Modeling Journey

Born on March 7^th 1995, Hailey Clauson signed with Ford Models in 2009. The same year, fourteen-year-old Hailey made the pages of Japanese Vogue as their ‘model of the month’ for the October issue. Hailey then cut her teeth on catalogue work, appearing for cult American store, Forever 21.

In September 2010, Clauson made her debut at Fashion Week, walking for Calvin Klein, Gucci, Versace, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Miu Miu, Elie Saab and Lanvin. Hailey’s popularity with designers was immediate: her affiliation with the ‘money labels’ already marked her out as a possible campaign signing.

Hailey’s progress continued in October with an editorial for Italian Vogue. Now a rite of passage for every top model in training, appearing in the magazine is the surest sign that your career is only going to get bigger.

‘Short: The New Ease’, photographed by Craig McDean, sees Hailey featuring with Hanne Gaby Odiele, Hannah Holman and Patricia van der Vliet. Appearing in a set of fashion portraits, the models’ slouchy, contemporary poses are off-set by the retro styling. Deceptively simple, the editorial shows everything and everyone working together in absolute harmony. The editorial is somewhat unusual for Italian Vogue; quieter in tone, but it provided a storming debut for Hailey.

Hailey finished off 2010 with an editorial for Dazed and Confused. Clauson appears in a set of black and white portraits, but unlike the gentleness of the Italian Vogue shoot, this editorial is deliberately dark and deliberately edgy. Clauson carries it off with aplomb. Her hiring for this piece was undoubtedly influenced by her earlier work for Italian Vogue. The tone of the shoots differs a great deal, but the stillness and concentration required for both is something Hailey has clearly mastered. One of the more difficult areas of editorial modelling is generating a ‘still’ image that has life behind the eyes; intent, a story. It’s all too easy to turn ‘contemplative’ into ‘flat-lining’.

Clauson’s career, in timescale still in its infancy, is fast developing and making her a contender, especially when it comes to competing against more established faces. To prove the point, 2011 started with the news that Hailey would be joining Karmen Pedaru and Joan Smalls to become the face of Gucci.

In the Gucci campaign, Hailey gets to channel and play up her sexpot features, in a campaign that celebrates sun-soaked sensuality. There are few occasions in high-fashion where you get to play the siren, but working for Gucci is definitely one of them.

Hailey also appeared in campaigns for Jill Stuart and Italian design duo, Dsquared. In February, she had her best show season to date appearing in a total of 31 shows. Walking for Gucci, Jason Wu, Marc Jacobs, Prada, Reed Krakoff, Versus, and YSL among others, Hailey got to feature in some of the best shows of the season.

Her runway credits got a major boost when she also flew to Paris to appear in couture shows for Elie Saab, Azzedine Alaia and Giambattista Valli. Both Alaia and Valli are two new houses recently credited with couture status, vying for a slice of the lucrative luxury market.

The new customer bases in China, Russia and Japan are giving haute couture a new lease of life. Haute couture’s future in 2008 was far from certain, but in 2011, couture is now reclaiming its position as taste-maker, informing the shapes, colours and fabrics that will go into making the clothes we buy and wear. Even with Dior currently in flux, the couture industry is going from strength to strength.

In March, Clauson went back to editorial work, appearing in shoots for W and Vogue China. Her shoot for Chinese Vogue, ‘A Child in Time’, is a bold aesthetic, once again utilising Hailey’s ability to take a great ‘still’ shot. Being still – and confident – in front of the camera is a game of nerve. Hailey’s gaze is unflinching, but she is visibly at ease.

Hailey also got to flex her muscles for W, appearing in a narrative editorial for Frida Gustavsson and Caroline Brasch Nielsen. ‘Against Nature’, photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, is a dark, atmospheric shoot. Featuring neons against a flat landscape, the results are compelling, and even a little disturbing.

Hailey went on to appear for Numero in May, shooting ‘Memory Motel’ with Greg Kadel. It sees Clauson take on a solo editorial. Fully in control, Hailey delivers a performance that is assured and cool-headed. ‘Memory Motel’ references Seventies glam-rock but the narrative of the shoot owes more to the Coen Brothers than David Bowie. A difficult balance of traditional Americana with Seventies style, Clauson delivers a message that is anything but mixed.

June saw Hailey take on another solo editorial, again for Numero. ‘Tribal’, photographed by Sebastian Kim, is a sepia-toned epic. Woman meets Nature in couture-like detail. Modelling through ultra-high fashion styling with an ethnic twist, the demands of this shoot would be asking a lot of a more experienced model, but Hailey played it note-perfect, making the resulting editorial a triumph.

Clauson is choosing to end the year as she began – with highly prolific campaigns. For Autumn / Winter, she will be appearing in the Topshop campaign with British model Nyasha Matanhodze.

The store is leading the way in creating campaigns that rival labels with a much higher price-tag. Self-billed as one of the UK’s favourite fashion destinations for the under-25’s, Topshop understands that to sell fashion successfully, it must be sold as an aspirational object, no matter what the cost.

You can attribute it to the couture effect: the confidence borne from continuing success in Paris is trickling down and creating a sophistication that is spreading across every level of the fashion industry. Topshop has learnt this lesson particularly well, because nothing in this campaign feels (or looks) cheap.

Hailey forms part of a new wave of American models that are showing the industry that they can compete on the fringes of high-fashion. Highly regarded for their editorial and runway work, the American girls (including Charlotte Free, Ruby Aldridge, Ashley Smith and Arizona Muse) are going head-to head with the Russian / Eastern European stable of talent that has dominated fashion in its dark, minor key.

Perhaps more so than any other recent model from the U.S, Hailey bridges edgy contemporary style with retro glamour. She is a model who could very easily go for the big beauty campaigns and runway slots for Victoria’s Secret and get them. Her runway CV shows she can ably represent the biggest labels in the world without missing a beat. But the exciting thing about Hailey is her tendency to go for the road less travelled.

She has appeared in Italian Vogue, but has also worked for Dazed & Confused, Numero and W. Vogue has the world on a string, but these magazines offer alternative viewpoints that make the fashion feast that much richer. When it comes to getting a handle on fashion, seeing it from every possible angle is fundamental in getting the whole picture.

Hailey’s work with Numero in particular, deftly illustrates the type of model she is likely to become. Off-kilter shoots, loaded with references to film, photography, even anthropology, give Hailey an opportunity to build a library of skills.

Interpretation takes insight, and Hailey’s clear-headed approach to potentially difficult bookings, shows a model totally on-game, but also with a highly evolved sense of what it takes to create great fashion moments. Working against the grain often produces the best work. It takes some models years to get that, but Hailey already has the advantage.

What this generation are bringing to the industry is a type of fearlessness, exhibited by models such as Freja Beha, Jamie Bochert and Saskia de Brauw. Every model owes a debt to the previous generation, but what is happening now is that the back catalogue of talent is so impressive, it gives newbies the confidence to make choices that are smart and unexpected, building a new layer of history, with faces that are free to reject the mould, and that sense of freedom can’t be anything but good.

The fashion world excels at learning from its own past, the key editorials, those memorable runway shows, to filter through and learn what failed, what worked and most importantly, why. Fashion isn’t about rehashing old ideas, but finding different ways to express the concepts that fashion is built around: self-expression, confidence, elegance and beauty. Even when they’re being inverted (usually by Prada), these are the ideas that keep the fashion world turning.

Economic crisis has shown the fashion world that no matter what, a good idea will always sell. The means of survival are very clear: bigger, better and brighter ways of selling those ideas. With models like Hailey leading the way, the road less travelled has never looked so good.

HELEN TOPE

Born in Italy to an Egyptian family, Elisa Sednaoui has become this season’s hot ticket. A muse to Karl Lagerfeld, god-daughter to Christian Louboutin – Elisa’s career is anything but tokenism.

With her parents’ divorce in 1994, Sednaoui moved to France and began modelling in 2006 at the age of 19. In April that year, she made the move to New York to actively pursue a full-time career in modelling.
The move proved worthwhile with a campaign for H&M in 2007, a campaign for Victoria’s Secret and a part in film ‘Neither Before Nor After’, working with director Sharunas Bartas.

In 2008, Elisa signed a fragrance contract with Diesel to become the face of their prolific ‘Fuel for Life’ campaign, photographed by Ellen Von Unwerth. In August she got the cover of French ‘L’Officiel’, and walked in shows in September for designers Diane Von Furstenberg, Tuleh, Betsey Johnson and Costume National.

2009 saw Elisa’s career step up a gear with a signing for John Frieda haircare, and an early runway season walking for Catherine Malandrino, Tuleh and Diane Von Furstenberg.

In April and May, she scored back-to-back editorials with Italian Marie Claire, Italian Flair and German Vogue. Elisa became the face of the Diesel label in 2010, also modelling for the S/S Hogan campaign.

Her first big break, however, came in March when she appeared in an editorial for Numero, photographed by Karl Lagerfeld. Named ‘Dangerous Couture’, the spread was a fetish-themed shoot, with Elisa’s trademark locks swept into a 20’s-style bob.

Any association with Chanel tends to act as stardust on a new model’s career, and Karl’s nod of approval took Sednaoui’s profile to the next level. In April, her personal style was the subject of a profile in French Elle, and in the same month, Italian Vogue featured her as a rising star.
The following month, Italian Vogue put its statement into effect by booking Elisa for her first editorial with the major publication, photographed by her cousin, Stephane Sednaoui.

Elisa’s link with Chanel went one stage further in May when she appeared in a short film directed by Lagerfeld, advertising the Chanel Cruise collection for Autumn 2010. Also featuring Karolina Kurkova, Heidi Mount, Abbey Lee and Jake Davies, the short played to every one of Elisa’s strengths. In head-to-toe Chanel, Sednaoui looked every inch the cool, arty girl that Lagerfeld ultimately designs for. Every one of Lagerfeld’s muses has been a woman of substance: ice princesses need not apply.

In July, she got her first editorial with American fashion magazine W, photographed by Terry Richardson. Featuring among many new faces, ‘Lunch Break’ was a mix of bawdiness and couture sensibility – in other words, trademark Richardson. Elisa’s blend of high-fashion awareness and mainstream sex-appeal made her a perfect model for Richardson’s shoot.
The end of 2010 saw Elisa become one of the faces of the Diane Von Furstenberg label, and a second editorial for Italian Vogue. Photographed by Miles Aldridge, ‘Like a Movie’ was perfect subject matter for film-fan Elisa. Aldridge’s work verges on the cinematic, and this spread was no exception.

Exploiting make-up and wardrobe to their fullest potential, the series of images were constructed to look like film stills, both referencing old Hollywood (including Bette Davis in ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?’) and the work of art-photographer Cindy Sherman.
Working since the 70’s, Sherman made her name with haunting black and white ‘stills’ using herself as the model. The photographs do not directly reference any one film, but steer you towards films you think you may have seen, but can’t quite pin down. It is this uneasiness that makes the work so potent even 30 years on. Sherman’s now-famous series of film stills are both familiar and uncomfortable viewing – exactly the tone Aldridge and Sednaoui aimed for, and got.
Sednaoui rounded out the year with editorials in Dazed & Confused and L’Officiel and a spread in Russian Vogue, photographed by Ellen Von Unwerth.

This year, the buzz on Elisa has reached fever pitch. Already profiled in the broadsheets as the name to watch, she has scooped an editorial with Chinese Vogue, the cover of Italian Elle and now the Giorgio Armani S/S 2011 campaign. It is a major booking for any model, but Elisa’s status as a fashion IT girl was cemented by this signing in one fell swoop. Not only that, any doubts that her growth in the industry was due to her connections were now dispelled: there’s no room in campaigns of this calibre for models that are second-rate, even if they are a ‘name’. Armani demands, and expects, perfection.

Elisa’s success is made all the more remarkable simply because of the current fashion climate. You’d be forgiven for assuming that the bombshell had exited fashion’s vocabulary altogether. Traditional sex-appeal has been off the books for some time, with off-beat beauties such as Freja Beha, Lindsey Wixson and Jamie Bochert scooping all the campaigns and glory. Even with top models such as Lara Stone, the body may be textbook bombshell, but the gap in her front teeth places her squarely at the heart of high-fashion.

Where fashion has done bombshell recently, it’s been by nuance. Hungarian model Eniko Mihalik has cornered the market in chic sensuality. Her series of editorials may be in danger of searing the page, but the heat’s always tempered by that fashion edge.

Why Elisa has made such an impact in such a short space of time is not hard to figure out. She is tipped to be the face of 2011 because she provides that nostalgic hit of sexuality once part of the high-fashion experience of the Eighties and Nineties. Elisa does particularly well in editorial and campaign work. Her spread with Miles Aldridge for Italian Vogue is perhaps the most perfect summary of her talent so far: bold, complex and filmic. It’s no accident that Sednaoui has branched out into films: her movie-star face almost craves a bigger canvas.

Elisa’s leanings towards cinema are not the far-reach you might imagine. Many models have made that leap – some more successfully than others – but the reason they still feel compelled to do so is simple: modelling at its high-fashion core is all about story-telling. Any campaign, no matter how well styled or shot, needs a performance from the model to make it work. Most of the big labels have their own shorthand: Gucci = smouldering, conspicuous consumption. Marc Jacobs = razor-sharp intelligence applied to fashion’s back-catalogue. Recognising a brand’s identity is the easy part, but translating that label’s vision for the season? It requires a set of skills that are not dissimilar to the actor: for that moment you have to believe you are the carefree teenager in nothing but H&M, or the Cavalli glamour-puss with money to burn.

Without that commitment, the campaign loses its sparkle: even the most outrageous, creatively avant-garde ad needs an emotional charge to make the connection between campaign and consumer. Wanting to look like the model in the ad isn’t really the point: imagining yourself clutching that Versace bag is the all-important step towards buying. A model has to put herself in the label’s shoes but we have to put ourselves in her Manolos in order to complete the purchase chain. Fashion’s all about want: the most primal - and sometimes irresistible – urge there is. Factor sex into the equation and you’ve got yourself a monster hit of a campaign.

Elisa’s multi-page ad for the S/S 11 Giorgio Armani campaign is the perfect illustration of how fashion sells sex. Sophisticated but definitely smouldering, the images take the label to a relatively unexplored part of its identity. The well-documented friendly rivalry between label-founder Gianni Versace and Giorgio Armani saw the former label take on high-fashion’s ultimate challenge: how to make clothes sexy but still make them trend-relevant. Dressing sexy before Versace meant cheap fabrics and a sense of the obvious. What Gianni, and now Donatella, have done is made ‘sexy’ fashionable. The formula is simple: good-quality fabrics, unexpected colour choices and a revealing of the body that’s tasteful, not tacky.

The divide was drawn between Armani and Versace when Armani took a decidedly different route to glamour and sex appeal. Armani has consistently produced achingly-glamorous silhouettes and given us some killer red-carpet moments thanks to his couture line, but where Versace chooses to reveal, Armani plays the modesty card. Between them, Armani and Versace have sent Italian fashion values through the roof and made Milan an international fashion capital, but there’s never been any danger of confusing the two labels.

What this latest campaign does is introduce us to the more overtly-sexy side of Armani. It’s still in the best possible taste, but by choosing Elisa as the girl to represent the season; it’s a darker, steamier side of Armani: refreshing as it is surprising. That’s what a good model can do – their own personal currency can seep into a campaign, giving the images an added layer of depth: in Elisa’s case, the quintessential Italian model for the quintessential Italian brand.

Already courting press attention with her appearance in the 2011 Pirelli calendar, Elisa has also experienced a breakthrough season on the A/W 2011 runways this year. Doing both calendars and catwalks is no longer unusual, but to be able to play up to your looks and still get taken seriously by the fashion crowd takes considerable skill. It used to be a feat reserved for the supermodels of the 80’s and 90’s: household names that still opened and closed major catwalk shows without having to compromise their ‘look’.

What Elisa does that’s different is to go to fashion’s extremes: the places where styling and make-up physically transform you, but can only take you so far: you do the rest. Her fetish-themed editorial for Numero and the role-swapping shoot for December’s Russian Vogue required models to go beyond their own image, even their own gender, to get an editorial that’s both thought-provoking and convincing. Again like acting, it doesn’t matter if all the technical elements are in place: without emotion, without heart, it just won’t work.

Elisa’s career choices haven’t always been what you would expect, and that’s exactly why the fashion world finds Elisa so intriguing. Never the same woman twice, Elisa Sednaoui is the ultimate 21st century bombshell.

HELEN TOPE

Born July 7th 1992, Toni Garrn was discovered aged 14 at a street festival in 2006. Initially signing with Modelwerk, Toni modelled locally in Germany before signing with Women Management in 2007. In April that year, she landed her first international editorials with U.S and Italian Elle.

Toni’s career accelerated further in May when she was booked for a French Vogue editorial. Spearheaded by Editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld, French Vogue, along with its British, American and Italian counterparts, can count itself as one of the taste-makers of the industry, especially when it comes to launching new faces. Garrn’s appearance was enough to secure her an unforgettable runway debut. In September she walked in New York Fashion Week, exclusively opening and closing the show for Calvin Klein.

The all-American label took to Toni so much that just a few months later; news broke of her replacing Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova as the face of the brand. Garrn’s Teutonic charm formed the perfect aesthetic for the design-house that made its name on clean lines and uncluttered silhouettes. Garrn’s coup in getting the Calvin Klein contract lined her up for a year of impressive editorial bookings. From February to September 2008, Toni did print work for Italian Vogue, German Vogue and Numero, finishing the summer with a cover for her native German Vogue.

The high visibility approach worked. Garrn experienced a breakout runway season in the autumn, opening and closing shows for Carolina Herrera, Herve Leger, Fendi, Just Cavalli and YSL. She also made appearances for Alberta Ferretti, Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Gucci, Michael Kors, Prada, Stella McCartney, Valentino and Versace. It was a textbook season, with Toni representing every facet of the industry.

November proved to be a particularly well-starred month for Garrn, with an editorial in Chinese Vogue, shot by the late Corrine Day, and her first cover of Italian Vogue, sharing the honours with model Katrin Thormann.

Capping the year off with an editorial collaboration with Italian Vogue and Steven Meisel, Toni’s New Year began with a bang: a cover for Russian Vogue, and a signing to represent Prada, working alongside Anna Jagodzsinka and Giedre Dukauskaite.

As incredible a highlight as this was, the signings kept coming. Toni replaced Catherine McNeil as the face of Hugo Boss, and Raquel Zimmermann as the face of Italian luxe label, Fendi. Toni also got substantial roles in campaigns for Chloe, Etro, Emporio Armani and Shiseido cosmetic line, Cle de Peau. Toni’s journey from newcomer to established face was now complete.

Her success on the runway continued too, with Garrn managing to equal her own record from the previous season, signing up to appear in an incredible 49 shows. With many designers hastily re-booking Garrn, Toni scooped further opening and closing spots from Donna Karan, Bottega Veneta and Preen.

September saw Toni take part in a mammoth couture layout for Italian Vogue. The title of the piece was ‘Dream of a Dress’, and Garrn appeared with models Heidi Mount, Sigrid Agren, Rose Cordero and Constance Jablonski.

Like the seminal U.S Vogue May 2007 cover that launched names like Coco Rocha and Agyness Deyn, this grouping of new models was intended as a launch-pad. Dark and supremely gothic in tone, it was a couture shoot designed to challenge the most confident model, and their collective success heralded the arrival of a new generation of modelling talent.

Toni’s stock rose further after the Italian Vogue shoot, and her rise from editorial star to international cover girl continued, with Garrn performing cover duty for German and Japanese Vogue, including a cover shoot with Karl Lagerfeld in February 2010. An incredible tribute to a model that had not yet turned 18; it was a bona fide career high.

In March,Garrn landed another editorial that got the entire fashion industry talking. The Italian Vogue couture shoot, ‘High Glam’, saw Toni paying homage to haute couture’s last – and most loyal – customer base. Staying in character for a multi-page layout, Toni played the role of a bored, but fabulously dressed, socialite. A good editorial is always about more than just the clothes, and Toni pushed through the pricey garb to create a series of shots that portrayed genuine modern glamour. With haute couture, the secret to making it look contemporary is all in the attitude.

Following on from a very successful runway season for Spring / Summer 2011, in print, Toni’s final appearances of the year have included a double-editorial booking for Spanish Vogue, plus the cover shared with Caroline Trentini, Kasia Struss and Iselin Steiro. Snapped by Victor Demarchelier (son of legend Patrick Demarchelier), the cover represents a gear-change for fashion, and a significant one at that.

The secret to Toni Garrn’s success is very simple. She is fashion’s latest representative on the glamour front-line. Following on from the likes of Cindy Crawford and Jerry Hall, and more recently, Catherine McNeil and Raquel Zimmermann, Garrn is the face of fashion’s latest shift in aesthetic. If you want to know what fashion’s take on glamour looks like right now, Toni is as close a match as it’s possible to get.

At 18, Toni is already a veteran of couture editorials. She wears thousands of dollars worth of couture as if they were her favourite pair of jeans. Google her ‘High Glam’ layout for Italian Vogue and it’s patently obvious that Garrn refuses to be intimidated by the world of haute couture. You look at and admire the dresses as the first port of call, but Toni’s blend of wit and pathos is what makes the shoot visually compelling. To elevate a fashion shoot to couture standard takes a sophistication that’s hard to find, so when a model arrives on the scene that is as comfortable in couture as Garrn, they tend to be in high demand.

High fashion asks more of its models because enticing the most hardened couture devotee takes more than pointing out the hours of craftsmanship. Making desire part of that equation is what has kept this most rarefied layer of the fashion industry afloat at a time when it should, by all logic, have sunk without a trace. Glamour may seem like little more than smoke and mirrors, but its enduring image and what it represents has proved to be the bedrock of the industry.

The restrained and muted tones of A/W 2010 are set to be replaced with bursts of tropical
colour and Seventies poolside glamour as 2011sees postmodern glamour fully evolve. The hair is a little less than perfect, the eyeliner smudged around the edges, but it’s battle-worn chic at its best. The industry has come through a storm of economic gloom not seen since the 1930’s, and the tone for next year is a glamour that’s both beautiful and worldly-wise.

Fashion’s angle on glamour has learnt lessons from the tough, early seasons of the recession. If it’s to grab attention, glamour must be desirable but attainable. The blockbuster success of A/W 2010 has showed that there is still an appetite for high fashion, but the finishes; sheepskin, shearling and leather, are all primed to be of practical benefit as the weather turns colder. Even party-wear has seen the light with velvet maxi-skirts and slouchy jumpers replacing mini-dresses and bare legs. The desire for fashion – and its unique ability to transport us – never went away; it just got a reality check.

Models like Toni will continue to thrive, as creativity is what’s needed to progress fashion in a direction that’s both vibrant and engaging. That last part is crucial, as the industry cannot afford to lose sight of what it learned during the lean times.

With fresh talent setting the pace, both in front and behind the camera, fashion’s way forward is centred on just one bold and beguiling idea: possibility.

HELEN TOPE

Raised in Las Vegas, Jessica Miller is high fashion’s showgirl. In continual demand since signing with agency Next in 2000, Jessica proves that it is possible to have a substantial, wide-ranging career by being able to specialise.

Born on 21st February 1984, Jessica took the unusual route to modelling by enrolling in a local modelling school. In 1999, she was discovered by Corrie Singer and was a new face at Next by 2000.

Jessica debuted at Paris Fashion Week in March 2001, walking for YSL, Thierry Mugler and Lanvin. Her career started off impressively enough, but its initial progress was slow. She was a bona fide fashion girl – good enough for the runways of Paris – but the rest of the fashion world had yet to catch on.

It wasn’t until 2002 that Jessica received her big break. Many top models have defining moments: a point where their career goes from 0-60. Jessica’s career acceleration wasn’t just stellar, it went supernova.

Her athletic figure and long hair caught the eye of designer Calvin Klein. Klein, who had spent his life engineering a brand that speaks of easy American style, was already a dab hand at picking out new model talent. His decision to hire a (then) unknown Kate Moss to model exclusively for him in the early Nineties was pivotal, not only for her, but also crucial in terms of shaping a vision of modern youth for an entire generation, spearheaded by the Calvin Klein name.

A fixture of fashion since the Seventies, Klein’s name became permanently fixed in popular culture with the hiring of Kate Moss. The iconic B&W adverts, with Kate’s editorially-perfect face, transformed the brand into something that was universal in appeal. Klein’s decision to hire an unknown face changed the trajectory of modern fashion, and lightning struck twice when he decided to hire another unknown in 2002, Jessica Miller.

Jessica’s laid-back cool lent itself perfectly to the ethos of Calvin Klein. Not only that, she too had a face that could adapt at will. Any runway, any editorial, any brand – it was now Miller’s for the taking.

Her life as a fairly successful but anonymous runway model changed overnight when Klein named Miller the new Calvin Klein girl. She became the name, the face that everybody in fashion had to know. Success for Jessica had just become radically re-defined.

Signing a two-year contract with Calvin Klein, Jessica walked exclusively for the designer in February and September. In March 2002, she scored her first cover of Italian Vogue, and in October did an editorial for Harper’s Bazaar with photographer Patrick Demarchelier. In December, to crown off an incredible year, Jessica got the cover of Numero magazine. Photographed by French duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, Jessica was covered in glitter. An apt metaphor for fashion’s newest – and brightest – star.

2003 presented yet more opportunities. In February she became a Pirelli calendar girl and was also photographed by van Lamsweerde and Matadin for the cover of French Vogue.

In the spring, Miller became the face of Fendi’s new ad campaign, and scored a double hit in May when she landed the cover of i-D and a coveted editorial for Italian Vogue.

In the autumn, she took part in the couture season in Paris, walking for Chanel, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier and milliner Philip Treacy. She was also named the face of Tommy Hilfiger’s and Givenchy’s Autumn / Winter campaigns.

This body of work culminated in Jessica receiving the Model of the Year award in December 2003 at the International Photographer Awards. The award highlighted Jessica’s ability to develop a rapport with every photographer she worked with. It was not just a professional courtesy on Miller’s part, but a great way of creating a network of people ready and willing to work with her again. Her ability to be a team player also helped in creating some truly great photographs. Jessica’s early success may have been down to her genetic gifts, but what kept her working, was her ability to communicate.

Jessica’s work continued in 2004 with a second Pirelli calendar, and an incredible show season where she walked for over 45 designers. The names that hired her ranged from Marc Jacobs and Alexander McQueen to Viktor & Rolf and Costume National. Jessica’s new standing as the Calvin Klein girl meant that she was fashion’s latest runway star. Her affiliation with photographic work made Miller a popular choice because she immediately knew how to interpret a brief.

In 2004, Miller became the face of Chloe and Blumarine’s ad campaigns, and that was in addition to adverts for Gap and H&M. But in September 2005, Jessica made the startling decision to quit the catwalk. Bearing in mind her knock-out season just one year ago, her decision to leave came as a shock to many.

In 2006, putting runway on hold, Jessica concentrated on landing those lucrative high-end campaigns, and became the face of Chanel cosmetics, plus scoring the campaign for Jimmy Choo.
In September 2007, she appeared in the now-famous Numero ‘Spiderwoman’ editorial, shot by photographer Solve Sundsbo. Suspended in mid-air on wires, Jessica did a series of shots as a bionic ‘Spiderwoman’ character. Clad in skin-tight leather, the shoot was a feat of endurance, referencing Jessica’s comic-book namesake and Angelina Jolie’s super-sexy role in ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’. The photo-shoot drew attention to Miller’s couture-perfect frame and her willingness to literally hang upside down to get that killer picture.

From May 2008 to November 2009, Jessica continued her editorial work with French and German Vogue, i-D and Flair. After wetting her feet at the Chanel Resort show in May 2007, Miller made a triumphant return to runway in 2009, appearing at the Fendi show in Milan, plus walking for Zac Posen and Givenchy in Paris and New York.

A lot can be learned from Jessica Miller. Fearless in her approach to modelling, she has built a diverse career of runway, print and campaign work on learning how to specialise and turn it to her advantage.

Her runway-ready body and waist-length hair have made her a covetable name for both beauty and fashion brands. Miller has worked with firms such as Adidas, Helena Rubenstein, J Brand, Warehouse and De Beers. From diamonds to sportswear, Jessica has excelled in every assignment. Jessica’s decision to concentrate on photographic work has made her highly skilled at determining what’s required. Having a great face and body is certainly no downer, but knowing how to interact with a photographer is nothing short of fundamental: it’s Modelling 101.
Jessica’s ability to respond quickly in photo-shoots has meant that walking away from a highly successful runway career was not an error in judgement. Being flexible enough to switch gears mid-career takes guts, and it’s what has ensured Miller’s longevity in an industry where a model is doing well on a career spanning 5 years at most.

Having a signature undoubtedly helped to launch Jessica’s career. Her long-limbed, aesthetic beauty worked brilliantly for Calvin Klein, and helped her score dozens of editorials, campaigns and covers. But when you have a signature, there is always the possibility you can get cornered and boxed into that one look. Jessica’s decision to switch from runway to print was more than financial: it saved her career from potential atrophy.

Now working as a runway and photographic model, Jessica’s new-millennium take on American beauty continues to sell, ten years after her discovery in Las Vegas.

Miller has recently expressed interest in pursuing acting in the future. Such a leap is certainly possible: Amber Valletta made the move to Hollywood, and film stars Uma Thurman and Diane Kruger once had good careers as models before starring on the silver screen.

Jessica’s ability to work with others may well put her in good stead of achieving those ambitions. She has the potential, like Moss, to have a career that spans across many different media platforms. Resourceful and resilient, Jessica’s not about to be written out of the picture any time soon.

HELEN TOPE