A race to be 'The Face'
46 vie to be the next Ford supermodel
BY ADAM NICHOLS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
[SIZE=-1]Issabel Karuthiru of Kenya flashes smile before the competition to become the next Ford supermodel. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Jacinta Stevenson, 18, of Sydney, is in supermodel heaven as she tries on shoes and other designer gear at Hudson Hotel in Columbus Circle. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Michelle Panemanglor, a hopeful from the Phillipines. [/SIZE]A gaggle of international beauties catwalked into town yesterday from every corner of the globe, preening to become the next Ford Models' Supermodel of the World.
Super thin and super pretty, many had barely modeled before. Most were on their first trip to the fashion world's capital. And all hoped to stay as the face of the future.
"I am in fashion city," said Lea Plut, a 20-year-old business student, who was making her first stateside visit from Slovenia. "I really want to be here. I walk down the street and there is so much energy, so much excitement. I want to live here."
Plut and the other 45 contestants staying in Columbus Circle's Hudson Hotel all were handpicked from contestants in their home country to vie for a $250,000 contract with the Ford modeling agency.
For the next four days, they will be interviewed, preened, measured and fitted. They will get walking lessons and go on shopping trips.
On Wednesday, they'll show what they've learned in a Tribeca runway show, hoping to impress judges who will choose the next big name in fashion.
For Australia's Jacinta Stevenson, 18, her nearly 10,000-mile trip to a room packed with designer gear was well worth it.
"Are you sure you don't want me to try them all on?" she gushed, gasping as she tore off her pink boots and replaced them with a pair of white Christian Louboutin stilettos.
First impressions of New York had left her far from speechless.
"I'm from Sydney, by the beach where we have waves and everything," she said. "I love how New York's so different from home. I love the doormen you have, they're so cute.
"Even the chewing gum. I saw Juicy Fruit in a purple package at the airport. I was standing for ages staring at it."
Stevenson should feel at home - Ford teamed with G'Day USA Australia Week to put all-Aussie designers on their runway.
The Philippines' Michelle Panemanglor, 20, hoped to follow in the elegant footsteps of Charo Ronquillo, a Filipino who finished as 2005's runnerup.
"At home, everyone was very excited by her success," Panemanglor said as her height was measured. "I have never done any modeling, but I've always wanted to."
The U.S.A.'s hope Wednesday is Anya Cekauskas, a 16-year-old from Birmingham, Mich. "It is so exciting to be around all these people," she said. "I am listening to languages I have never even heard of."
46 vie to be the next Ford supermodel
BY ADAM NICHOLS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Super thin and super pretty, many had barely modeled before. Most were on their first trip to the fashion world's capital. And all hoped to stay as the face of the future.
"I am in fashion city," said Lea Plut, a 20-year-old business student, who was making her first stateside visit from Slovenia. "I really want to be here. I walk down the street and there is so much energy, so much excitement. I want to live here."
Plut and the other 45 contestants staying in Columbus Circle's Hudson Hotel all were handpicked from contestants in their home country to vie for a $250,000 contract with the Ford modeling agency.
For the next four days, they will be interviewed, preened, measured and fitted. They will get walking lessons and go on shopping trips.
On Wednesday, they'll show what they've learned in a Tribeca runway show, hoping to impress judges who will choose the next big name in fashion.
For Australia's Jacinta Stevenson, 18, her nearly 10,000-mile trip to a room packed with designer gear was well worth it.
"Are you sure you don't want me to try them all on?" she gushed, gasping as she tore off her pink boots and replaced them with a pair of white Christian Louboutin stilettos.
First impressions of New York had left her far from speechless.
"I'm from Sydney, by the beach where we have waves and everything," she said. "I love how New York's so different from home. I love the doormen you have, they're so cute.
"Even the chewing gum. I saw Juicy Fruit in a purple package at the airport. I was standing for ages staring at it."
Stevenson should feel at home - Ford teamed with G'Day USA Australia Week to put all-Aussie designers on their runway.
The Philippines' Michelle Panemanglor, 20, hoped to follow in the elegant footsteps of Charo Ronquillo, a Filipino who finished as 2005's runnerup.
"At home, everyone was very excited by her success," Panemanglor said as her height was measured. "I have never done any modeling, but I've always wanted to."
The U.S.A.'s hope Wednesday is Anya Cekauskas, a 16-year-old from Birmingham, Mich. "It is so exciting to be around all these people," she said. "I am listening to languages I have never even heard of."
I cannot believe she won!! YAY 
At the end of this video you can see she actually speaks English nowadays:
