Kate Moss, Raquel Zimmerman, Hilary Rhoda, and Agyness Deyn. These are world-famous models whose names anybody interested in fashion would likely know. Besides that, they have another thing in common -- as well as appearing in ads for foreign luxury brands, they also represent Korean fashion brands.
MOGG recently tapped Agyness Deyn to be its advertising model. Also the face of Burberry and Armani, Deyn ranks seventh on a list of the world's top models compiled by Models.com.
Kate Moss, who is nearly a household name, has signed a contract to work for GGPX, which had employed singer Lee Hyo-lee as its brand model until the spring and summer season of 2007. The English Moss also work for Yves Saint Laurent, Donna Karan and Roberto Cavalli.
Kate Moss appears in an ad for fashion brand GGPX. /Courtesy of GGPX website
MICHAA has selected Raquel Zimmerman, who also appears in ads for Fendi, and 96NY has hired Hilary Rhoda, who is the face of Estee Lauder and Etro. O'2nd's choice was Lily Donaldson, a model for Max Mara. HAZZYS has hired Jessica Stam, who has worked for Dolce & Gabbana, Loewe and Bulgari.
The trend is also hot among men's fashion brands. Maestro has changed its model from actor Park Shin-yang to Andrew Cooper, the face of DKNY who was named one of the 50 sexiest people by Armani Jeans. Rogatis has hired Mathias Lauridsen, the top-ranking male model on the Models.com list, as its new model to replace actor Jeong Woo-seong.
"The increasing interest in professional fashion models is behind the trend", said Kim Ji-won, an assistant manager at LG Fashion. It's become much easier to watch programs about models on fashion channels, Kim said, and this has boosted the interest in models among the general public.
"Celebrities can obscure the image of a brand with their own image", another industry insider said. "But that rarely happens with professional models, and they have such a great sense of fashion that it's easy for them to create the image a brand wants".
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