Newface Madness: Magali N'Diaye

After a successful show season in Berlin (Strenesse, Michalsky....) and a contract from IMG Paris, this 16 year old girl truly has a reason to celebrate. Half senegalese, Magali N'Diaye from Frankfurt (Germany) makes her motheragents @ Mega Models excited and calls up our burning desire to see more of this beauty - standing at 5'10" btw!

Interview: Sol Sanchez (Photographer)

Just one season ago, Dutch models seemed to take over the catwalks and magazines. These days, the Argentinian girls seem close in on them - dominating most of the shows this time (Tatiana Cotliar, Carla Gebhart or Tetyana Melnychuk are just a few of them). But it's not only the Argentinian models who left a big impression on us. Buenos Aires-born (and now Paris-based) photographer Sol Sanchez has left us intrigued for quite some time now and therefore we were dying to get to know Sol and her background a little better. Magical moments are rare - but Sol manages to catch every single one of them and captures them in her images. So, be ready now for our interview with the magician:

News Update on: Luca Gadjus

Somewhere between final exams and a weekend trip to Amsterdam we found some spare minutes for sharing a further set of digitals.
Digitals, who show no one else but Luca Gadjus. One of our favourite german models - if not even our all time favourite homegirl. The reason? To name you just one of them: have you ever seen someone age so beautifully? Well, there you go ;)
Discovered by Yannis from Place while doing some window-shopping in front of a Hamburg based footwear store 10 years ago, Luca was one of the first girls that was exclusively flown in for a Prada show (SS01). The season(s) afterwards there was no stop for the german stunner and not even Karl Lagerfeld could resist to photograph her for Chanel. Now, 2 years after giving birth to her son Gustav, Luca (who is actually named Frauke btw) is SO back on track - as one could see her gracing covers like Vogue Deutsch, Amica Italy or in some high end brands like Strenesse and Escada.



And just to keep you thrilled:

We'll be back with updates next week and cannot wait to show you our latest interviews with photographer Sol Sanchez & Argentinian New Face Naomi Preizler.

Newface Madness @ PMST

It's finally spring now and new girls are blossoming just like the first flowers on the green gras. Having been one of the very first agencies we had the pleasure to interview, we surely have kept an eye on the new discoveries from the guys at PMST (Czech Republic). And of course, we don't want to keep them from you:

Tasha

News Update on: Ivlie Wittek

Ilvie Wittek (DNA) - a girl who's been stuck in the never ending New Face status for at least 2 years, finally had her runway breaktrough! To see her show up at Marc Jacobs, Prada, Missoni or Louis Vuitton made us feel increadibly proud and happy (not to mention Iris Strubegger finally got some fellow Austrian model-companion). In a way, we have high-wrought expectations for Ivlie - reffering to the quality of her print work (Dazed Confused & Vogue UK) she scored before even having put one feet on the runway. We are certain to see this epic blonde in further more high end magazines or maybe even in some campaign very soon.

Interview: Ann Kenny @ DNA

Ann Kenny - a name that probaby rings a bell for every model-obsessed fashionista since Ann and her twin sister Kirby (both represented by DNA) came out of the blue and dominated the most important runways this season. From Proenza Schouler to Marc to Prada & Miu Miu (and many more actually). Without doubts we are certain that such an amazing first show-season will pay off with some blue-chip print jobs and therefore we are thrilled to release the follwing Q & A we did with Ann some days ago.

Newface Madness @ Modelwerk

Modelwerk can easily be labeled as the german market's leading model-agency these days. Claudia Midolo and her team consisting of merciless killer agents make possible what 90% of other German agencies don't happen to put into actions - and we don't mean covers of OTTO or Brigitte (our German readers should get this joke ;) We talk about the fashion world's finest campaigns, covers, editorials and runways. Listed on the boards of the most prestigious agencies from Supreme NYC to Marilyn in Paris and gracing the covers of Vogue Italia or magazine spreads in Numéro - Modelwerk's girls are literally everywhere!
We completed a collection of our favorite New Faces and are certain that it won't be the last time you read about them!

FOR REQUEST AND INFO: MODELWERK.DE
LATEST NEWS: MODELWERKBLOG.BLOGSPOT.COM



Anne

Chitchat with: Tati Cotliar

Antonella Graef, Tetyana Melnychuk and Carla Gebhart are just a few names among all Argentinian newcomers. And this season, the Argentinians were literally on fire!
Tatiana Cotliar, hailing from Buenos Aires is no exception. With 50 shows in total (including openings for Marc Jacobs and Vivienne Westwood + closing slots for Emanuel Ungaro & Miu Miu in Paris), the fashion obsessed, former cinema direction student is by far the most successful newcomer of the F/W 2010/11 season. Moreover the industry celebrates Tati as the next style queen due to her quirky & androgynous street style and laid back attitude. So, of course we couldn't keep our latest chat with Tatiana (about sucess, obsessions, Prada and Ingrid Bergman) from you!

News Update on: Karolin Wolter

Today we'd like to share Karolin Wolter's brand new digitals with you!
Karolin went to New York two months after she was discovered by M4 Model Management in Hamburg, two seasons ago. Represented by Supreme and Women in Paris she took the industry by storm and got a reputation as the editorial queen of all New Faces (she shot prestigious spreads for Vogue Germany, Russia, China & UK, i-D, V Magazine, Harpers Bazaar, Muse Magazine and campaigns for Gianfranco Ferre and Missoni). Unfortunately, and not exactly clear to us "why", it got a little quiet about her after her epic start - since there has been no hint of her in Milan or Paris this show-season and also her print work has slowed down in the last couple of months. Hoping, that it's just the calm before the huge storm we're looking forward to see Karolin making a comeback to her previous status very soon!
At least these digis should be promising enough.

Interview - Aquarelle Models

Still in the beginning of their way to fame, Aquarelle Models is a Moscow-based model agency run by Tatiana & Ekaterina - two women who certainly seem to know what the industry needs right now: classic dolls with power and just the right amount of russian elegance.
Julia Shvets should be their poster girl. Signed with worldwide prestigious agencies, she has already left her marks on the runways (DKNY recently) and in magazines (Citizen K being one of them).
But besides the already successful working girl, there are be many other promising new diamonds @ Aquarelle too! We introduced you to Iggy & Olesya not so long ago, and it should be only a matter of time until they create some major international buzz.
Thanks to Ekaterina for taking the time and answering our questions - which you can read below:


How did you get into the agency business/what is your background?
I started working at iCasting agency when I was 16. It was an agency with both, model and casting departments. The director of iCasting, Natalia Krimenskaya, was the one who discovered such great girls as Olga Kurylenko, Polina Kouklina etc. So I had a great teacher. And when I was 18 I was already managing the models who were at my age all on my own. I met my partner Tatiana at iCasting as well where we worked together for some time. Now we made a new step forward starting Aquarelle together.

As there are a lot of modelling agencies in Russia and especially in Moscow, what sets you apart from other agenies?
We don’t work on the local market except for editorials. We don’t represent any girls we don’t really trust in. And we really care about a girl’s personality and always see a girl’s character as 50% of her success.


'Aquarelle' is a pretty unique and romantic name for an agency. Where did the idea for the name and also the idea for that lovely design of your homepage come from?
Aquarelle is an international word and sounds almost the same in many languages including Russian. This is a great advantage. Moreover I really love fashion illustration which is painted by watercolours. So this seemed the best name for us to express the fusion of art, beauty, romance and the international viewpoint we have. We were lucky to have the great Sabine Pieper as the illustrator of our site, who understood our idea and supported it immediately





Do you have a development process for your New Faces? If so, how does it look like?
Not really. We try to arrange as many test shootings as possible for the girls to get a bit experienced and to learn how to work with different people and different photographers. I think that’s it. The rest they learn step by step when they start travelling. And of course we support them all the way long.


We totally love your newbie Katya Igumenova! Could you tell us if there are already plans for her to go abroad?
Katya Igumenova aka IGGY has a unique face and amazing personality. She is very new and at the moment we plan her trip to London at the end of March. In London she is placed with Profile.


How does the perfect 'Aquarelle' model look like?
She can look anyhow… Edgy as IGGY. Or beautiful in a classic way as Olesya. But she definitely should be a girl who does her job perfectly and makes clients call the agency, thanking them for providing such a nice and professional model.





What are the most common ways of discovering a new girl? Are you mostly looking for potential girls by doing street-scoutings?
It’s always different. At the moment, mostly partner agents and agencies share their new girls with us. And girls also come to us relying on recommendations given by models we already represent.


As model agent & manager, what is the most important role you need to do in order to help your models succeed?
Mother agent is a bit different from the booker in Europe or USA. You must be a teacher and a friend at the same time. And you must be in touch with a girl all the time. You really have to win a girl’s confidence.





How would you describe the local market for models in Moscow? Do you think it is an easy market for a new girls development regarding a strong book which the international market requires?
The local market is still quite undeveloped here. But there are also some great talented people who work for ages already. And we are happy to see that new talents are coming up. So the process of building books for models becomes easier and easier.


Regarding collaborations with international agencies - with whom do you work together?
We work with all the leading agencies all over the world.


What do you think is the best job for a new model to get started in the business in the best way?
Prada show :)





If you could go back to the supermodel-era, which of the supers would you chose to work for your agency?
It is a difficult question. I can’t choose one from super great women who've already worked so hard as I was just a child at that time and didn’t have any idea about the model business at all. I think all of them are just amazing.

In the end: Who are your most promising diamonds?
It’s a top secret. Let’s wait for next season. Hopefully we will have several diamonds shining!

Interview: Samantha Gradoville @ IMG

Samantha Gradoville - sounds quite American, and it is indeed. Born and raised in Nebraska (geographical heart of the U.S.) the IMG signed wunderkind got this special booking which every model aspires to get: doing a Prada show. A job that is actually done within a few minutes and not even highly remunerated. But the fact that makes this job to be the most respected runway job in the fashion industry, is that it gives you the chance to instantly rise from an unknown New Face to a sought-after runway girl. Within just a few minutes. Even though we're sure most of you already know that Samantha opened, closed and led the finale of the Prada Fall 2010 show in Milan last week (which has never been done by an American model before) we just can't stop swooning over her appearance there. And what makes it even more interesting is, that Samantha is also the first model, who opened the show although she's been around for almost one year on the runways.
But now we'll shut down. And let the proud Prada-girl do the talking herself: