"For us, the fashion model best reflects our changing culture and times, embodying yet challenging the evolution of beauty standards and the very notion of desirability."
For almost twenty years we have been shooting models only for our print magazine covers. That’s not to say some of them have not gone on to be celebrities, many have, but they were always models first. We know them by their first names – Cara, Freya, Abbey, Jordan and so on – and we often know their star signs, side hustles, favourite songs and coffee orders along with their hopes and dreams.
For us, the fashion model best reflects our changing culture and times, embodying yet challenging the evolution of beauty standards and the very notion of desirability. Unlike a celebrity, they don’t come with a list of criteria to align with their manufactured and carefully managed image, or a film that needs promoting. The model arrives on set with a mind open to storytelling with a team bigger than themselves. They answer the call of the muse, as active participants in image-making, or as some would call it, art; an eager chameleon ready to bring a new narrative and represent the moment.
Without them, a character has no attitude, a piece of clothing or jewellery, no heartbeat. Without them, we can’t create.
Growing up, many of us looked to models for a validation of things we saw in ourselves, or alternatively as what was impossible to attain.
It should be seen as no coincidence that Australian-South Sudanese model Abény Nhial – who did her first ever shoot here in Sydney for this magazine three years ago – now returns as our September cover.
Abény’s story of hard work and pure talent – you know it when you see it – is the trajectory we love the most.
We dedicate this issue to her and others like her. The new faces, the icons, the next generation and the still working at-its.
May they represent us all.
Experience the Models Inc. issue in its entirety this September, available on newsstands from Monday 2 September 2024, and through our online shop. Find a stockist near you.
