The Press Release Resource

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Australian actress and model Gemma Ward was discovered when she was a teenager. She has been featured in numerous magazines and catwalk shows and has made it on to the Forbes list of the World’s Top-Earning Models. Recently, there have been rumours that she’s retiring from modelling and has received media criticism for putting on weight. How is this going to directly affect her career?

Gemma Ward first came to attention for her ethereal looks and helped build a new style of fashion model, followed by Lily Cole, Lisa Cant and Jessica Stam. In February 06’s edition of Teen Vogue, Lazaro Hernandez, fashion designer at Proenza Schouler, commented on Ward’s success. “She looked like no one else at the time,” he said. “She was this alien, and fashion is always looking for newness.”

After the death of Heath Ledger, with whom she was rumoured to be in a relationship, Gemma seemed to disappear from the fashion scene, and it was thought that she may be retiring from modelling altogether. She had turned her skills to acting, however, and appeared in the films The Black Balloon and The Strangers.

“I was surprised to wake up this morning and read news of my own retirement,” Gemma said back in 2008. “I am taking time off currently to rest and enjoy the company of friends and family, I am still very much a (excited and enthusiastic) working model and actress. I’m only 20 for God’s sake.”

When pictures were revealed of the model out on her 22nd birthday this month with a fuller, healthier looking figure it seemed to confirm that she wouldn’t be going back to high fashion runways. However, her new body shape is exactly what fashion label Frost French (founded by Sadie Frost and Jemima French) is looking for. They have expressed their interest in having Gemma Ward as the face of their advertising, choosing her ‘real woman’ figure over other super-skinny models.

Modelling agency Models Direct see this as a positive proposal and hope that the campaign happens. It’s great to see that a comparatively high profile fashion label hopes to use a ‘real woman’ to front their advertising.