So Next Top Model does produce winners!

I couldn't believe my ears- Tyra Banks' Top Model franchise really does produce top models! The AusNTM cycle 3 winner, Alice Burdeu, went on to rock the AW08 runways... and I don't mean just the smaller designers either- I'm talking Lanvin! Louis Vuitton! Alexander McQueen! Proenza! Ann Demeulemeester! All that good stuff for her first runway season. Ironic considering how Jodhi Meares (the AusNTM judge) reacted terribly unprofessional manner when Alice was made the winner (she was a big fan of the runner up) and how Australia was screaming about how terrible Alice is in the model weight debate.

But I'm sure you realize all that. What I find of utmost importance in her growing list of accomplishments is that she is going to be shooting her first major campaign for D&G Autumn Winter 2008 with Testino! I am definitely looking forward to it! From what I can see, it's only her and Ksenia of Russia's Next Top Model who have made it big. Ksenia gradually gained enough momentum after a few seasons to score a spot in the Gucci campaign line up alongside Lily D, Abbey Lee (an Aussie!), Kasia and Masha N!

If that's not good for NTM, I don't know what is. I just don't understand America's Next Top Model (aka the original Tyra led version). You'd think with Tyra's experience the presence of the girls would be stronger...
Cred: livejournal, SMH, style.com

Australia's Next Top Model Cycle 3

I finally got around to watching the Cycle 3 finale of AusNTM, which was filmed in Sydney with the overseas destination being L.A. I actually cannot decide whether I am pleased with the results or not!! The winner was...
... 19yo Victorian Alice Burdeu! The redhead, who is described as willowy and ethereal, is very very tall (6 feet if I am correct) and is thin enough to have sparked another thin-model debate at BMI 15.3. She was definitely my favorite from the beginning since she looked the part- Alice would definitely blend well with the crop of models that you see staring at you from the cover of fashion magazines or on the runway. But still, I question the result... that, and her newly dyed and intensely red hair color.

It's not that I'm not doubting her ability to model, but rather... I question the concept of Top Model as a whole. I cant yet think of one winner (in any of the series- US, Australia or anywhere else!) who has actually gone on to be great. I wonder if it would've worked out better for Alice if she didn't win and got picked up by another, more well known, agency instead. Say Viviens. Gemma Ward got her start at Viviens after being eliminated from Ford's Search. Viviens who seemed to have ties with IMG, who... in turn, helped kickstart Gemma's career with the Prada and YSL campaigns.

Will Alice be the one to break the mold and become a recognizable credible high fashion model?? Or will she be like some of the other Top Model winners, who have moved onto other things/ disappeared from the radar?? I'd like to think that if anyone can evade the "curse" of the Top Model, it would be her... or Samantha Francis- the darling girl, a bit of an Anna-Maria lookalike, who was eliminated early in Cycle 8 of America's Next Top Model but still got an Elite contract (good for her!).
Photo cred: the ausntm livejournal community