5 upcoming top models to keep an eye on

Kendall Jenner and the Hadid sisters are among the 10 highest-paid models in the world, but there is a whole host of young faces, regular presences in the latest fashion shows, who are ready to take their place. They are beautiful, talented, unique, and looking to bring a breath of fresh air to the industry, promoting more multifaceted and inclusive ideals of beauty, but also putting personality first. Many see their modeling careers as a phase and dream of acting or making a living from art, but, in the meantime, they are sought after by major brands and magazines. Surely you have seen them many times on the runway or in some photo shoot, but now it's time to learn their names because these young women are destined to remain stars of fashion weeks for a long time: Lily McMenamy, Tess McMillan, Tami Williams, Sophie Koella e Unia Pakhomova.

Lily McMenamy

Lily McMenamy's fashion career was written in destiny: her mother, Kristen McMenamy, is one of the most iconic models of the 1990s; her father, Hubert Boukobza, was the king of Parisian nights, and from his club, Les Bains Douches, all the famous, including David Bowie and Mick Jagger, passed; Karl Lagerfeld was her parents' best man at her wedding, and Naomi Campbell the godmother at her christening. As with other mother-daughter model couples, Lily inherited an impressive physical resemblance from her parents, but also a rebellious and unconventional spirit. From Kristen she took alternative beauty and a certain theatricality in the way she poses, gifts that have enabled the 28-year-old to become one of the most beloved faces of magazines and stylists. Lily started working in fashion at the age of 18, joining the agency NEXT, and since then she has ended up several times on the covers of I-D and Vogue, while brands such as Marc Jacobs, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Saint Laurent or Mugler compete for her for their campaigns and catwalks. One only has to take a look at her Instagram profile to see that there is more to the young McMenamy's world than just fashion. Her passions also include contemporary dance and acting. Lily, in fact, had a small role in Luca Guadagnino's A Bigger Splash.

Tess McMillan

Copper-colored hair, diaphanous skin, soft curves and a fierce gaze. Tess McMillan looks like something out of a Renaissance painting; instead, she hails from Texas. She has been living in New York's East Village for a few years, ever since photographer Heather Hazzan discovered her on Instagram, thus kicking off her modeling career. She threw herself into the new adventure with enthusiasm, managing to win over 50,000 followers and the attention of brands such as Gucci, Simone Rocha, Tommy Hilfiger, Oscar de la Renta, Rodarte, and Coach, thanks to her vintage and ethereal beauty. Her muses are Grace Jones and Brigitte Bardot. Like them, Tess wants to represent a unique kind of beauty full of personality, leaving an indelible imprint in the fashion world, but not only. In fact, the 22-year-old said in an interview, "I love creating beautiful pieces that I’m proud of, and I want to continue to do that long into the future. I’m very open to where the industry takes me." Will we see her on the big screen soon? She dreams of it, but, for now, we are sure she will have a major role in the upcoming fashion weeks.

Tami Williams

Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss are her muses. Three fashion icons discovered at a very young age, just as happened to Tami Williams who was noticed in her native Jamaica when she was only 11 and debuted with her first major ad campaign (for Calvin Klein) at 17. Since then, season after season, she has walked the runways of major brands, becoming a regular presence in the cast of Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, Thom Browne, Zimmermann,...a dream come true that began when she enjoyed wearing her mother's shoes and walking around the house as a child. Practice and determination have made her achieve numerous professional successes. Then again, you can expect nothing less from someone whose motto is "you have to lose to win and when you fall, just get right back up and start again never give up."

Fun fact: Her real name is Shaekagale Shanicece Williams. It was her mother who gave her the nickname Tami when she was about 4 years old and her sister 7 because it was easier to pronounce and spell for two little girls. Thus, to this day, everyone knows her as Tami.  

Sophie Koella

A globetrotting model and photographer, Sophie Koella was born in New Orleans, grew up in California within walking distance of Venice Beach, spent time in New York, and now lives in France, the land of her father. Today she is among the top-rated models, but her runway debut, which there was in 2017 for Chloé, sparked some controversy and started a small revolution. Up to that point, she had worked for several brands, such as Victoria's Secret, but at fashion week castings she was rejected because of her too-large breasts. Then, the then creative director of Chloé, Natacha Ramsay-Levi, chose her to open her first fashion show for the French house, adapting her models to her body. It was so striking that even Vanessa Friedman wrote about it in the New York Times, "Instead of changing women, Ms. Ramsay-Levi decided to change the standard and remake the dress to fit the model's measurements. Wait, tell me again?" The many rejections tempered Sophie's spirit, who, she reminds younger colleagues, that beauty is subjective, some people find you beautiful and some don't, and every model must constantly face this kind of judgment while trying not to take it personally. Looking good for a model is basic, but it also takes tenacity, personality, self-confidence and mental balance.

Unia Pakhomova

Most of us do not know her name, but everyone remembers the blond model who carried a replica of her head as if it were a handbag during Gucci FW18 fashion show. That girl is Unia Pakhomova, a 24-year-old from Nizhny Novgorod (a Russian city on the Volga River) who has been among the most sought-after faces of advertising campaigns and fashion shows for the past few seasons. Her atypical features and eclectic personality make her particularly versatile, a kind of blank canvas on which stylists and photographers can build different styles, characters and stories: from skater girl to Renaissance goddess, from rocker to refined lady. Besides fashion, Unia has a great passion for art and often shares her paintings on her Instagram profile Her favorite artist? It's Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin.