Jessica Hart
By Ines Mendoza
Australian modelling success stories are few and far between, but when our fair country spawns a belle of the ball - the world knows about it! Our latest Aussie up and comer may not be in the same league as "our Elle" or that Victorian Secret model who dates Orlando Bloom, but boy, does she make an impression on the eyeball.
Jessica Hart, or Jess Hart (just to prove she's "one of the girls"), is more than simply a model or Myer ambassador or runway regular. She's more than a girl who has her own fashion label (Neon Hart), more than a Victoria's Secret angel, more than just a model with a gap-tooth.
Born 26 March 1986, this ageing Aussie was discovered in Melbourne and has since gone on to appear on the cover of Australian Vogue and the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Having been born in Sydney, she was obviously a natural.
As is often the case these days, at the age of just fifteen she was spotted at a local shopping centre comp for Dolly Magazine.
The win inspired her to move to New York in order to pursue a proper career in fashion, a move which paid off, as she has since modelled for the likes Guess, Triumph and Esprit.
Her big break came in 2009 when, much like Steven Bradbury at the Winter Olympics, a twist of fate saw Heidi Klum, Karolina Kurkova and Adriana Lima all pregnant leaving Hart to appear extensively in that years Victoria's Secret catalogues.
The exposure led to a few extra curricular activities which included popping up in several episodes of the trashy reality show "The City" (in which she is shown dating Tamarama band member Nicolas Potts, her long-term boyfriend).
But the catwalk is where she thrives. Her resume reads like a whose who of the fashion world, having appeared on the covers of magazines like Karen Magazine, Time Out Magazine, Shape magazine Germany, Elle Denmark, Elle Spain, and even Elle Italia.
But that's just the beginning. She's even dabbled in the endorsements world for Scotch And Soda, H&M, Seafolly, Gap, Target, Myer, Harris Scarfe, Gestuz, Guess, John Frieda, L'Oréal, Moschino, Cool Change, Pencey Standard, Portmans, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Esprit, Karen Millen and Venus Swimwear. Some would call that "selling out" while others would say "What was that? Sorry, I didn't hear you, I was too busy counting my money".
All this good luck has come at a cost. In 2012, Hart had a couple of accidents that almost ruined her career including the breaking of and (on a different occasion) cutting her foot on glass at a wedding (causing her to take time away from the catwalk).
Eat your heart out footballers with knee injuries! This one's had a champagne glass attack!
So where to from here?
Well assuming she isn't attacked by a punch bowl at a friends 21st birthday party, we can only hope and pray things get bigger and better for her. She's got the skills to pay the bills, but also the bills to pay the bills... so it's win win isn't it?
