MODEL CITIZEN: DAJANA ANTIC

Dajana's most recent makeup-free digitals, shot by Norman Wong. 

At five foot eleven, seventeen-year-old model Dajana Antic has that glimmer of a star before it bursts into a shooting spectacle of explosive light. Sweet-hearted as she may be, this fresh face has an innate ability to mask it with her fierce walk and impeccable stature. Less than six months ago, Dajana was merely a normal teenager like any other her age- if you put aside her ideal aesthetics for the industry and perfect model body. It wasn’t until a fateful encounter pushed young Dajana into the reputable arms of uber-agent Elmer Olsen, that it was crystalline clear: this one is the next big thing.

On Monday, February 15th, 2010, Dajana and I met up to chat about her modeling career. I would find it quite impossible to have anyone sit down with this girl and not instantly fall in love with her innocent charm and congenial personality. Fresh out of castings, Dajana told me the story of how she was discovered by Elmer Olsen.

Photos by Felix Wong

The account of their first meet is quite an intriguing one, and as Dajana proceeded to tell me the tale, I quickly learned that it was love at first height. Scouted by the super-agent at the Eaton’s Centre Mall in downtown Toronto, Dajana walked by Elmer Olsen as he was buying shoes for another model. He ran up and tapped her on the shoulder asking, “Excuse me, are you a model?” Dajana said no, an answer to which Elmer proposed the question, “Well would you like to be a model?” Brushing him aside, Dajana said no and continued to ignore him (not knowing who he was, of course!).

“I said no, and he said ‘Well would you like to be a model?’ and I said no again. I kept blowing him off and just ignoring him, thinking he could just be some random trying to scam me.”

Elmer persisted, introducing himself and trying to build rapport whilst attempting to keep up the conversation with her, explaining what tremendous potential she held. According to Elmer, it had taken Dajana seventeen days and four hours to finally give him a call, his agenda having been marking down the days. Shortly after Dajana began to work with him, Elmer had informed her that had she not called, he would have come to her school and found her.

“Actually, four days after the Eaton’s Centre, Elmer contacted one of his models, after recognizing that the school I went to was also the one she went to, so he called her to try and find me. He described me to her on the phone, and then I got a Facebook message from her saying ‘Oh, he’s amazing, he is such a great guy! You have to give it a shot and at least look into it!’”

Dajana's first test shoot, shot by Alvaro Goveia, the same photographer 

that shot Daria's first testing, launching her career into superstardom.

Dajana then began to do her homework. She decided to do an Internet search, and researched Elmer Olsen, finding a great deal to his name and that he was the one that organized Boot Camp the previous year, which Dajana had heard about many-a-time.

“I thought to myself, okay, this guy is definitely legit, and he seems really nice.”

 

She went on to tell me about how she was rejected by Elite Toronto at age fifteen, when she went in to try and pursue modeling. Naturally, they must be filled with regret when they see the increasingly overwhelming amounts of potential this young model has to offer. With similar star quality, many industry insiders say she is a baby Daria in the making, with a resemblance one cannot avoid admiring. The veteran and the rookie both possess that mystifying, entrancing aura that is so yearned for by photographers and stylists everywhere, and that is often emanated by Daria through the international pages of Vogue. When Dajana’s absolutely make-up free digitals were released into the industry, the phones began ringing off the hook begging to see more pictures of the bare-essentials beauty (photos pictured below the quote).

“From the moment I saw her, I was very taken by her presence and her perfect model body,” Elmer enthused. “It takes a lot of ingredients for a girl to get to the top, and this girl has been blessed with all of those ingredients. She has the entire makings of a top model.”

With her first two bookings being mini-runways for Valentino and Oscar De La Renta at Holt Renfrew, Dajana has had a kick-start to her career that many models can only dream of. With the perfect concoction of personality, flare, and striking good looks, Dajana is on a first-class pathway to the inevitable success in the industry. On the horizon, Dajana hopes to work with Steven Meisel and grace a cover of Vogue. In my opinion, this one is a sun that is not going to be setting anytime soon.

Dajana's first test shoot, shot by Alvaro Goveia, the same photographer 

that shot Daria's first testing, launching career into superstardom.

MODEL CITIZEN: KATE WALLACE

Meet Kate Wallace. The fifteen-year-old Canadian model that one of the industry's top model forecasters called "just pure beauty" on Ones2Watch. This pretty young thing has an aura that emanates sheer perfection, and an elegance that is all her own. The brilliant brunette is an intelligent girl, top of her class and an absolute joy to be around. According to O2W, her agent described her as both "bright and mature", and just by taking a look at her, you can tell that this one has the whole package!

Check out my interview with her.

NM: How old are you?

KW: I'm 15, 16 in March. I Can't wait! Haha.

NM: What agency are you with?

KW: I'm with Chantale Nadeau and Sutherland Models.

NM: When did you first start modeling, and how did you break into the industry?

KW: I started when I was 14. I was originally acting, but it was a problem because I was too tall for all the roles (well that and the fact that I can't act) so people always told me I should go into modeling. I never really took them seriously, I mean I never thought that I was pretty enough to be one of the amazing girls in those magazines, but then my friends girlfriend Lee Dares was a model, and she told me I really should go into it. Again, I didn't take them seriously, but after a year of being sent numbers and pushing me to at least look into it I decided it might not be a bad idea after all. I used to be pretty shy so it was a pretty huge step for me, but I fell in love with modeling- its so much fun!

NM: What do you love most about it? The most exciting part?

KW: Definitely meeting all these new and interesting people. I feel like when you are in your teens and still a kid, it's easy to live in a bubble. Modeling has given me a taste of the real world, or better yet, the fashion world.

Photo: Owen Bruce

NM: Do you want to pursue a career in the fashion industry?

KW: Oh definitely, I've wanted to be a fashion designer for as long as I can remember! It has always been a passion of mine to design.

NM: I agree, it would definitely open up a lot of doors! 

KW: Yeah exactly, and lots of new experiences, good and bad, but you learn from both.

NM: For sure. So you said you've always wanted to be a fashion designer, where do you see yourself ten years from now?

KW: Well I want to pursue modeling after high school, and then go to university so I guess by that point I'd be in university. It has always been a dream of mine to go to Parsons in New York for fashion design, s hopefully I'll be there!

NM: Definitely work on that! You would be great! Hopefully one day I will be wearing your line.

KW: Yeah! Thanks, that would be so cool, haha!

NM: We recently saw you in the Canadian Aritzia ad campaign for fall/winter 2010 (see photo above), what was your favorite shoot that you have done thus far?

KW: Oh man haha, there have been so many! The aritzia shoot was really exciting because we shot it at night, so that was a new and fun experience. I always have loads of fun shooting with Owen Bruce, recently we went up to my paretns farm for a shoot. That was a lot of fun because that's where I grew up, now I have pictures of myself in the exact same places when I was only three, so it's fun to compare. Then there was my shoot with Koby which was amazing, they did all these amazing tatoos in the post-production. The pictures turned out amazing and being on set with everyone was so much fun, I don't think I've ever laughed that hard in my life! [View the Aritzia ads and collection here.]

NM: Where do you want to go next with modeling?

KW: Hopefully travel. My ulimate goal is to end up in New York but I'd like to see the world first. I've heard it is a life changing experience and I think I'd learn a lot from it.

NM: I would definitely agree with that. Where would you want to go most?

KW: I'd love to go to Paris and New York. I've heard Singapore and Tokyo are both amazing too, but really anywhere. Hopefully somewhere warmer than Canada though!

NM: Thanks Kate, always a pleasure!

KW: Thanks so much Nadia, great talking to you!

Gaudet: Fashion Flowering Down The Runway

With each frolicksome footstep that made its way down the Gaudet runway, flowers swept the eyes of the audience as spring vividly exploded into the fashion world. With fresh, young models as alive as the season itself, the show captured the very essence of the budtime bloom rooted deeper than the reaching limbs of any tree in Nathan Phillip's Square. This season, Gaudet captured the playfulness, purity, and joie de vivre that wordlessly describe the bird-singing, tulip-blooming spirit of spring with their gloriously designed line of coats.

From outfit one to thirty-three, every look was completed with fine jewelry, ravishing scarves, and elegant belts. The feet of the models were adorned with shiny, black leather pumps, acorn-colored boots, and more footwear of the widest variety sponsored by Town Shoes. It was evident that the Gaudet designers, Norman and Gio Gaudet, were singing the May Queen's praises as they designed coats in shades of purples, greens, blues, yellows, beiges, and browns. With flowery patterns and garden influence plentifully bestrewn into the dazzling designs, I wondered to myself where the two Gaudet gentlemen retrieved their inspiration from, and why they chose outerwear as the main focus for the exquisite show. After writing both questions into my notepad, I tucked it away and snapped a few shots of Sutherland model Drea Vujovic as she struts by me in a green sunflower coat with a white sundress peeking out from underneath. As the thirty-third model saunters by in a gorgeous wedding gown topped with Gaudet's off-white lace coat with a tulle bottom, it becomes lavishly clear that spring has very much indeed sprung.

Backstage, I talk to Gaudet's PR girl to get a word in with Norman and Gio. As I patiently await my turn for an interview, I lounge about with some of the models from the show to take a few pictures. The girls are absolutely charming, and I recognize many of them from glossy pages of magazine ads. Hearing my name, I abruptly turn and make my way over to Gaudet, an excited giggle playing at my lips. Introducing myself, I was pleased at how friendly the two designers were, and they stood poised with the highest of class. Taking a deep breath, I looked at the kind faces peering back at me, and then I began my first interview of the day.

Where did you get your inspiration for the line?
"Spring flowers! With the long, bland Canadian winters, we wanted to bring some spring and color in early! We were trying to bring color back into winter, so we chose coats for the collection and filled them with color!", answers Norman, beaming at his success over the show.

Wonderful! They were all gorgeous! But why outerwear?
"It is the first thing you see when you see someone walking down the street or going somewhere", responded Gio.

That's true. It's like a first impression. Now tell me about the fabrics, they were

"The fabric is handmade," Gio responded again, "It is a piece of art I believe because all that you see, the paints on the fabrics are hand-done, it is hand-done work, all of it. It is all original."

We pose for a few photographs against the backdrop and I thank Norman and Gio for their time. They told me that they would be headed back to the Republic of Georgia soon, where they currently maintain a permanent residence. That was actually part of the reason for the flowery inspiration, they added as an afterthought, that it reminded them so much of their home in Georgia.

Elegant, delicate, and delightful are the best trio of words to appropriately describe the magnificent line that had the sun itself peeking through the flaps of the tents and beaming outside over the square. With hand-made felt fabrics, each unique coat brought a new side of outerwear to look for this coming fall. So when winter takes its icy throne and you tenderly miss the likes of flowers and warm, bright color, fear not! As Gaudet's masterful plan to bring back the spring fever early will have you flicking flakes of snow off of your wildflower or daffy-down-dilly overcoat and beaming at your rekindled color flame. Alas, why wait for winter when you can have spring?



All Photos are TFVG © 2009.