04_ HOT KITTY KAT: Gemma Ward
WITH A CAREER of only a couple of years so far, but has already seen her on the covers of ‘Vogue’, ‘Time’ and ‘W’; in campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent, Prada and Calvin Klein; and donning dresses by every designer from Anna Sui to Zac Posen, Gemma Ward is currently Australia’s most successful fashion model. Relying on her gamine looks rather than marrying a millionaire’s son (or doing the easy thing and proving she can fill a bikini), Ward has worked with the crème de la crème of the photographic world: Mario Testino, Patrick Demarchelier, Mario Sorrenti, Paolo Roversi, Nick Knight and Steven Meisel.
Raised in Perth, Western Australia, Gemma was plucked from obscurity to enter a modelling contest. She didn’t win, but was signed to Viviens in Sydney. During her runway debut at Australian Fashion Week in 2003, the girl with the come-hither kitty-kat looks appeared in almost every catwalk show, causing quite a stir within international and local media circles. On her first European runway season, she caught the eye of Tom Ford, who quickly signed her up as the face of YSL. Suddenly she was in every magazine while looking down from billboards in Paris, London and New York.
At just 18, Gemma Ward has reached a level of success where she no longer needs to attend castings and is booked for countless shows, ad campaigns and fashion shoots on her reputation alone. Now living in NYC full-time, no-one knows what the future holds for the girl – but we’d like to guess this won’t be the last you’ll see of our feline beauty.
Thereyns Koo
[cream magazine]
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