Walking the walk
Newcastle Herald
Thursday March 31, 2011
FOUR STUNNINGNEWCASTLEMODELS AREMAKING A NAMEFOR THEMSELVESIN THE WORLD OFHIGH FASHION,AND JANE PARSONSTALKS TO THEMON THEIR WAY TOTHE TOP.THEY have beautiful faces, impossibly long legsand are a dress size six, and these stunningNewcastle girls are on their way to the top.Following in the footsteps of the likes of JenniferHawkins, these young models have hundreds ofassignments between them, fronting for some of the bigbrand names in impressive starts to their careers.The heights of success may be only a step away aseach woman is fi nding a move from their home townmight be on the agenda if they want to pursue work intheir glamour fi elds.The women, aged in their late teens to early twenties,have not only stayed focused in a career that is knownfor its ‚œ‚œchew ‚œem up and spit ‚œem out‚„‚„ attitude, but theyhave also remained grounded.They see the profession as ‚œ‚œmostly fun‚„‚„ while keepinga mascared eye out for any pitfalls.Renny Chivunga‚„s venture half way around the worldto the heights of New York modelling has proveda dream come true for the statuesque, 179 cm tallZimbabwean-born Jesmond woman.She is well aware that the competitive world ofmodelling can be tough, but a hectic program in the BigApple means she doesn‚„t have time to dwell on it.‚œ‚œSo far I have walked in four fashion week shows,have gone for castings for Pepsi ads and magazineshoots. I am really keen to build my book and mycatwalk repertoire while I am here‚„‚„, Chivunga, who hasbeen on dozens of Australian assignments, says fromher New York base.She plans to capitalise on her success with a newwebsite.‚œ‚œThis will help me promote myself. I also want to opena Renny store to sell my father‚„s bags. They are reallypretty and I want to join forces with him to buy anddesign a few looks and add my name to his brand.‚„‚„Chivunga enjoys the drama of modelling and thechance to dress up.‚œ‚œThey say modelling is acting without words and thatis often true,‚„‚„ Chivunga says.‚œ‚œDepending on what you‚„re wearing and the storybehind the shoot or show, you get to transform intosomeone you do not get to be every day. I get to wearsome really beautiful clothes and have a head start onwhat to wear in the next season.‚„‚„Chivunga is thrilled her job means she gets to meetsome ‚œ‚œamazing‚„‚„ people.‚œ‚œThey inspire me to be more, do more, achieve more,because they are the best or the important part of whatI do.‚„‚„She believes the only downfall in the highlycompetitive industry is separating the genuine peoplefrom the not so genuine.‚œ‚œYou can‚„t help but believe that some parts of theindustry are fake, so making and fi nding real friends canbe tough.‚œ‚œIt often feels like you‚„re just being worked with tofurther someone else‚„s career, but I suppose as they dothat I am too.‚„‚„Her greatest hurdle is how to leave a lastingimpression with casting directors.‚œ‚œYou have so little time to show how wonderful youare. They have seen so many and will see many moreafter you. I am still learning the key to landing amazingjobs.‚„‚„Chivunga says like ‚œ‚œevery other model‚„‚„ she wouldcontinue working overseas.‚œ‚œIf I were given an opportinuity to live overseas andlive well doing it, I would not hesistate to grab thatopportunity.‚œ‚œMy friends gave me some advice ages ago, walk likeyour rent is due, and so I treat each job as if it were mylast.‚œ‚œI fi nd it challenging doing two jobs. Modelling hasnot yet started paying for itself, so my engineeringjob covers the loss.‚œ‚œMy (Newcastle) job as a research offi cer involvesdoing test work on new designs for mining equipment.I do experiments to test new mineral seperation>> 13 >>techniques. My work is very industry focused, workingwith big mines to solve their mineral seperation issues.My area of expertise is fl otation.‚„‚„Chivunga will be in New York for two months andwants to do Paris, Milan and London next.Merewether model Maxine Stokes, 21, would nothesitate to live overseas if work beckoned.‚œ‚œI plan on doing this for a career,‚„‚„ says the MissWorld Australia top 10 fi nalist. ‚œ‚œI would defi nitely moveoverseas.‚„‚„Stokes has been heavily involved in modellingwork from photographic and catwalk to attendingnumerous events as part of her Miss World duties.A keen soul singer, she was in the top 10 inthe national fi nals and came third in the talentsection with the song Ain‚„t No Sunshine. Shehas raised $5000 for Ronald McDonald Houseand has helped raise money for children‚„scharity Variety.‚œ‚œThe best side of modelling is that you getconfi dence within yourself, you can express yourselfin so many ways,‚„‚„ she says. ‚œ‚œYou are never the samecharacter, they are all different. It is like acting beingon a catwalk.‚œ‚œI really don‚„t think there are bad points. It has to bea positive situation and I want to be classy about it. Ithink it attracts strong women.‚„‚„The much-travelled Stokes says she feels privilegedto have had the opportunity to take part in the MissWorld pageant.‚œ‚œThe motto, Beauty with a Purpose, meansyou give back to others and I like that. One ofmy life goals is to do volunteer work whiletravelling.‚„‚„Recent shoots by another Merewethergirl, Ashley Osborne, have included DavidJones, Bras n Things and Shiek Clothing,and the six-year ‚œ‚œveteran‚„‚„ is about to goon assignment for Ginja swimwear.‚œ‚œIn a month or two I will be in a bikinifreezing on the beach and it is thesame in summer when modellinginvolves beanies and woollyjumpers,‚„‚„ she says. ‚œ‚œI think whileI am freezing or hot, that I havebrought this on myself, but I loveit all.‚œ‚œThe good thing about it is thatevery day is a new day, workingwith new people, experiencingnew projects.‚œ‚œI love the teamworkinvolved. It‚„s not just aboutone person, but abouteverybody.‚„‚„Twenty-one-year-oldOsborne is also aboutto venture overseas tocheck out what is onoffer.‚œ‚œI will be moving toAmerica and have joined an agency there.‚œ‚œI will be in LA and possibly Miami and New York, soit‚„s exciting and a little bit daunting.‚„‚„She is preparing for what may be ahead, good orbad, and won‚„t take any criticism too personally.‚œ‚œOf course there are going to be other people‚„sopinions about me and that can be a lot of pressure,‚„‚„she says. ‚œ‚œYou have to have thick skin and not take ittoo seriously. You have to remember that everyone isjudged, even in other careers.‚„‚„Osborne spent two years working in Sydney, butvisited home most weekends. ‚œ‚œI was always going backand forth, so it will be different in America.‚„‚„She says ‚œ‚œthere is always something going on‚„‚„ withmodelling. ‚œ‚œEven if it is not a job, castings keep youpretty busy.‚„‚„She is consistently doing more photographic workbut has modelled in fashion weeks and on catwalks.‚œ‚œI would like to train for acting someday as well.‚„‚„Sixteen-year-old Lindsay Stankovic, of Merewether,has twice featured in recent Jeans West campaigns.A Year 12 student, she is keen to get her allimportantstudies out of the way before deciding howfar she will go with modelling.‚œ‚œI have time up my sleeve and maybe my gap yearwould be a good time to see how I go,‚„‚„ she says. ‚œ‚œIwould like to go to university to study communicationsor global studies.‚„‚„The lofty 180 cm catwalk model alsoaims to travel oversees.With a list of high-profi leassignments to her name,Stankovic still can‚„t believe howmuch preparation goes into ashoot or parade.‚œ‚œThere is so much preparationand energy involved for the 20minutes. It‚„s insane.‚„‚„Her portfollio includesshoots for magazines Rushand Culture, fashion housesJeans West, ElwoodJeans and Josh Goot‚„sonline 2011 fashion range,along with Australianand Newcastle fashionweeks.The teenageschoolgirl says shecan become nervousbefore a show, but bythe time her hair andmake-up is done sheis keen for it to start.‚œ‚œI end up okaybecause I amexcited,‚„‚„ shesays. ‚œ‚œIt all goesso quickly up on thecatwalk and then I think,‚œOh I could do that again‚„.‚„‚„
© 2011 Newcastle Herald
