Model's Digest

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Model from New Zealand on New York's catwalks

By Jude Hathaway

Nicole Clulee from Dunedin, New Zealand, is strutting down New York's catwalks as part of that city's fashion week. If the 17-year-old girl was following her normal schedule this week she would be one of the two Columba College secondary school pupils to receive a 2008 Class Act award from the Prime Minister Helen Clark, at a special ceremony at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. The Class Act awards event is held annually to recognise outstanding pupils. But Nicole Clulee is not only an outstanding pupil, she is also one of the Ali McD Model Agency's top models and is right now far from following her regular timetable. She is, instead, in New York fulfilling a demanding schedule as one of the Trump Model Management's contingent of new international faces at New York Fashion Week. By Monday she had modelled in the Rachel Roy, Kristiania, Geova and Akiko Ogawa shows. It all began last May when, with fellow model Kayleigh Hancock and the modelling school's director Aliana McDaniel, Nicole travelled to New York as international faces of the Trump agency. Nicole was immediately signed for the fashion week. Kayleigh has to wait to turn 16. She will return to New York in February next year. Nicole arrived in the Big Apple on August 19 with her mother, Carolyn Clulee as chaperone, and has been fulfilling modelling commitments and "go sees" with the agency.

Q: Did you have time to acclimatise on arriving in New York?

A: I arrived on August 19 and had a photoshoot for Rabbit magazine the next day, so no, there was no time to acclimatise.

Q: What was the procedure on arrival as far as your work was concerned?

A: I have a few agents that look after me at Trump - Dean Rogers and Valerie Boyce - and Duane Gazi, who oversees these agents.
I mainly deal with Dean and Valerie as they are the agents that look after "new faces".
Dean met Mum and me at the apartment to let us in the day that we arrived but I also went into the agency the day after I arrived (before the Rabbit photoshoot) to pick up my book/portfolio and comp cards.

Q: When do your working days start and when do they finish generally?

A: On a big day I start at 9am and finish about 7pm-8pm, but on a usual day I'll start about 10am and finish about 6pm. Valerie and Dean send me my daily schedule by email the night before and look after all of my appointments/castings etc. When I came to NYC for the first time, for the first week or so Dean took me around to my castings but it's a very easy city to get around in, and I found it very easy, especially this time, to get to my castings/fittings/jobs so I do this on my own.

Q: Tell us what castings involve and how many you have completed there?

A: Castings for fashion week involve walking in your heels, getting digitals and polaroids taken and sometimes trying on clothes, also being there in the set time given. Sorry, I have no idea how many I've done. The least number is probably seven a day and the most 15.

Q: Do castings change from store to store and designer to designer? If so what has been your favourite so far?

A: Every casting is different. Some designers may love you, some may not. I don't really have a favourite, but I had a fitting today where the designer was handing out roses to all of the models, which was a nice surprise.

Q: Are the castings all about New York Fashion Week?

A: Mainly for fashion week but I have had a few for lookbooks.

Q: Have there been any times when you have been really nervous or do you take everything in your stride?

A: I don't really get nervous. The way I see it is: What happens, happens. The designers are all looking for a different look and sometimes I'm not that "look" and there's not much I can do about that so it's not worth worrying about. The only time I get worried is when I think I'm going to be late for something like a casting.

Q: Do you eat on the run or do you manage to have a good breakfast, lunch and dinner?

A: I have fruit for breakfast and get lunch on the go when I can (sometimes this isn't that easy).
I usually go out for dinner with Mum and Dad.

Q: Do you have a favourite café or restaurant?

A: We are renting an apartment that has cooking facilities, but nothing to cook or eat with so we've been eating out every night. There was a place that we went to every day last time I was here. It's called Veselka. But it's way over the other side of town from where I'm living this time so it's a bit hard to get there.

Q: Do you know how many Trump models are involved in fashion week?

A: They have 29 girls doing the shows. You can see them on www.models.com.

Q: How do you get around the city to your various appointments?

A: I use the subway every day and I also do a lot of walking.

Q: Do you have to go to a gym or do any other fitness schedule or do you just burn up the calories naturally?

A: I do a lot of walking but before I left Dunedin I did personal training with Rochelle Croucher, who was very good to me and helped me out a lot to get into shape before I left. She also made up plans to do while I'm over here and I have been doing these about three times a week.

Q: Do you have much leisure time? If so, how do you fill it?

A: If I have any time I pretty much just relax or do a bit of retail therapy. I haven't had any days off. Just a few "shorter" ones.

Q: Do you have any "buddies" at the agency?

A: Yes. I know most of the models that are doing the shows, some of them from last time I came but all the girls, not only from Trump, are very nice - probably because we are all in the same situation.

Q: Do you like New York as a city? And if so why?

A: Yes! I love it here. It's such an amazing city and it can bring a lot of great opportunities to my - or anybody's - modelling career. Everybody is so nice. You only have to have your map out trying to find where you are going and people will come up to you and ask if they can help.

Michael Kors Campaign backstage

It's Fashion Week in New York and Michael Kors goes graphic this season. His Spring collection was an intriguing mix of primary colors and classic shapes. Polka dots, stripes and checks ruled supreme and Kors stayed true the tenants of his enduring sportswear tradition. Campaign stars Carmen Kass and Noah Mills opened the show while classic beauties Taryn Davidson and Anja Rubik lent their considerable charms to the Kors runway. Toni Garrn will be in 10 years one of the classic beauties, no of course one of the stars for every campaign of Fashion Week. Opinions may be very different about the hat she's wearing but not about herself. She was one of the young stars on the catwalk for Michael Korrs. Just have a look backstage.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

The Career of Gisele Bundchen

Gisele Bundchen, the Brazilian bombshell who is one of the last to earn the supermodel title, has the luxury of picking and choosing her assignments now. That privilege didn't come quite overnight, even if she's only 28 years old: She has been in the United States for 11 of those years and in front of the camera the whole time. Bundchen has walked the world's fashion runways and has been the face of Victoria's Secret as well as Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana and Apple. Her newest job is the spokesmodel of Procter & Gamble's Max Factor cosmetics brand, which is approaching its 100th birthday and planning a big ad campaign to celebrate.?I thought it was really cool to be a part of something so old,? Bundchen says. ?I can't believe something can exist for that long. For a business to stay alive for that long, it must be really good. ?She adds: ?Imagine what I'd look at 100 years old?!? At a time when cosmetics companies typically turn to movie and music stars to get their products noticed, Max Factor felt Bundchen had sufficient star power. The brand has a legitimate connection to Hollywood; its namesake makeup artist began working on films in 1909 and is credited with designing Clara Bow's cupid-bow mouth and making Jean Harlow a platinum blond. But Bruce Katsman, associate marketing director, called choosing Bundchen ?a no-brainer.? ?She's the image of our high fashion consumer,? he says. ?It's not so much about her look, per se. She's rocked the runway so she's perceived as a great canvas. We think she does the same thing for makeup.? Bundchen acknowledges her chameleonlike quality and she thinks it's been part of her success. ?There's been the androgynous look and the classical pretty girls. I'm not one and I'm not the other, but I can look androgynous or I can look pretty ? but I'll never look too much one way or the other,? she says in a telephone interview.

When Bundchen emerged on the American modeling scene in 1997, it was the twilight of the supermodel era. She says she got in at the right time. ?I think I had the timing and the hard work. ... People had been tired of the supermodels ? the things you hear about the models not coming to work. I came along right from Brazil. I was having a good time, excited to have a job ? it was refreshing. It's what people thought they needed at the time. I'm respectful of people and people's time.? Luck, she adds, also played its part. ?Sometimes I ask, 'Why me?' I'm from a village of 10,000 people in the south of Brazil. I'm very grateful for my opportunities.? It's harder for models, even hardworking ones, to break out nowadays and make a name for themselves, Bundchen says. There's competition from celebrities and reality stars, and the en vogue look just keeps changing. Plus the older supers ? Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington and the rest of that gang ? all are still beautiful women and getting their fair share of work.On her own days off, which are numerous by her own choosing, Bundchen says she doesn't pay much attention to fashion. She hasn't walked a runway in a long time, and won't be glued to the coverage of the shows at New York Fashion Week, which kicks off Friday.?I've never been one of those girls who was a fashion girl. I didn't have to have the bag or belt of the season,? she says. ?I like fashion, I like clothes, I enjoy when I look nice, but my main concern is how comfortable I'm going to be all day.? (AP)