Ahead of a trip to New York, Who joins the star of 'Australia's Next Top Model' on her latest shoot
Swathed in a white gown and dripping with gold, Montana Cox is a Grecian goddess made flesh on the set of her first jewellery campaign, for Melbourne brand Lovisa, in Sydney on December 9. As she moves her 1.79cm frame to best showcase the "Andromeda" look- one of the five themes she has to model in 8 hours- it's clear that photographer Darren McDonald has captured something special. "Montana is a natural beauty and has amazing presence in front of the lens," Lovisa's marketing manager, Chelsea Carey, tells Who of booking the winner of 2011's Australia's Next Top Model to front its summer2012 collection "We definitely had a lot of 'wow' moments on-set."
For fashion's golden girl- Top model host Sarah Murdoch dubbed Cox the "best ever" winner in October- it's a long way from her life as a Melbourne-raised teenager, playing netball and juggling Year 12, before auditioning for Fox8's reality hit. Having shelved plans to study for a media degree and moved to Sydeny's eastern suburbs, where she is living with male flatmate (one is also a model), the Kate Moss fan is in her element as she slips into Lovisa's "Morroco" range. "Its like a girl's dream getting you hair and makeup done and playing with jewellery," says Cox, 18, who covets labels Alexander Wang and Zimmermann. "The shoot was really cool!"
Her career is set to burn hotter, with Cox landing work for Betts, Witchery and David Jone's upcoming autumn/winter campaign, alongside Miranda Kerr. "Its exciting to know people are behind me," says the model, who keeps in shape with healthy exercise- "You have to be aware of what you're eating, that you're looking after your skin, hair, exercising, going to bed a good hour." She is travelling to New York next month "to meet agencies," but when she's off duty, the single Cox ("I'd love a boyfriend but there just hasn't been anytime") prefers chilling with pals at a bar over clubbing, or "whipping up a healthy pasta for my friends." Small pleasures for a goddess with grand plans: "My dream is to be living in New York, traveling to do catwalk shows and working for big guns like Chanel," she says. "There's no limit!"