MODEL PROFILES: CODIE YOUNG

Born on 1^st November 1992, Australian model Codie Young looks set to become one of the best-known faces of the year.

Discovered in 2010, Codie signed with DNA Models. In the same year, she got her first significant booking courtesy of Australian Vogue. Requested specifically by Vogue editor Kirstie Clements, the magazine has a strong history of being loyal to its home-grown talent and eager to develop them into world players. Their track record has produced some serious editorial talent including Catherine McNeil, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Alice Burdeu and Julia Nobis.

That October, Codie featured on the cover of Australian Vogue (photographed by Nicole Bentley). Young wore the purple Miu Miu dress du jour, flanked by a stunning display of pink roses. Also scoring two leading editorials in the same issue, this was a spectacular debut, launching Codie into the world of international modelling.

Codie made her catwalk introduction in February 2011, securing the opening spot in the Marni show. Appearing in nearly 40 shows, she appeared for Calvin Klein, Chanel, Chloe, Erdem, Halston, Lanvin, Marc Jacobs, Rick Owens, Rodarte, Sonia Rykiel, Thakoon and Vanessa Bruno.

Returning to Australian Vogue in April, she made her inaugural appearance in Italian Vogue in August. Photographed by Phil Poynter, the Beatnik-style shoot featured Codie playing a super-cool 60’s ingénue. Capturing the era in detail, this was the point where starlets started becoming fashion icons – you didn’t have to be as big a name as Elizabeth Taylor to make an impact. If you loved fashion and knew how to wear it, your star could rise and rise. The Sixties really cemented the link between fashion and film, with new stars cultivating a style persona independent of their film roles. Names such as Brigitte Bardot and Jean Seberg set the standard which starlets aim to replicate today.

Codie experienced her second big RTW season in September with Young closing the S/S 12 Jill Stuart show. With her other appearances including Carven, House of Holland, Just Cavalli, Mulberry, Peter Pilotto and Tory Burch, Codie was making crucial links with the up and coming labels.

Codie’s editorial work led to other high-profile bookings in Autumn 2011, with a campaign signing for Orla Kiely. Born in Ireland but now based in London, Orla Kiely gives retro English style a knowing, postmodern twist. Kiely excels at prints – her famous leaf pattern has become a design icon. Producing ethical fashion that has seduced everyone from Kirsten Dunst to the Duchess of Cambridge, Codie’s intensity gives the clothing a youthful edge.

Codie finally became the main attraction when i-D magazine invited her to participate in ‘Going for the Gold’, an editorial profiling new talent. Featuring new faces such as Alice Cornish and Tian Yi, this editorial highlighted a fresh group of models who are re-introducing the concept of quirky beauty to an industry that has, in the recent economic turbulence, gone with ‘safe’, familiar faces. However, as the recession continued, the fashion industry realised that playing it safe was not the same as being safe. Hence the explosion of new, interesting faces, with both Saskia de Brauw and Milou van Groesen doing particularly well.

The race to find that next great face is a continuous process. The life-cycle of a model tends to be short, and those who were discovered around 2008-09 are already contemplating the endgame of their careers. The tussle between agencies to sign the next big thing is always present; making a star can be a long-drawn-out process with some models needing a gradual introduction into the fashion world. Others start out the gate much quicker, their look usually finding favour with an influential editor, photographer or designer. Finding that starry face – the one that makes their agency a fortune – is a quick-draw business. Hesitate, and that lucky find goes to a rival agency.

Proving her worth, Codie scored the cover of the December beauty supplement for Italian Vogue. Photographed by Greg Lotus, Codie reprises her role in the earlier Italian Vogue editorial, giving us perfectly-honed Sixties elegance.

Completing a shorter RTW season in February, including Oscar de la Renta and Marchesa, Codie made her British Vogue debut with ‘Spring Forward’. Featuring Emily Baker, Romee Strijd, Elise Crombez and Maria Bradley, Codie makes her first editorial appearance sporting flame-red hair. Going from mid-brown, this bold new look proved to be career-defining, with Codie being snapped up for two major campaigns.

The first, Rebecca Taylor, has been a lucky signing for Codie. A regular on the fashion industry circuit, Taylor has just gone from solid, dependable producer of feminine fashion, to one of the hottest names in the business. Relaunching a vintage blue tweed suit recently worn by Kate Middleton, the ‘Kate Effect’ has transformed Taylor’s fortunes. As face of the brand, Codie benefits by association.

The second signing is the stuff of dreams, with Codie becoming the face of the latest fragrance to be launched by Marc Jacobs.

Following a tough act in the enormously popular ‘Lola’, the new fragrance is named ‘Dot’. It promises to be a small dose of summer; boasting a blend of red berries, dragon fruit, coconut water and jasmine. For many, a new Marc Jacobs perfume is always cause for celebration, but for Codie, this new signing represents a tipping point. Depending on how well-starred this fragrance is in comparison to ‘Daisy’ and ‘Lola’; Young’s career could begin a whole new chapter.

The last big launch for Marc Jacobs fragrances was ‘Lola’ in 2009: a floral scent with an extravagant bottle design whose campaign was fronted by Karlie Kloss. Already on her way to becoming a major name in the fashion industry, the ‘Lola’ signing with Karlie attached had an extraordinary effect on her career. As the fragrance became a hit with young women across the globe, recognition of Karlie grew accordingly. In a matter of months, Karlie went from new kid to the must-book model of the moment. Her fanbase grew from a small band of fashion insiders to a wave of appreciative videos popping up all over YouTube. Blogs were dedicated to the American model, and her work eagerly discussed and dissected. The meteoric rise of Karlie occurred because the campaign and fragrance were both equally strong. We’ve all been seduced into trying a new scent by a glossy campaign but felt let down by the scent: on this occasion, no detail had been overlooked: the perfume could not help but be a smash.

Deciding not to break up a winning formula, the ‘Dot’ campaign works on similar principles to the highly successful ‘Lola’ and ‘Daisy’. Instead of giving us uber-glamour, Codie looks directly into the camera, holding the bottle of perfume – and that’s it. It is what it is, the campaign implies: no tricks or subliminal messaging required. The no-nonsense approach is unique to Jacobs and a strategy that clearly works. The red and black bottle (looking like a ladybird) is appealing and tactile; youthful but not juvenile.

The hiring of the campaign model is crucial to the success of any fragrance: the faces used by Chloe to sell their perfume (including Anja Rubik) were perfectly pitched because the models exuded a cool, modern femininity that played right into the brand’s core values. Think of Chloe and you think of those iconic adverts: Anja the epitome of modern beauty, sub-referencing Chloe’s golden age. That same deep-rooted connection is what every perfume-maker aims for. The right face really can change everything.

Codie’s nonchalant air makes her just right for the latest Marc Jacobs scent. Cool, but not distant; quirky but still relatable; Codie sums up what appeals to the generation who will buy the perfume. Old-school glamour, normally a go-to for many perfumes, would not be right for this campaign; pared-down, fresh-faced beauty will strike a nerve with girls who enjoy fashion, but cultivate their own personal style. The individual, the girl less understood, is who Marc Jacobs really sells to. It is no accident that one of his muses is film-maker Sofia Coppola. Her celebration of new faces including Dakota Fanning and Imogen Poots neatly dovetails with Jacobs’ vision: neither is speaking to the girl who loves her fake tan and hair extensions. This is for the outsider, the girl who is aware of trends, knows fashion, but does it her way.

As the perfume nears its launch date in August, it is entirely reasonable to expect that the campaign will have the same catalyst effect for Codie as it did for Karlie. The perfect, quirky face for a boldly individual generation, Codie Young could be this year’s breakout star.

HELEN TOPE

MODEL PROFILES: KATIE FOGARTY

Born on August 6^th 1992, Missouri native Katie Fogarty signed with NEXT Management at the age of 16. Having joined the blockbuster agency, Fogarty made her catwalk debut that September with appearances for Jill Stuart, Kenzo, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Ohne Titel, Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti and Prada.

The Prada show proved to be memorable, with Fogarty tripping up on the runway. The show, featuring the now-notorious 6” snakeskin heels, saw not only Fogarty struggle but several other models as well. Fogarty was helped to her feet by those in the front row, but after another trip, Katie had no choice but to remove the shoes and walk the rest of the circuit barefoot. It was a brave move for a new model and the footage created headlines across the world. Far from being a disaster for Katie, the moment scored her extra press attention, with both www.models.com and www.COACD.com featuring her as a top newcomer of the season.

Fogarty’s moment in the spotlight quickly translated into big-money campaigns with Balenciaga and Prada’s sister label, Miu Miu. The latter saw Katie model the Italian label’s beautiful pleated dresses – a trend that continues to have fashion momentum today. 

Appearing in editorials for Wonderland and Dazed & Confused, Katie’s next runway season grew to 44 shows including Brian Reyes, Chloe, Christopher Kane, Herve Leger, Jason Wu, Karl Lagerfeld, Missoni, Peter Jensen, Rebecca Taylor, Richard Nicoll and Valentino. As well as getting that all-important kudos from some of the biggest names in the business, Katie was a hit with fashion’s young talent, with Kane, Nicoll and Jensen all vying for her time.

Her successful season saw Fogarty lauded as a rising star by www.style.com and move into major editorial territory with appearances in V and Japanese Vogue. Katie made her couture debut in July, walking for Valentino. Her delicate features acted as the perfect complement to Valentino’s finely-spun take on femininity.

Katie landed another huge campaign in the autumn, this time for D&G. Photographed by Mario Testino, this was classic territory for Dolce & Gabbana’s diffusion label. Fun, exuberantly-styled clothes modelled against an opulent, stately home backdrop. With the off-setting of ‘old’ style language (headscarves, quilted jackets) on young models, D&G anticipated the trend for vintage-feel clothes several years before it became the norm. 

Katie’s stock rose even further in September with a massive 64-show season including the closing spot for the Roberto Cavalli show. Modelling for Chanel, DKNY, Erdem, Jonathan Saunders, Nina Ricci, Peter Pilotto and Thakoon, Katie was featured in some of the biggest collections of the season. Getting recognition from the American fashion press, Fogarty landed her first editorial for W in January 2010. Photographed by Craig McDean, ‘Run of Show’ included Elsa Sylvan, Frida Gustavsson and Hanne Gaby Odiele in a massive shoot featuring the season-defining looks from the best shows.

Now a runway regular, Katie appeared in the Autumn 2010 shows in February, in a smaller 33-show season. It was smaller for Katie, but of course, in the big picture, it was still a substantial total. Walking for Dolce & Gabbana, Giambattista Valli and Sonia Rykiel, it was a more niche season than the one before, with lots of newer designers in the mix including Prabal Gurung and Olsen sisters’ passion project, The Row.

Katie’s ability to take on the biggest campaigns continued in Autumn 2010, with an appearance in the Sonia Rykiel campaign with Anna de Rijk. Rykiel, a stalwart of the French fashion scene, shows the flip side of groomed Parisian chic. Rykiel takes her lead from the seamier aspects of Paris: it is not too big a leap to imagine the Sonia Rykiel woman in the Montmartre of Renoir, Van Gogh and Picasso. The feel of the brand is left-wing, artistic and free-wheeling, with a thread of naughtiness running through it. Katie and Anna get the tone of the campaign absolutely right with Rykiel sticking closely to her brand’s core values, proving that a successful campaign doesn’t necessarily need bells and whistles to grab our attention. 

In September, Katie returned to the runway with another massive RTW season including appearances for Balenciaga, Giorgio Armani, Peter Som and Reed Krakoff. Included in her list of new credits was a coveted spot in the runway line-up for designer Mary Katrantzou. This collection saw Mary go from hotly-tipped newcomer to fashion’s grande amour. Just three years ago, Mary was operating on the sidelines of high-fashion, but her fearless exploration of print has made Katrantzou a star. Her success is incredibly well-timed, as we’re all getting a little braver with our fashion choices, Mary’s way of seeing the world – a kaleidoscopic, joyful collision of pattern and colour – is not only deemed beautiful, but downright covetable.

Katie continued her association with fashion’s biggest names in early 2011 with a campaign for Barney’s department store. With stores dotted across the USA, the store has become a go-to destination for fashion’s brightest and boldest designs. The campaign follows suit, photographed by Juergen Teller, Nan Goldin and William Klein. Doing everything on a grand scale, Katie joined a slew of top models including Ming Xi, Mirte Maas, Karlie Kloss and Anja Rubik. Staged to look like a series of candid shots taken backstage at a runway show, the campaign makes itself the connecting link between runway and customer.

Following a challenging editorial for Chinese Harper’s Bazaar in February, Katie added beauty to her CV with a shoot in the March edition of Allure. ‘Spring Fling’, photographed by Greg Kadel, also features Ariel Meredith, Hannah Holman and Kate Spade’s newest campaign star, Anna Speckhart. Katie had already mastered fashion, but beauty can test even the most seasoned of runway girls. In this shoot, Katie looks cool, calm and totally on-game.

In September, Katie’s career went long haul with a trip to Australia. Working for Australian Vogue, she appeared in a major editorial plus the cover. The spread, ‘Night Watch’ saw Katie model sleekly gothic eveningwear. Each Vogue has its own personality, and Australia has a penchant for classic glamour. It might be surprising, coming from the country that as defined beach chic, but a lot of Aussie success stories are all in the field of glamour: Alex Perry, Colette Dinnigan, Alice McCall and Rachel Gilbert. Just like her long-standing association with Valentino, Katie is perfect for designers who deal in high-octane glamour. It’s a deceptively hard area to master: high-end modelling requires a subtlety that often takes years to get right. Glamour at this level is all about aspiration and creating that from scratch is no mean feat. Modelling glamour with a light touch to keep it sophisticated is a balancing act that requires confidence, poise and precision. 

Katie returned again to Australian Vogue in December with another editorial. ‘L’Afrique, c’est chic’ was an epic, multi-page shoot, featuring the tribal trend. Teeming with Aztec prints and vibrant colours, the shoot anticipates the surprise hit of the season. Shaking off its gap-year associations, tribal fashion has at last scored with consumers by playing up its adaptability: worn diluted (D&G, Stella McCartney) or in a more literal way (Kenzo), tribal fashion can be worn in endless translations. 

Its versatility makes tribal a core modern trend. The many ways it can be worn (even just an accessory can transform a neutral outfit) makes tribal a very contemporary way of exploring a trend. Its complex prints and colour palette put many off trying it for years, but its dilution on the high-street worked wonders, with consumers at last seeing its true potential. Tribal could well lead the way in how we digest fashion in the future: a trend that contracts or expands to suit us, but loses none of its impact however it’s worn, is nothing short of revolutionary. As we get choosier about where our fashion spend goes, a trend that offers serious mileage in terms of cost-per-wear is going to get our attention. Tribal may have started off as a micro trend, but its impact has been phenomenal. In making adaptability the focus of our fashion desires, thinking small could soon become the next big thing.

As Katie enters the next phase of her career, her ability to sell difficult trends puts her ahead of the pack. As fashion exits its ‘safe’ era and heads into new territories, boldly exploring print, colour and shape, the demand for models who can take the fear out of these designs will sky-rocket. Katie not only makes classic, familiar shapes look good, but can also work newer silhouettes in such a way that we feel we know them. Fashion that feels (and looks) like a friend is key to getting consumers to spend, when disposable income is at a low. The big surprise of the recession has been that fashion consumers don’t only want comfort, they want innovation. Individual pieces and limited editions have soared in popularity with new designers doing particularly well. The fact that we are buying these designs is empowering the fashion industry to create fashion that is bigger, better, stronger. Challenging the limits of what we wear, the future of fashion’s creative edge has never looked so good. 

HELEN TOPE

MODEL PROFILES: JULIA NOBIS

Born on June 27^th 1992, Australian native Julia Nobis began modelling locally in 2009 at the age of 17. A year later, Julia went international when she signed with top agency Elite Models.

In February 2010, Julia debuted at Fashion Week, walking in the Calvin Klein show as an exclusive. The American label was, in hiring Nobis, continuing its tradition of championing new faces. From Kate Moss, to Lara Stone and now Daphne Groeneveld, Calvin Klein has been responsible for introducing new definitions of beauty to the world stage. Julia’s long-limbed look made her an obvious choice for the label’s no-frills aesthetic.

The influence of the Calvin Klein exclusive was immediate, with Julia’s runway CV including bookings from Topshop, Richard Nicoll, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton and Miu Miu. She was subsequently featured by www.models.com as one of their Top 10 Newcomers.

In May, Julia appeared in editorials for both Italian and British Vogue. Nobis proved a natural at editorial, and her spread in Italian Vogue ramped up the pressure with photographer Steven Meisel behind the lens. ‘Bathing Beauties’ was Italian Vogue’s spin on a retro swimwear shoot. Classic shapes met with of-the-moment styling – it was a typical feature from the magazine, but Julia showed no sign of beginner’s nerves.

Julia got to make her couture debut in July when she appeared for Valentino. At 5’ 11”, Nobis is couture-perfect, and it put her in a select group of models who are runway all-rounders: equally at home in ready-to-wear as they are handling the demands of haute couture. Having made the move up to couture, Julia was now getting attention from labels already looking to hire for their Autumn / Winter campaigns.

Julia’s affinity with high fashion was spotted by design duo Proenza Schouler who chose her to take part in their new campaign. It was a signing that was totally in keeping with Nobis’ career to date. Working a little sportswear influence with geek chic, Proenza Schouler has been one of the most original labels to emerge in recent years. Julia’s calm, assured performance in a pared-down, nowhere-to-hide campaign went a long way in selling Proenza Schouler to the next fashion-buying generation.

With a 41-show season in September, including an opening and closing slot with Proenza Schouler, Julia was becoming the favourite of many of fashion’s best avant-garde talents, including Peter Pilotto, Jonathan Saunders and Alexander Wang. Julia’s booking sheet was depicting a model that was making a serious impact with fashion’s A-list.

Julia’s editorial experience grew in September and October with back-to-back appearances for Dazed & Confused. In September’s issue, she appeared as a street punk with a scraped-back ponytail and winged eyeliner. The following month, she had a solo beauty shoot, creating a modern take on the Pre-Raphaelite look. Both appealed to Julia’s creativity: editorials at this level require a model that isn’t afraid of presenting beauty that’s outside the box, and Julia came ready to work.

2011 began with Julia reaching new heights in couture, walking for both Elie Saab and Chanel. Her high-fashion kudos took her home again, as Julia modelled for Australian Vogue. ‘The Rules of Attraction’, photographed by Max Doyle, showed Julia working old-school glamour, from goddess gowns to YSL’s Le Tuxedo. Nobis proved disarmingly good at transforming into the glamour girl. Considering Australia’s background in producing good eveningwear designers it is perhaps not so surprising. Think of Australian fashion and one tends to think in terms of swimwear. But it also has talent to boast of in the glamour department, with Alex Perry providing classic elegance and red-carpet heavy-hitter, Colette Dinnigan. It may not be as prolific as Milan or Paris, but Australian fashion holds its own, staying relevant by remaining individual.

Racking up an impressive 54 ready-to-wear shows in February, Julia returned to her left-field roots in March with an Italian Vogue beauty shoot. Photographed by Emma Summerton, Nobis features in a spread inspired by 70’s glam rock icon Joan Jett.

She appeared again in Australian Vogue in April, this time in an editorial showcasing Giorgio Armani’s eveningwear collection. But the magazine, in recognition of Julia’s achievements, then featured her on their May cover plus a leading editorial. Here we see Julia in more familiar territory, working a teal feathered dress with red and yellow hair. It was exuberant, joyful and thoroughly individual, and perfect working material for Julia who aced both cover and editorial. The spread, ‘I Want Candy’, was a pitch-perfect review of every major Spring / Summer collection from Valentino to Prada.

Julia’s great run of editorial and runway work brought her more big-money campaigns, including a notable appearance for heritage label, Balenciaga. Working alongside models Liya Kebede and Milou Van Groesen, the campaign works on the element of surprise, presenting us with two standard fashion images, but distorting the fashion metaphor by placing them side by side.

The first sees the models against the dramatic arches of Spanish architecture from Gaudi. Grand, epic and beautiful, it is a familiar image for high-fashion, marrying the work of a great artist with the craftsmanship of the clothes. The second image is another well-known fashion image, this time back in the studio, featuring the collection against a graphic, pop-art background. Playing on our expectations and inverting them, the two images are complete opposites and shouldn’t work when side by side but the uniting factor, the thing that binds them together, is the clothes. The campaign, like many of Balenciaga’s strongest adverts, succeeds for the very reasons it should fail.

Julia headed back to the runway in September and had a mammoth season, with over 72 shows. Opening shows for Peter Som, Rebecca Taylor, Dries Van Noten and Alexander McQueen, Nobis’ strengths as a blue-chip catwalk model are finally being recognised. It is rare, even in today’s industry, to find a model that is so adept at working the most avant-garde designs as well as the more traditional work of money-making labels such as Gucci and Chanel. But the breadth of runway work Julia has undertaken focuses in on why Julia has become so in demand: with this model, there are no limits.

In October, Julia made her editorial debut for American fashion bible, W. Photographed by Craig McDean, Julia featured with Ming Xi and Jess Gold in fashion ’groups’, ranging from high-octane glamour to hippie luxe. Julia expanded her editorial CV again in November with a double appearance in V magazine. Appearing in ‘Faces of Now’ and ‘New Models, New York’, Julia was photographed in a series of beautiful black and white portraits. The stillness and concentration required for this type of work is evident in Julia’s unwavering focus. The resulting photographs are undeniably high-fashion, but gorgeous in their simplicity.

Julia is set to finish 2011 with even more runway work. This time she has made appearances for pre-fall shows from Michael Kors and Calvin Klein. An appetiser to the main Autumn / Winter shows arriving in February 2012, these mini pre-collections form a bridge between the main ready-to-wear seasons. A relatively new innovation, the pre-collections are getting as much attention as the main shows, giving us a preview to what we’ll be wearing next. Graphic, Sixties lines are already in the frame for Autumn 2012, with Michael Kors showing bold, funnel-neck coats. With fashion consumption moving at an ever-faster pace, the return of familiar shapes acts as an anchor for the consumer – a token of the expected in a fashion landscape where the rules are continually shifting.

In her work with fashion’s edgiest designers, photographers and magazines, Nobis has also been busy defying the stereotype of bronzed, Aussie beauty, along with her peers Catherine McNeil, Alice Burdeu and Abbey Lee Kershaw. Just as Elle McPherson pioneered a wave of athletically-shaped models in the late 1980’s, Nobis, Kershaw, McNeil and Burdeu are persuading the fashion industry that if they thought to know what to expect from Australian models, they were wrong.

From Alice Burdeu’s alabaster skin, to Abbey with her career that defies the idea that money-makers can’t be high-fashion, the wave of talent emerging from Australia is proving to be one of the most exciting in decades. Julia is the latest model to join this group, but her look, just as unexpectedly Australian, makes her unique even among these girls. Where McNeil and Kershaw wow in big-money campaigns, Nobis becomes Australia’s latest editorial hit: a truly brilliant model, across the board. As fashion continues to operate in a rapidly expanding universe, and the role of models continues to grow within it, Julia’s skill in every aspect of fashion will make her highly coveted. In 2012, Nobis is set to become not only a respected name on the runway, but that versatile face, the anchor that makes you look twice. As bets on fashion’s next superstar go, this will be the safest one you’ll make all year.

HELEN TOPE