As the year comes to an end, I wanna talk about my favorite newcomers. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, a lot of stabilized models decided to take a small break, avoiding fashion week and focusing on major jobs. This means the runways was (happily) flooded with many newcomers, and I see so much potential in so many of them. But obviously, we always have our favorites, and those are mine:
⚬ In fifth place, the Brazilian (like me) Barbara Valente.
Barbara started her career awhile ago, back in 2016, but F/W20 was her first big season! And call it big: In 2020, she walked 45 shows!
She also was seen on the covers of Vogue Brazil February and Número France November
Barbara also did a lot of big campaigns this year, including major brands like Sportmax, Bottega Venetta, and Max Mara
⚬ In the fourth place, the French-Japanese Mika Schneider.
Mika is an 18 years-old Parisian girl raised all over the world: Japan, Russia, France and India, to be more precise. She was discovered through Instagram, while she lived in Japan, and later signed with Elite Paris. During her second season, Vogue listed her as one of the "top 15 models of Spring 2020" and wrote: "with her delicate features and graceful presence, Schneider was unlike anyone else on the runway"
In 2020, she walked 49 shows, including Chanel, Celine, Louis Vuitton, Paco Rabanne, Isabel Marrant, Chloé, Versace, Max Mara, Alberta Ferretti, Fendi, and Valentino. Mika covered Vogue Japan August and marked presence in one of the digital covers of Vogue US April. She also worked with Saint Laurent, Versace, Zara and Hermès
⚬ In the third place, the danish Mona Tougaard.
Mona was born in 2002, and comes from a very mixed family: She has danish, Somali, Ethiopian, and turkey descent. Was scouted at age 12, and won the Elite Model Look Denmark when she was only 15.
She debuted as a Prada exclusive in 2019, and with only 18 years old, she's one of the most dearest models of the moment.
This year, she worked with Louis Vuitton, Zara, Loewe, Ports 1961, Burberry, Versace, and Chanel; walked 38 shows and covered two magazines: Chaos SixtyNine The Chanel Issue and i-D safe and sound. You can also see her in Vogue Japan January 2021
⚬ In the second place, the British Sacha Quenby
Sacha was scouted in London while shopping with her mom, on Oxford Street. With less than two years of career, she was able to stabilize herself as one of the most in-demand models in the industry.
This year, with only 19 years old, she walked 43 shows, including Hermès, Isabel Marant, Chloé, Acne Studios, Versace, Sportmax, Max Mara, Alberta Ferretti, Etro, Dior, Alexander McQueen, Giambattista Valli, Givenchy, Stella McCartney
We also had the opportunity to see her in major campaigns, like Zara, Ports 1961, Versace and Loewe
⚬ In the first place (drums please), the Senegalese-Italian Maty Fall Diba.
Maty was born in Senegal and lived near Dakar with her mother and siblings. When she was 9 years old, her family moved to Chiampo, in the province of Vicenza, to join her father, who has lived in Italy for 27 years!
At only 19 years-old, Maty was the top walker of S/S21, where she walked 14 shows. During the whole year, she walked 49 shows, including Chanel, Dior, Saint Laurent, Hermès, Ports, 1961, Acne Studios, Versace, Givenchy, Alberta Ferretti, Fendi, Burberry, Dior and Jacquemus. She covered two magazines, Purple Magazine #34 and Vogue Italy February. She was seen in big campaigns this year, like Prada, Dior, Burberry and Etro
Maty faced a pretty shit situation this year: In her Vogue Italy cover, named "Italian Beauty" Issue, a white man claimed a black model cannot represent Italian beauty due to the color of her skin and the fact she was not born in the country- even tho she spent the majority of her life in the country and is considered an Italian citizen.
If you liked my list and want to see more about those drop-dead gorgeous women, I made two special videos of them, collecting a few 2020 runway moments of each model, and you can check them on my youtube channel!
Thank you so much for reading!!
