Modeling Journey

Steven Meisel shoots some of modellings most compelling faces for W Magazine's September issue. A cast of supers, current tops and faces of tomorrow make up the cast of chameleons assembled for the editorial entitled "Transformers". Linda Evangelista, Raquel Zimmerman, Karen Elson, Jamie Bochert, Jessica Stam, Aymeline Valade, Fei Fei Sun, Guinevere Van Seenus and Candice Huffine pose for a duo of portraits, first as they see themselves and then as their alter egos. The results are magnificent with each model undergoing a dramatic transformation thanks to the creative genius of Meisel and stylist Edward Enninful. The September issue of W marks Enninful's first full issue as the magazine's fashion and style editor, and if this is an indication of things to come I will be anticipating each issue with abated breath.

Dazed & Confused delivers a 60-plus page visual smorgasbord for its September issue featuring a genius mix of established models, new faces and kids discovered at street castings. Kacper Kasprzyk photographs the cast of nearly 40 models including Joan Smalls, Liu Wen, Emily Didonato, Marloes Horst, Aymeline Valade, Hanna Ben Abdesslem and Ajak Deng in a series of moody black and white and colour shots with blue lit backdrops. The editorial showcases looks from the Fall/Winter 2011 collections with styling by Katie Shillingford, Karen Langley and Robbie Spencer. An element of surprise is gleaned with each turn of the page thanks to the eclectic mix of high fashion faces, commercial models and unknowns.

Russh's September issue confirms Aymeline Valade as my favourite model of the moment. Captured by photographer Will Davidson, Valade looks so exuberant and brimming full of joy as she wanders and dances around the streets of New York. Stylist Stevie Dance kits out Valade in an eclectic mix of bodysuits, tunics, pantsuits and top hats by the likes of Dries Van Noten, Dolce Gabbana, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Michael Kors, Collette Dinnigan and Josh Goot. Valade proves yet again that the combination of beauty, personality and womanly allure is precisely what the market place has been yearning for.

French newcomer Aymeline Valade is fast becoming one of my favourite faces of the moment. Valade appears in two compelling editorials for Numero and Vogue China lensed respectively by Tom Munro and Camilla Akrans. Munro's feitsh inspired editorial for Numero, taps into Valade's sultry beauty and depicts her as a woman not afraid to show off her brazen sexuality. Aymeline's versatility as a model is demonstrated further as she reveals a softer, more winsome, romantic side for Vogue China's editorial. Akrans captures Valade in a sun dappled garden setting amidst cherry blossoms and hydrangeas. Valade looks simply divine wearing creations by Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Celine and Maison Martin Margiela. 

French model Aymeline Valade has emerged as this season's most coveted newcomer landing three  Fall/Winter campaigns for Kenzo, Just Cavalli and Etro photographed by Mario Sorrenti, Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott, and Mario Testino respectively. At age twenty six, Valade's success may come as a surprise to many given that most newcomers are barely shy of their teens. Valade's breakthrough occurred during the Fall/Winter 2011 collections in New York when Alexander Wang selected her to open his show. What followed was a deluge of runway bookings in Milan and Paris for the likes of Gucci, Chanel, Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton for which she closed. Valade has since made an indelible mark editorial-wise in blue chip publications including W, Interview, Numero, the Journal, i-D Magazine and German Vogue.

Valade along with Arizona Muse and Saskia de Brauw represent a shift in modelling's aesthetic toward models with life experience, a defined sense of self and purpose, and above all with personality. More than just a pretty face, Valade is an inquisitive woman who is clearly at one with her body, having trained for years in classical ballet. Valade details in an interview with the Cut that "I was scouted multiple times at multiple ages, but due to school and lack of interest I never pursued it. When I was 23, I went to Paris and was interning at a communications agency. Every day I passed by an agency and they scouted me. I did a few jobs with them but left after my internship was over. I eventually signed with Women Paris when my old agent from the agency became my manager and the rest is history."

Valade's striking individual looks are accentuated by an insightful mind and serene nature, adding in the interview with the Cut that "Happiness is a state. It is not something you think about, but something you are. The best thing to do is to just enjoy every situation as much as you can, the less you think about it, the better." Valade to me represents a backlash against the past few years of android-like pre-pubescent models predominantly from Eastern European block countries. Valade possesses the looks and personality to inspire photographers and designers to allow models to project their own personality onto the runway and editorial pages.