Freja's Place Within the Cult of the Model

Freja seems to be getting more and more press these days. Not only does she have an editorial in the February issue of Vogue UK, but she's also discussed quite a bit for an article in the same issue regarding "The Cult of the Model." She seems to be one of the poster girls for our current obsession with models......how wide spread and pervasive this "obsession" is amongst the general public is questionable and open for debate. But among model followers and fashion insiders, Freja has certainly made a name for herself this past year. As someone familiar with her career back when she chopped her hair off and wasn't getting covers and editorials in all the major Vogues, it has been quite the journey of ups and down, elations and disappointments, anticipation and apathy.

Now I can't help but to wonder, has Freja made enough of an impact to withstand the fickleness of the industry, it's constantly changing tides, and the pitfalls of stereotyping and overexposure? Has she made it over the ridge and to the plateau where we can all rest easy knowing that we'll always be seeing work from her, a la Daria, Kate and Giselle? Or has this second coming in career doomed her to a fate similar to the countless other hyped faces who are everywhere one minute and then forgotten the next?

I suspect the answer to this lies in Freja, and Freja alone. It lies in her own goals, aspirations and wants out of life. And it lies in her modeling skills, which are on full and glorious display in this editorial.

Look Forward
Vogue UK February 2011
Ph: Patrick Demarchelier
Styling: Kate Phelan

She has the goods.....whether she wants to use them and for how long is the uncertainty here. It's a total shame that so many casual observers seem to write her off as a one-look pony. If they took the time or effort to truly look, they would discover what we fans have discovered long ago. And they would see that 6 years worth of work creates a book dominated by androgyny, yes, but also full of delightful subtleties, underrated femininity, and untapped potential. Oh yes, Freja is far from a one-trick pony, but I suppose the words of Vogue UK have more gravitas than the words of a simple fan.

"Look at Freja: demure for a Harry Winston ad, accessorized with an innocent smile and a slice of wedding cake and wearing a strapless dress straight out of a fairy tale; for MaxMara, she's a chic young mother in a camel coat about to go shopping down the via Montenapoleone in Milan; she's a girl hanging out at a music festival in skinny leather jeans for Vogue."

After writing about this kind of stuff for so long, I'm just happy these notions are being recognized by sources with a rider reach. Because maybe now I can take a long break.....or maybe Freja will come out with even more work to get me hooked again. :)

Image Credits: scans by tFS member gossiping

Model Stereotypes

Look! It's Daria, Lara, Sasha, Freja and lots of your other favs all in one editorial! Too bad it sounds so wonderful that it's just bound to disappoint. For things in life are never as good as they sound.....or are they?

Star Girls
Vogue UK, December 2010
Ph: Mario Testino
Styling: Lucinda Chambers
Other Models: Angela Lindvall, Carmen Kass, Claudia Schiffer, Daria Werbowy, Edie Campbell, Georgia May Jagger, Karlie Kloss, Kate Moss, Lara Stone, Lily Donaldson, Naomi Campbell, Natalia Vodianova, Sasha Pivovarova, and Stella Tennant

Freja's Part:

I kind of wish all the model were in one breathless group shot a la Annie Leibovitz and those awesome Vanity Fair covers of the early 2000s. I used to love those covers so much. They were so enchanting and fantastical. (Of course, that was also at the height of my Hollywood fascination so maybe that's why they seemed so awesome to me. But in hindsight they're still pretty kick ass. Not like those photoshop-of-horrors Vogue US top model covers.) Anyway, with each girl in this editorial being shot individually, it's difficult not to reduce each model down to some stereotyped version of herself. But short of photoshopping everyone into one picture, individual shots are the only way this concept would have worked. Can you imagine the nightmare it would have been to coordinate the schedules of Naomi and Kate, not to mention all the other models as well!? Eeesh...nightmare almost seems like an understatement.

Anyway, we have Sasha as eccentric fairy queen, Natalia as ballerina, Lara as vamp with boobs, Freja as androgynous rocker, Karlie as American sporty, etc, etc. If you look closely, you'll even find that the stereotypes are exploding out from the text descriptions of each model. Lily is an English Rose? Wow, never, ever heard that one before. As trite as this all is, I suppose it fits the theme of this editorial. They're taking the characteristics that made each girl famous and highlighting them. I assume that Vogue UK is similar to Vogue US in terms of market demographics, so the uninformed masses who know little to nothing about these models can look at their pictures and surmise the role they fulfill within the industry--the very role that made them all "stars." (But don't ask me what Edie Campbell is doing here after completing only half of a runway season. That hardly qualifies as star material.) If you already know everything there is to know about these girls (or if you run blogs or tumblrs on any of them), this editorial will most likely be comme ci, comme ca. I feel like we've all seen these pictures and poses from all these models in some form or another many times before.

Even if I'd rather see all these girls play outside their usual roles, I get it. A magazine like Vogue UK has to walk the fine line between commercial appeal and high fashion credibility. How else are you supposed to introduce these models to a public who possibly knows nothing about them? You have to make them recognizable, that's how. You have to present them in ways that might hit on some flicker of recognition in the viewer's mind. And at the very least, everyone looks pretty good, and it is a nice introduction to star models if you know nothing about them. And of course it's a great honor for Freja to be included. We can't ignore that Vogue UK has been one of her biggest and most constant supporters, even when times weren't so good. I will never forget how excited and relieved I was to finally see Freja show up in a magazine in Before the Fall, after a summer of literally no work back in 2008. Ever since then, I've always had a soft spot for Vogue UK. (On a semi-related note, I think Lucinda Chambers is a Freja fan and part of the reason why she's featured so much in Vogue UK. They've worked on a number of eds together, and Lucinda also styles the Marni show and we all know that Freja is a Marni runway fav.)

There is one thing I absolutely love about this editorial and it's the title page. It's extremely whimsical, interesting and creative. Just looking at it makes me smile. It's such a nice touch, and it elevates the whole editorial by tying everything together. Otherwise, the photos look choppy and unrelated. But with all the autographs on the front page, it feels like a collection of pictures some fan gathered together into a book. Subsequently, this fan was then lucky enough to meet all of his/her favorite models and collect all their autographs. And whenever you or I finally pick up this magazine in real life, we'll kind of have a fan book of our own. I like that thought, and I like the relational and tangible aspect of it. I don't know if it was intentional, but it's a neat way to engage the viewer.

Image Credits: Scans by tFS member gossiping.