Luxury milliner Viktoria Novak's designs have adorned the heads of the who's who of celebrities for the past nine years, from Jennifer Hawkins and Jesinta Campbell, to Sonia Kruger, Kate Waterhouse, Rachael Finch, Samantha Armytage, and Jodi Gordon. And for her upcoming 2016 campaign, she's turned to her home town of Canberra to choose one of the new faces of her brand.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Olivia Mennie has only been modelling locally for 18 months, doing it as a hobby on the side while she completes a Bachelor of Arts/Law at ANU. She decided to apply as one of the faces for Viktoria Novak in April this year.
"I kind of just went out on a whim, not expecting to hear anything back. Probably two months later, I received a call from her PR director and her husband Tristen to say I'd been shortlisted but they were still considering a lot of people," said Olivia.
"Then in late June I was driving home from uni and I had a call from an unknown number so I pulled over and took the call and it was from Viktoria herself saying that I'd been chosen from just over 100 models from around the country, so I was ecstatic. I still have to pinch myself when I think about it cause it's such a huge opportunity."
Olivia has been named the face of the bridal collection, and while she's "only 19 myself so not a bride just yet," she's always loved Viktoria's designs.
Olivia's modelling work so far has involved local jobs, including walking the runway every night at this year's Fashfest, and she also recently signed with HAUS Models.
The shoot for the campaign was held in Canberra last weekend, but won't go public until October, and Olivia's face could be seen all over the world.
"The collection will run for over a year so it will continuously be put into magazines. I know last year it was in Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Cosmo Bride – Viktoria was saying the images just get plastered around the world – she even had magazines in Spain and Dubai publishing the photos so she said to expect the same with this shoot," Olivia said.
Originally from Canberra, Viktoria moved her millinery business to Sydney three years ago, and said she's proud to have Olivia on board.
"She is 'the essence' of our brand at the moment. The 'girl next door'. The girl that other females who are shopping for unique headpieces can relate to," said Viktoria.
As for herself, Viktoria is concentrating on New York Fashion Week and will be the first Australian milliner to showcase a collection of headpieces as a solo designer during the event.
