inoubliablemodelarmy

Friday, May 24, 2013

The Sweet Life

All eyes were on Spaniard Dalianah Arekion when she opened exclusively for Givenchy at the Fall/Winter 2013 collections. The 17 year old who hails from Santander on the north coast of Spain began modelling a year ago when she sent her pictures into agencies in Barcelona and was swiftly signed by Traffic Models. The 179 cm tall beauty with striking green-blue eyes, owes her exotic looks to her blend of Spanish and Mauritian ancestry. Arekion clearly impressed designer Riccardo Tisci who enlisted her to front the Givenchy Fall/Winter 2013 campaign shot by Mert & Marcus. Arekion keeps things on the boil with a star-turning appearance in the June 2013 issue of Teen Vogue shot by Sebastian Kim in the sun soaked port of Tulum, Mexico. Arekion turns heads as she explores the local food markets, hitches a ride on a taxi cart, and catches some rays on the magnificent Tulum coastline. No doubt Arekion will be the newcomer on every influential casting director's must see list in the lead up to the Spring/Summer 2014 collections.

Dalianah Arekion
Teen Vogue - June 2013
Photographer - Sebastian Kim
Source -visualoptimism.blogspot.com

Teen Vogue - June 2013
Photographer - Sebastian Kim
Source -visualoptimism.blogspot.com

Get A Leg Up!

During the Spring/Summer 2013 season, I had the pleasure of running into American model Ava Smith outside Milk Studios following her appearance in the Peter Som presentation. Of the 150 or so models that I photographed that season, Smith rates as one of the most beautiful and authentically nice individuals that I encountered. Smith possesses a dreamy peaches and cream complexion that is offset by piercing cobalt blue eyes and magnificently sculpted cheekbones. Spanish Vogue takes advantage of Smith's astonishing beauty and lanky, athletic physique for an editorial shot by Hasse Nielsen. Smith's gazelle like-limbs are the main attraction as Nielsen photographs her in the Fall/Winter 2013 season's thigh skimming skirts and structural jackets with a distinctly sport-inspired edge. Smith's nine years of industry experience are clearly evident with the twenty-four year old American beauty showing off a range of expression and poses which showcase the clothing to stunning effect. With a lustrous voluminous chestnut mane, incredulous gob-smacking beauty, and a personality that is as engaging as her looks, Smith undeniably has a leg up on the competition.

Ava Smith
Spanish Vogue - May 2013
Photographer - Hasse Nielsen
Source - models.com

Spanish Vogue - May 2013
Photographer - Hasse Nielsen
Source - models.com

Thursday, May 23, 2013

The Enchanted Forest

Inoubliable Model Army's perennial favourite Liya Kebede appears in a magical editorial set in the jungles of Costa Rica for the June/July 2013 issue of W. Kebede, ever the class act, poses for photographer Mikael Jansson as a cast away in dual editorials appearing alongside model of the moment Joan Smalls. Kebede poses perched atop the sturdy tree branches sporting a bowl style wig which accentuates her exquisite bone structure and immaculate rich skin tone. Fashion director Edward Enninful weaves a magical tale with Kebede decked out in pieces embellished with sequins, plumes, and fur from the Fall/Winter 2013 collections of Prada, Rodarte, Emporio Armani, Christopher Kane, Proenza Schouler, and Marni. Kebede exudes a peaceful tranquility and grace that fits perfectly with the stillness of the natural habitat of the Costa Rican landscape. With over a decade of modelling experience under her lithe belt, thirty-five year old Kebede continues to enchant photographers, fashion editors, and designers with a beguiling presence that precedes her incredulous and timeless beauty.

Liya Kebede
W Magazine - June/July 2013
Photographer - Mikael Jansson
Source -wearesodroee.wordpress.com

W Magazine - June/July 2013
Photographer - Mikael Jansson
Source -wearesodroee.wordpress.com

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Here Comes the Sun...

Supermodel Joan Smalls stars in a nostalgia-tinged editorial which transports me back to my childhood days spent windsurfing, island-hopping, and collecting seashells on the beaches of Papua New Guinea. Photographer Mikael Jansson trains his lens on Puerto Rican modelling sensation Smalls as she greets the day and frolics along the Costa Rican shoreline. Bearing the title "Survival of the Chicest", Small goes head-to-head with modelling legend Liya Kebede in dual editorials. Smalls and Kebede play castaways in two seemingly disparate shoots which would have served better as separate editorial features. Smalls dons a short shag style wig and swimwear with laser cut and crochet detailing from the collections of Chloé, Versace, La Perla, Roberto Cavalli, and Isabel Marant. The editorial hints at a changing of the guard with Smalls taking up the reigns from Kebede as the premier black model of the current generation of beauties in high rotation. Personally, I would have preferred both models to have had the opportunity to pose alongside each other in an editorial which supports the notion of solidarity amongst models of colour. Kebede's editorial images to follow shortly...

Joans Smalls
W Magazine - June 2013
Photographer - Mikael Jansson
Source - wearesodroee.wordpress.com

W Magazine - June 2013
Photographer - Mikael Jansson
Source - wearesodroee.wordpress.com

W Magazine - June 2013

Photographer - Mikael Jansson

Source - wearesodroee.wordpress.com

W Magazine - June 2013
Photographer - Mikael Jansson
Source - wearesodroee.wordpress.com

Boiling Point

With Summer beckoning, bathing suits editorials are popping up with alarming urgency for those of us who may not necessarily be in tip top swimsuit suit shape ;-). Clearly not the case for top models Fei Fei Sun and Julia Nobis, who get temperatures soaring in an editorial set in a boiler room for the New York Times Style Magazine supplement T. Photographer Craig McDean taps into the androgynous sex appeal of Fei Fei and Nobis, pairing leather jackets, gothic accessories, and masculine footwear with the season's gnarliest swimwear looks. The casting of catwalk queens Nobis and Fei Fei, may seem an odd match for a bathing suit story however both models add their own signature spin on the beachside babe ideal to fit perfectly within the editorial's "Too tough too handle" brief. Fei Fei's exotic otherworldly features and Nobis' street cred bring an added dimension of interest to this hyper-stylised editorial.

Fei Fei Sun
T Magazine - S/S 2013
Photographer - Craig McDean
Source - visualoptimism.blogspot.com

Julia Nobis
T Magazine - S/S 2013
Photographer - Craig McDean
Source - visualoptimism.blogspot.com

Fei Fei Sun
T Magazine - S/S 2013
Photographer - Craig McDean
Source - visualoptimism.blogspot.com

Julia Nobis
T Magazine - S/S 2013
Photographer - Craig McDean
Source - visualoptimism.blogspot.com

Fei Fei Sun
T Magazine - S/S 2013
Photographer - Craig McDean
Source - visualoptimism.blogspot.com

Julia Nobis
T Magazine - S/S 2013
Photographer - Craig McDean
Source - visualoptimism.blogspot.com

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Venus Rising

Romanian goddess Andreea Diaconu confirms her status as one of the leading models of the current generation with her stunning June/July 2013 Paris Vogue cover debut. Twenty-one year old Diaconu frolics on the beaches of St Barts for photographer Mario Sorrenti clad in bikinis and beachside attire from the Fall/Winter 2013 collections of Miu Miu, Isabel Marant, Mulberry, Charles Jitrois, and Fendi, paired with leather accessories by Lost Art. Diaconu's recent graduation to modelling's major league has been a result of seven years of grunt modelling, careful development, and meticulous placement within the market by her management team at powerhouse agency IMG Models. Diaconu's classic beauty and dreamy blue eyes brought her to the attention to model scouts early in her teen years. At age 14, Diaconu acquiesced to modelling's pull only as a means to finance lessons for her true passion - the discipline of karate. A regular fixture on the show circuit since her debut at the Spring/Summer 2006 collections, Diaconu's editorial options kicked into overdrive in 2013 with her Paris Vogue editorial debut in the February issue followed by appearances in Vogue Italia, Vogue Japan, and i-D. Sorrenti's trademark sensual imagery works in tandem with Diaconu's natural beauty, sculpted physique, and powerful feminine allure.

Andreea Diaconu
Paris Vogue - June/July 2013
Photographer - Mario Sorrenti
Source - thefashionspot.com

Paris Vogue - June/July 2013
Photographer - Mario Sorrenti
Source - thecitizensoffashion.com

Paris Vogue - June/July 2013

Photographer - Mario Sorrenti

Source - wearesodroee.wordpress.com

Paris Vogue - June/July 2013

Photographer - Mario Sorrenti

Source - wearesodroee.wordpress.com

Paris Vogue - June/July 2013
Photographer - Mario Sorrenti
Source - thecitizensoffashion.com

A Different Light

During the Fall/Winter 2013 Paris collections, photographer Rene Fietzek and German Vogue's casting director Julia Lange met with and photographed forty of the season's most promising new faces and established models. Relative newcomers Jemma Baines, Lisa Verberght, Anna Martynova, Dauphine McKee, Stina Rapp Wastenson, Tess Hellfeuer, Jessa Brown, and Nastya Kusakina, pose alongside seasoned veterans Mélodie Monrose, Hanne Gaby Odiele, and Crista Cober in their natural state with minimal styling and props. Often times, casting polaroids are shot quickly with little thought given to any artistic merit. Not so with Fietzek, who plays with contrasting light and shade to highlight the unadulterated beauty of his subjects. The intimacy and atmospheric mood conveyed between Fietzek and his posse of Fall/Winter 2013 runway hopefuls is a refreshing departure from the stock standard 'deer caught in headlights' casting polaroids that do little to capture the individual beauty of the models in attendance.