MODEL PROFILES: BAMBI NORTHWOOD-BLYTH

Born in 1991, Stephanie Bambi Northwood-Blythe began modelling locally in Australia at the age of 18.

Signing with Elite in 2010, and adopting her middle name, Bambi scored her first international editorial with RUSSH that April. Photographed by Beau Grealy, ‘Stoned’ was a series of neutral-toned portraits.  Styled with distressed edging and rough textures, Bambi gave an astonishingly accomplished performance, adding a layer of sophistication entirely in keeping with the tone of the shoot.

Landing the cover of Australian Harper’s Bazaar in June, Bambi took to the runway in September. Walking for Chanel, Balenciaga, Rag & Bone, Topshop Unique and Kenzo, Bambi defied the legend that shorter models can’t do runway.

Following a ready-to-wear debut with a pre-Fall show for Chanel in December, this was a very interesting booking. Bambi’s look could easily be classified as very ‘Chanel’ – her strongly defined eyebrows make her memorable, much like Alice Dellal and Vanessa Paradis,  two of Lagerfeld’s most recent campaign girls. Chanel, despite its image beyond the fashion world, is not merely a wardrobe go-to for Park Avenue princesses. Every Chanel girl has had an edge, an intelligence that communicates a brand more intrigued by character than beauty alone. Bambi’s inclusion in the show, at such an early point in her career, was more than Lagerfeld latching onto the face of the moment; Bambi was being touted as a star of the future.

In January 2011, Bambi landed in a ‘new faces’ spread for V magazine. All hand-picked by model, stylist and photographer Natalie Joos, Bambi is joined in the editorial by now-familiar names such as Arizona Muse, Ashley Smith, Carola Remer, Caroline Brasch Nielsen, Julia Saner and Daphne Groeneveld. Joos scored highly with her predictions: all these models are not only working regularly but impressing at the very highest levels of the fashion industry.

Featuring in the February issue of RUSSH, Bambi worked with photographer Benny Horne in an editorial called ‘Babes’. Also including Lisanne di Jong, Hannah Holman and Meag West, the group shots are a lovely example of working together for the greater good. Every model here has star potential, but they put star-billing aside to create group shots that are harmonious and beautiful.

February also saw Bambi head back to the runway, this time walking in A/W shows for Chanel, Jill Stuart, Giles and Topshop Unique. Her ability to command attention paid off in early 2011 when she became one of the faces representing the ck one fragrance by Calvin Klein. Photographed by Steven Meisel, the mega campaign featured Lara Stone, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Alice Dellal plus newer names including Samantha Gradoville, fresh from her runway triumph at Prada. 

Proving her versatility, Bambi then booked her first editorial with W. ‘The Change Agent’, photographed by Steven Meisel, sees Bambi work punk chic with Eliza Cummings and Saskia de Brauw. Between the gentle sensuality of ‘Babes’ and the fierceness of ‘The Change Agent’, Bambi proved herself a perfect fit for every concept. 

Stepping it up a gear, Bambi joined a slew of rising stars for the April cover of Japanese Vogue. Bambi is joined here by Britt Maren, Fei Fei Sun and Milou van Groesen. The cover, called ‘Next Wave’ is pretty accurate, its selection including Milou who would, within a year, become the face of Giorgio Armani.

The model was on home turf again in June, with a cover try for Australian Harper’s Bazaar. In ‘Bambi Turns up the Heat’, the model is featured topless – her modesty preserved by male model Jack Vanderhart’s arm placed across her torso. Bambi’s ability to do the sultrier shoots was also beautifully realised in the August issue of Australian GQ. Modelling with Tyson Ballou, Bambi models retro 1950’s glamour in ‘Before Night Falls’. 

After a highly successful year, Bambi finished 2011 by appearing on the cover of V, photographed by Terry Richardson. ‘Let’s Go Cruising’ features Bambi and Lindsey Wixson playfully posing in Louis Vuitton. 

Heading back to V in March 2012, Bambi channelled the darker side of sexuality in ‘Playing the Field’. An edgy shoot that sees Bambi play the scheming WAG-in-training, it is clear to see that her wealth of editorial experience has made her a highly valuable player. 

Bambi’s latest booking has been to appear in the resort lookbook for Marc by Marc Jacobs. Working looks designed for launch in Spring 2013, Bambi models alongside new model Ondria Hardin. The collection, reputedly inspired by Portland, refers back to ‘old classics’: nautical stripes, muted blues, polka dots and florals – all are thrown into the mix and given the Marc Jacobs treatment. Even the famous mouse-ear flats get a makeover, returning next year as clogs. 

Still barely two years into her career, Bambi has excelled at finding a diverse range of work. Rather than finding a comfort zone, and playing that to perfection, Bambi has actively sought different experiences; her CV charts the progress of a model determined to do it all.

Her bold approach to assignments has seen her star rise quickly and steadily: in the space of a few months, Bambi booked a Chanel show, a campaign for Calvin Klein and the cover of Japanese Vogue. Individually, these credits are impressive. Together, they form a picture of someone who is absolutely fearless in taking on those high-pressure jobs. It’s a good quality to have as a model – especially if you want to go further. 

Bambi’s ascent can also be plotted against a larger success for Australia. Along with fellow Australians Krystal Glynn and Julia Nobis (not to mention newcomers Ollie Henderson and Emily Wake), Bambi forms part of a collective that channel and champion directional fashion. Australia’s role in high-fashion has gathered pace since the discovery of Abbey Lee Kershaw and Catherine McNeill, challenging the idea that Australia only has one type of beauty to offer. The long-limbed, athletic type has been superseded by a variety of fashion-friendly looks, dating from Abbey’s star-making turn for Gucci right up to Julia Nobis’ supporting role in the Louis Vuitton campaign for Autumn 2012.

At 5’7”, Bambi is considerably shorter than most of her peers. But her blossoming editorial and campaign career is a reminder that the modelling world can be flexible – as long as you have something extra to give. Bambi’s extraordinary face, capable of going from punk to pastels, is that something extra. It works for editorial and it works for campaigns – when your photographic presence is as strong as hers, being on the short side can easily be forgiven.

Bambi is a brilliant example of turning potential negatives into something supremely positive. Her face, with those Hilary Rhoda-style eyebrows, could at best draw comparisons, but Bambi has been smart in her choices, slowly building a body of work that’s very different to Hilary’s clutch of campaign regulars. Beating your own path in modelling is essential: as much as fashion likes to categorise, it likes individuals better. It explains why quirky faces often triumph over more conventionally attractive ones. Knowing your strengths, your weaknesses and crucially what you have to offer, is half the battle in becoming a model. Bambi proves that the true mark of success is not in the pursuit of perfection but in acknowledging one’s flaws. She is a better model for it, and will go on to ever greater heights. In fashion, what really counts is not fitting in – it’s standing out.

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