The Beauty of Modern Love

Continuing on her path towards utter domination, Freja has a magnificent editorial in Interview to cap off this whirlwind of a month:

Modern Love
Interview Magazine August 2010
Ph: Craig McDean
Styling: Karl Templer
Other Models: Dan Kling
Casting: Michelle Lee @ KCD

This is just a beautiful story perfect for some escapism. You can lose yourself in the narrative and let the portrayed emotions wash over you. This is as sentimental and delicate as we've ever seen Freja. It's the type of fashion story that seeps into your consciousness slowly, imbuing your mind with thoughts of loves lost, loves who never were, and loves who could have been.

This is so beautiful because of these implied emotions. Love stories have been done many times over in fashion editorials, but when it's done right it hits an emotional chord that makes us forget that what we're seeing has been seen before. Old associations become new, powerful and very raw again.

McDean/Freja is most definitely my new favorite photographer/model combination. The work Freja has done under the scrutiny of his lens has been some of her best. It's been the work that stands out in my mind as superb, and when I think back on the year that was 2010, I'll inevitably return to their collaborations.

There come times when I think I've seen it all in regards to Freja, but then she surprises and delights me with facets and subtleties of her modeling I never knew existed. Whether it's the intensity and sheer dexterity she displayed in Tough Ballerina, or the delicacy and wistful contentment she displays in this story; it's clear to me that her best editorial work happens under McDean's guidance. Feel free to argue with me on that point but you'll be hard pressed to sway my opinion. Oh, and how about giving it up for Michelle Lee? Kudos to her for the brilliant casting and for envisioning Freja in a role most other people wouldn't or couldn't envision.

Freja plays the role here convincingly, and with aplomb. The chemistry she has with Dan is palpable and they could have fooled me. Not to mention they share eerily similar features and have the same type of presence, making the role of lovers that much more distinguished, albeit a little disturbing. I'm always surprised by people who are surprised to see Freja express any type of femininity. The type she displays here is the kind that's ever so slightly tinged with an undertone of modern androgyny (which is itself present in a good majority of models working today), and I think this is what has defined the better part of her career save for a few seasons. However, I suppose that once you cut off your hair and become the poster child for androgynous, rebel bad girl, you can't easily shake that stereotype even if the work you've been doing for over a year is completely counter to that old meme.

Anyway, no boyishness from Freja to be seen anywhere on these pages. All I see is a woman and a model growing into her own self and being allowed to express a different aspect of that self that she might otherwise never get to express. And isn't that what modeling is about? Successfully taking on different roles, but never completely losing yourself in the process? If so, then Freja is most certainly one of the best and her number 2 rank on models.com proves it.

Image Credits: My scans

High Praise

In a video interview about the February 2010 Vogue UK cover shoot featuring Natalia Vodianova, Nick Knight happens to bestow some high praise on Freja.

"Natalia is one of those models like Kate or Naomi or Freja who are just fantastic. They know how to express themselves. First of all they interpret the narrative of a piece of clothing really interestingly. And that's one of the main things the model does. Models are kind of an interesting mixture of very, very good actresses (oh really?) and very good sportspeople."

Check it out @1:20

That's quite the compliment coming from someone who's only photographed Freja for two editorials (Pop Hit for Vogue UK March 2007 and About a Boy for Vogue UK April 2008). She must have made quite the impression in order to have Nick lump her in with models like Kate, Naomi and Natalia (who are arguably the last of the supermodels). I hope this means that we'll be seeing a Knight lensed editorial sometime in Freja's near future. Or maybe they just recently worked together which is why Freja was so fresh on his mind? (Hmmmm.....keep those eyes peeled.)

Lately Freja has been expanding her oeuvre in terms of photographers who she's worked with (think Demarchelier, Meisel, Olins, Richardson, Summerton) so adding Knight to the list again would be quite lovely. If not for an editorial, then perhaps a multimedia project for SHOWstudio? It's been quite a while since the last one Freja did for Knight's online forum that has the the lofty goal of expanding fashion film parameters.

"Writing on the Wall"

Anyway, being a successful model has as much to do with the people who support you as it has to do with what qualities and talents you bring to the table. With regards to Freja, perhaps I focus too much on the later and not enough on the former. I've mentioned Freja fans in the industry before (Alexander Wang, Marcus and David of Rag & Bone, Stella McCartney and artist Chantal Joffe, Vogue UK's Jaime Perlman) but I've done so in a very flippant way. Well, not only are these people fans; they're also supporters and I'm guessing that a good measure of Freja's success is owed to them and the many others in the industry who have supported her since her early years. People like Russell Marsh who gave Freja her first runway exclusive with Prada her first season, Michelle Lee of KCD who repeatedly casts Freja for the Marc Jacobs shows, and Freja's mother agent Jeppe at Unique Copenhagen. Of course, you can have all the right people backing you, but if you don't have the goods as a model your career will fade away just as quickly as it lit up. Luckily, Freja has both components: a strong foundation of supporters and a huge reservoir of talent. This is why she's been successfully modeling for half a decade.

Nevertheless, I'm not so naive and caught up in my own fandom as to think that everyone loves Freja. I know that some people don't get her appeal and I have no trouble understanding and accepting that (but if you're reading this you're probably not one of those people). Luckily the people who count, in terms of models getting booked for work, do get it. The people that have a say in which model we see in whatever campaign, editorial, and runway show all seem to see what we Freja fans see. And knowing that doesn't make me feel so weird about having such a singularly focused blog. I get enough heartache and disappointment whenever I see my lesser known model favs fade, so it's good to be a part of the vast majority when it comes to Freja. You know...if she ever stops working or decides to pull a SS08/SS09 again and partially skip another season, a lot of people are going to be inconsolable. Fortunately things seem to be going in our favor.....for now.

Credits: Vogue UK video via rox_yr_sox @ tFS

Interview Editorial

Tomas Maier
Interview Magazine December/January 2010
Ph: Craig McDean


Just when I think Karl has a stranglehold on Freja's career, she goes and works with Meisel and Craig McDean. Always expect the unexpected when it comes to Freja. Lesson learned. Anyway, it's just one shot but at least it's something different. To my knowledge, Freja has only worked with McDean once before back in 2006 for an editorial in Vogue Paris, which resulted in this one shot:

A La Ligne
Vogue Paris September 2006
Ph: Craig McDean


And for reference, here are the rest of the shots from the Interview ed:

It's a beautifully simple and straight forward editorial, photographed with an emphasis on the clothes. As it should be since the accompanying article is all about Tomas Maier, designer of Bottega Veneta. Nevertheless, I'm a bit disappointed that all of the shots are solo ones because I was really looking forward to seeing how Freja, Hanne and Kasia would photograph together. Perhaps another time, as I think Hanne and Kasia are two of the most dynamic, newer presences both on and off the page.

Lastly, another thing I found of interest is that Michelle Lee at KCD did the casting. As past interviews show, she favors strong girls and she is responsible for casting many shows during fashion month--most notably Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs. Hopefully this means we'll be seeing Freja on those runways again come February. It's safe to assume Michelle is a fan, and unless Freja decides to retire in between now and then, I don't think we'll be disappointed.

Image Credits: artandcommerce, my scans from Interview Magazine Dec/Jan 2010

Casting Intricacies

Prada was the first major runway show Freja ever walked in. Back during the FW0506 season she made her international runway debut as a semi-exclusive for the brand, and then promptly went on to Paris where she walked all the major shows. It's safe to say that Freja's never looked back. That initial casting decision by Russell March launched the amazing career that we know of today. In fact, it's exclusives and debuts like this that are responsible for the careers of many of our favorite models.

So what makes one girl different from another? Why did Russell choose Freja and what did he see in her? I guess he only knows the real answer to that, but I think we can gain some insight into his mind from this interesting interview of another influential casting director, Michelle Lee:

I guess what I look for in a model, are what differentiates one model as being good and one as being not so strong. It’s a model that has some sort of strength, whether it’s inside of them or it’s a physical characteristic. There has to be some element about them that grabs your attention. I think especially within the last year, casting has gone that way where people are less looking for that wet blanket, hanger body, no personality, no special kind of characteristic. Now people want these girls/women who embodies strength and power, it’s either somebody you want to look like or you believe them in these clothes. It’s much less about these new pile of 13, 14 year old, it’s more about these girls who have something that are slightly masculine about them, some sort of inner fortitude even if it’s a silent quiet strength, there’s something there. Or it could be something humorous or funny about their look or their personality. Something about them has to be extraordinary. There aren’t a lot of them out there but they exist!

Michelle of KCD is responsible for casting Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs (among a slew of other things). Yes, I realize that her casting process is probably totally different from Russell's, but I think the general idea of what she says applies across the board whether you're casting Prada or a local high school fashion show. There are just some concepts and universal truths applicable to all situations.

Isn't it amazing how the bolded parts above describe Freja to a T? It seems like Michelle had her in mind when she gave this interview because the qualities she describes are the very same qualities that attracted me to Freja. They are the same qualities that define her model persona: inner strength, power, silent fortitude, unwavering calm, slight masculinity...Freja embodies and is famous for it all.

So with Prada happening in a few hours and Freja likely to walk, you can bet I'll be watching the new exclusives and debuts to see what they bring to the table. Although I tend to think none of them will be able to hold a candle to Freja, only time will tell. Afterall, it did take a few seasons of practice for Freja to go from this green behind the ears, punky teen:

To this fierce as all hell, get in my way and I will stomp you woman:

Image Credits: style.com