Kendal Schuler, Model from Cairns moving to New York City
A beautiful face; delicate, glorious, hypnotising. Wars have been waged and battles won and lost by armies mesmerised by the faces of women. One poor, misguided King even dragged the entire male population of Greece halfway across the known world to fight for the return of his runaway wifey. For King Melanius of Sparta, abandoning his territory for 20 years and levelling the city of Troy was totally justifiable, especially when you consider he did it all for ol’ Helen, the woman known poetically as “the face that launched a thousand ships.”
However, defining how a face becomes ‘the face’ in the world of fashion and consumer-driven marketing is a tricky concept. After all, there ain’t exactly a shortage of luscious woman here on Earth. According to Stevie Dance, editor of Russh magazine, just being beautiful doesn’t cut it anymore. It’s that rare mix of heart, humour, irreverence and a little bit of ratbag that is the point of distinction between a pretty face, and a face that speaks for the times.
Australia has a strong track record of churning out the faces that bring the world to its knees. The Elles, the Gemmas, the Mirandas, the Catherines and the Abbey-Lees, the Land Down Under leads the world in unearthing the new, the next and the always when it comes to breathtakingly beautiful brand ambassadors. And right now, standing on that well-trod Aussie precipice and facing the plunge into life as the Face of the Future is Cairns-grown stunner Kendal Schuler.
I first met Kendal on a shoot almost six years ago. A real-life Lolita; blue-eyed, brown-skinned and flaxen-haired, standing five foot eight and dangerously beautiful for one so young. Focused and present, Kendal was hypnotic in front of the lens; a professional beyond her 14 years.
Since then, Kendal has been between the sheets of US and Australian Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Cleo, Cosmopolitan, Famous and Grazia, graced the catwalks of the globe and is now, the Face (and body) of some of the world’s biggest fashion and swimwear houses.
Today, Kendal is effortlessly cool in well-worn boyfriend jeans. The caramel-coloured felt hat she was wearing on arrival at this warehouse studio space in the eastern suburbs of Sydney has been tossed into a shadowy corner, along with her vintage leather jacket and studded biker boots - her favourites. She sits perched atop a high makeup chair, all tousled, ombre-toned locks and impossibly long limbs, gripping a takeaway coffee cup in one hand and her BlackBerry (an occupational tick of the fashion industry) in the other. The professionals get to work transforming the fresh-faced beauty into a bodacious glamazon - the postergirl for a new national lingerie campaign. Those brilliant blue eyes twinkle, clear and bright, and she sips her latte between paroxysms of glee as we re-enact moments of debauchery and adventure from the weekend. N.E.R.D blares from a speaker overhead. The environment is fast paced and chaotic, but within it Kendal is completely at ease, although admittedly squeamish when it comes to owning up to what she does for a living.
“I hate having to tell people I’m a model. What does that even mean?!” she laughs.
“I usually just say I work in fashion and then quickly start talking about something else before we can reach that cringeworthy, ‘Oh, so you’re a model?’ moment.”
Though she doth protest, when it comes to being a model there’s no denying Kendal is - as supermodel Tyra Banks once put it - “the noun” and “the verb”. Her natural beauty is equal only to her ability on the runway and instincts in front of the lens.
Kendal is now a permanent resident of Sydney’s Bondi, that infamous cultural melting-pot by the sea.
“I love living in Sydney - it’s such a cool place to be right now. Bondi can be quite a ‘sceano’ place but I love being able to cross the road and dive into the ocean.”
A slave to her caffeine habit, Kendal’s days kick off with a ritualistic morning stroll to local cafe Depo - a favourite of Bondi’s quirky mix of residents - where the baristas know her order by heart (skinny flat white, two Equals, always in a takeaway cup not a mug), then it’s off to the gym for an hour-long workout session. From there, she spends the rest of the day dashing between castings (sometimes as many as four a day) to secure new bookings, or, on “work” days, tripping the light fantastic down a glimmering runway or working the camera under hot lights, heavy makeup, pinchy heels and swathes of rapunzel-esque clip-in hair extensions - definitely not work for the faint of heart!
“There’s a lot going through my head on a shoot,” Kendal sighs in mock defeat, altogether failing to mask what is clearly a love of having her photo taken - something she happens to be pretty good at.
“I’m always trying to be aware of what my face and body looks like from the photographer’s perspective. Which is tricky! It’s hard to know exactly what you look like when you can’t actually see what you’re doing.”
As for on the runway? Kendal pauses thoughtfully before bursting into a fit of derisive laughter.
“Right, left, right, left, right, left...” she quips, flashing her girl-next door grin and the self-deprecating streak that endears her to friends and makes her such a marketable product.
Within months of her arrival Kendal was storming her way into the hearts and minds of fashion insiders, not to mention capturing the attention of Sydney’s paparazzi as the mysterious, bikini-clad belle who seemed to have US import and model Didier Cohen – the tattooed hottie from the Industry campaigns - all hot and bothered on Australia’s most famous stretch of beach. She had celebrity gossip bloggers all a-twitter after walking the red carpet on the arm of said smitten beau, and was crowned the proverbial “Page Six Princess” as the dreamy-eyed ingenue reportedly at the centre of a good, old-fashioned rumble between love interest Didier and notorious Sydney playboy, nightclub owner and Cleo Bachelor Julian Tobias at a King’s Cross hotspot. When asked about being thrust onto the national media’s social pages, Kendal rolls her eyes.
“It’s all a bit of a laugh. My friends got a kick out of reading all the crazy stories,” she says, adding, “the media attention is always fun, but I try not to buy into it too much. I’m much more interested in focussing on my career.”
And what a career that’s turning out to be.
As well as regularly gracing the glossy pages of the world’s fashion bibles, Kendal has booked seasonal campaigns for cult sleepwear label Peter Alexander, luxury swimwear label Jets, is the hot new poster girl for lingerie chain Bra’s ‘n’ Things and the current face of iconic Australian swimwear brand Seafolly - a gig that launched the careers of internationally renowned Aussie beauties Alyssa Sutherland, Miranda Kerr, Catherine McNeil and Samantha Harris.
“I love shooting swimwear and lingerie the most,” she says.
“I get to be sexy and playful, and the hair and makeup is always so beautiful - what girl could say no to that!”
This year, despite overwhelming demand, Kendal had to forgo walking in Sydney’s Rosemont Australian Fashion Week, and instead spent the time flitting between Hawaii, France and Bali shooting a campaign as the new face of Roxy worldwide. Kendal was at the forefront of the California-based surf and street label’s 2010 brand strategy, and according to her agent, director of Chadwick Model Management Martin Walsh, this return booking is testament to Kendal’s ability to drive markets and her potential as the next big thing.
“We adore Kendal - she’s the total package,” Martin says.
“Kendal has a great, versatile look that translates across the board. But more than that she’s a joy to work with. That’s what keeps clients coming back.”
In June, Kendal will set off on the pilgrimage now sacred to all successful, Australian models - the move to New York City. For models who make it to the Big Apple, the lights are bright, the competition ferocious, and the pay from a single day’s work could buy an apartment fit for a catwalk queen in one of Manhattan’s trendier burroughs. While the stakes are high, the continental shift presents a real opportunity for Kendal to make a grab for her dream jobs - campaigns for Victoria’s Secret and Sports Illustrated.
“Those are two gigs I’m dying to book - they’ve been my dream for a long time!”
While Cairns’s cutie is leaving our shores, I have a feeling this isn’t the last we’ll be hearing of Ms Schuler.
Despite being catapulted into the centre of the Australian fashion and media conversation, Kendal has managed to stay endearingly normal, a quality that has many earmarking her as the next Jennifer Hawkins - a comparison she’s quick to dismiss.
“When you’re first starting out, people need a reference point to tie you to,” she explains.
“I like Jen and I’m totally flattered people compare me to her - she’s a beautiful woman and she’s had such an amazing career but she’s still so down to earth.
“But I’ve got my own thing goin’ on. I’d hate anyone to think of me as riding on the back of someone else’s success. I don’t want to fake it. I want to create my own footsteps.”
Honest, quirky, and refreshingly real, Kendal once found herself unable to move after her bejewelled wrist became entangled in a decorative grapevine adorning the ceiling of a trendy Bondi wine bar (in her defence, any ceiling is a hazard when you’re pushing 6 foot 4 in heels). The hilarious rescue operation carried out by friends and fellow revellers required wire cutters and a step ladder. She is also ribbed regularly by her Harbour City crew for her distinct, northern twang and the colourful linguistic terminology she honed as a teenager at Trinity Bay State High School. Without a tinge of pretence or ego, Kendal laughs off her klutzy moments and takes the good-natured taunts in her stride.
Unashamed and unapologetic, her nuances and hometown habits have shaped who she has become. Hardly the ice-queen-super-diva, Kendal’s the kind of girl who bakes toffee pudding from scratch for her friends, spends nights in crafting quirky-cool jewellery creations in her living room, spends holiday mornings at home crawling into little sis Cassidi’s bed for tea and company, and posts drawings created for mum Leanne on Facebook to bridge the gap between her jetsetting lifestyle and the childhood in Cairns she left behind.
“I come home about twice a year but I wish I had the time to visit more,” she says.
“I get really home sick so I love coming home to little ol’ Cairns just to be around my old friends, my sis and my Mum and Dad. Cairns will always be home to me no matter where I am or where I end up.”
Life for Kendal may not always be easy. She’s a tall poppy in an industry that seems, at times, to take pleasure in chewing up talent and spitting it out. But Kendal is determined not to fall victim to her own success, and Aussie models have a well-documented history of outstripping their detractors’ expectations. There’s a growing sense among those who’ve witnessed her rise that Kendal’s remarkable talent and unshakeable sense of humour will get her through.
For now, Kendal is open to the possibilities in front of her and forever engaged in the inherent gymnastics of doing what she loves. Another day, another option. For Kendal “The Face” Schuler, her next is right now.
