams are made of. An appearance in a Prada campaign is nothing short of a career-maker. The eccentric ad, featuring the models in woollen separates and rubber boots, was an iconic piece of Prada whimsy. Miuccia Prada doesn’t do femininity head-on, but always from an angle. The saucepot librarian is in heavy tweeds to off-set the va-va-voom; the half-clad Amazon in snakeskin and 6” heels is channelling evolution rather than seduction. There is always present in Prada an element of the unexpected and that’s why it’s the most famous five-letter word in the fashion world today. Any model even remotely associated with the brand, let alone featuring as one of the campaign girls, can look forward to a career spent working with the best creative talent fashion has to offer.

Anna’s next booking after the Prada announcement was for a multi-model haute couture editorial for Italian Vogue. Photographed by Paolo Roversi, ‘Dream of a Dress’ is a roll-call of all the best and brightest modelling talent. Using the latest designs from Paris, it was a gothic, glamorous masterpiece that showed Anna and her peers exploring couture’s dark side. Anna’s reversal of fortune continued with a 45 show season in September and October, opening the show for Burberry and walking for Prada, Chanel, Givenchy, Lanvin, Erdem and Thakoon. Her meteoric rise from fashion girl to face to watch may have been dizzying, but Anna’s performances were grounded by the knowledge and experience gained by working beyond the glare of the spotlight, before her re-emergence in 2009.

2010 was an even better year for Anna, with the model scoring big in January when she was asked to appear in an editorial for Italian Vogue, dubbed ‘Runway’, and shot by Steven Meisel. In what turned out to be a vastly important piece of editorial work, Meisel used every model of note to compile a series of carefully-constructed shots made to look like behind-the-scenes candid snaps from runway shows. Mixed with standard editorial shots (plus a cover of Karlie Kloss about to take a tumble in platform heels), it was a brilliantly self-referential take on high-fashion, and a phenomenal way to kick off a new decade.

Anna took on a challenge in February when she featured in a spread for French Vogue. Called ‘Vogue a Porter’, it paid homage to the controversial 1974 film ‘The Night Porter’. Anna got to take on the topless shot made famous by Charlotte Rampling. A notoriously difficult kind of shoot to get right, it earned Anna major kudos. Turning her classically feminine looks into something altogether more ominous, Anna was the epitome of French Vogue’s point of view: subversive, clever and irretrievably stylish.

The year continued to be lucky for Anna, signing on to become the face of Dior jewellery, and a contract with Chanel cosmetics. The latter booking was particularly important for Anna as it would turn her from a high-fashion favourite to a recognisable presence in beauty halls across America and Europe. Like Prada, Chanel is a label whose image and name go hand in hand, and the fame of Chanel’s make-up is almost on a par with its clothes. The pillar-box red lipstick and the Rouge Noir nail polish are as solid pieces of Chanel iconography as the tweed suit itself. Anna’s face was perfect for the classic beauty with a trend twist that’s needed for Chanel. Again, as with French Vogue earlier in the year, Anna was able to morph seamlessly into that mould. But look closer at the images produced and there is a haunted quality there that takes the Chanel ad to another level: it’s not just about lipstick, but about an entire sensibility.

Bringing an element of individuality is what separates a high-fashion campaign from a more commercial one. The fuss-free look for the H&M campaigns has become synonymous with the brand, but at no stage do these images feel cheap. Freja Beha’s S/S 2011 campaign for H&M is perfectly on-message for the label, but Freja’s personality jumps off the page and that’s what keeps us looking. Great campaigns work because they linger in the mind - and that’s exactly the point.

The remainder of Anna’s year was made up of runway and editorial, plus a new campaign for Sonia Rykiel with up-and-coming model Katie Fogarty. But it ended with another major signing, this time with American icon Vera Wang.

Modelling both her fashion line and bridal wear, Anna became the face of the brand that has changed the way we think of dressing for that ultimate fashion moment. Launched in the Nineties, Vera’s aesthetic rejected Eighties excess in favour of a calmer, more refined look. Anna was a perfect pick to represent the label – she created a look that was soft and yielding but with a high-fashion edge that was aspirational rather than something designed to intimidate. This is especially important when modelling bridal wear, as it has to connect with the customer on a very real level: creating that fantasy image is all well and good, but if the customers can’t imagine themselves wearing that dress, the campaign has failed. Anna made the perfect connection, making the label look desirable but feel attainable – an important distinction.

2011 promises to be off to another good start for Anna, with an early appearance in American Vogue. Shot by Mario Testino, it is an epic multi-page editorial featuring all the trends from the Spring / Summer 2011 runway. Called ‘Gangs of New York’, models were put into groups. Anna was paired off with Frida Gustavsson and Jac. All three were photographed in vintage lace Ralph Lauren. Referencing the more romantic side of the Wild West, the picture is dubbed by Vogue as ‘The New Romantics’. The photo is soft-focus and other-worldly, but at its core, Frida, Jac and Anna are clearly three women not to be trifled with.

It’s a perfect metaphor for Anna’s career to date. Her gentleness on camera belies an inner strength – you can’t reference films like ‘The Night Porter’ or work for designers such as Givenchy or Prada without being able to take a walk on the wild side. Her speciality may be the soft, feminine aspect of high-fashion, her work with Vera Wang being a particularly good example of this, but it is Anna’s willingness to dig deeper and go further that sets her apart from the competition.

Her ability to work with the most cerebral designers and translate their vision, whether it is on camera or on the runway, is all down to the slow-burn part of her career. Having to wait it out for nearly two years would test even the most determined model, but Anna stepped back into the limelight ready to wow us, and she did. Anna’s career will continue to offer up surprises and delights because she recognises the importance of challenge: challenging your industry and your peers, but most importantly, yourself.

HELEN TOPE