Miranda Kerr shines in GQ Magazine

There’s no doubt that Victoria’s Secret knows how to pick their Angels; they’re beautiful, blessed with amazing genes, and know how to make headlines by never holding back. Although Miranda Kerr is now a former Angel, she has proven to fit the description. She’s feisty and honest in interviews yet almost normal enough for folks like us to relate to. But the mother to a three-year-old son with actor, Orlando Bloom, still holds an alluring air of mystery which has proven to make her fans love her even more.

Now that she’s single again and has stepped down from Victoria’s Secret – much to everyone’s disappointment – she’s never been more emancipated than she is in her interview and photo-op in UK’s GQ May 2014 edition and she’s probably never looked more confident and beautiful.

The 30-year-old was one of the longest running and most loved Victoria’s Secret Angels before she chose not to walk the 2014 fashion show because of her hectic schedule and other modelling commitments. She is currently the face of clothing label Mango, having taken Kate Moss’s place in 2013. She was also ranked 2^nd in Forbes’ 2013 list of the world's highest-paid models, with estimated earnings of $7.2 million. Miranda was chosen as the face of Austrian crystal house Swarovski for their fall 2013 campaign. In February, she also replaced Gisele Bundchen as the face of Swedish clothing brand H&M. And she then featured in high-profile campaigns for Reebok and Wonderbra. Miranda is nothing short of a supermodel on a roll and shows no sign of slowing down.

Miranda stripped down for her latest shoot for UK’s GQ May edition shot by leading fashion photographer Mario Testino, showing off her glowing skin and amazing physique that no doubt requires strenuous work and dedication, showing no suggestion of her age or motherhood.

Her interview with the magazine is also making several headlines for her openness regarding her sexuality. But as with many other world-famous supermodels, controversy has always followed them but Miranda definitely leaves little to the imagination in her GQ shoot as to why she is one of the most sought after models in the industry.

3D Printing hits the fashion industry

3D printing has become the latest craze. It is the manufacturing process through which any three-dimensional object can be created using a digital model and involves the consecutive layering of material in different patterns to create the object. Although 3D printing has been around since the 1980s, it was only around 2010, and even more recently, that it became more commercially available and viable to use in different industries. 3D printers can now even be bought online, which are industrial robots able to follow computer-given commands.

It was in March last year that burlesque dancer and model, Dita Von Teese, had created a stir when she unveiled the world's first fully articulated 3D-printed dress. The gown, dramatic and revealing just as Dita loves it, was designed by Michael Schmidt and Francis Bitonti and revealed at the Ace Hotel in New York. The dress was said to be based on the Fibonacci sequence of numbers and was assembled from 17 pieces, dyed black, lacquered and adorned with over 13 000 Swarovski crystals.

You might be surprised that 3D printing was also used to create some of the items worn at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in November last year. Who would’ve thought! Victoria’s Secret, Swarovski, and 3D printing manufacturer Shapeways – who had also worked on Dita’s dress – had collaborated to give the Victoria’s Secret models 3D printed angel’s wings.

The wings were actually designed by an architect and not a designer, Bradley Rothenberg, who first 3D-scanned Victoria’s Secret angel Lindsay Ellingson to ensure they will accurately conform to her shape. Shapeways then 3D-printed the filigreed snowflake wings, which were finally encrusted with the Swarovski crystals that give Victoria’s Secret their trademark bling.

A pair of black wings was also created by the team, which were worn by fashion’s new “it” girl, Cara Delevingne. These wings took a lot less time and effort to make than the snowflake ones as they weren’t as intricate and dramatic. But they were still as beautiful, giving Cara an edgy look as the wings fanned out in a ribbon-like movement as she walked down the ramp.

These results of 3D printing have proved to be beautiful and unique and the sophistication of the creations did not give away that the items were not handcrafted. This definitely sets a standard of the possibility of many industries combining to create distinctive and different products. It also changes people’s perspectives on the fashion industry; that something as technologically advanced as 3D printing can be incorporated and used to, perhaps one day soon, create wearable and fashion-forward wear.

Cara Delevingne – Fashion’s New “It” Girl

Every once in a while, there’s a face that comes along in the fashion world that leaves the rest of the world breathless once discovered.

The world first took Cara Delevingne seriously in 2011 when she was seen in ad campaigns for Burberry and H&M. And after just two years, she was named model of the year last November at the British Fashion Awards. And it was an award that was well earned. She's been photographed by Mario Testino for the cover of British Vogue; she's appeared in ad campaigns for Chanel, Burberry, and H&M, among others; and she seems to have walked almost every runway in New York, London, Milan, and Paris for most major designers.

Recently she’s been seen in a small role in the film Anna Karenina alongside Keira Knightly and on the Victoria's Secret ramp modelling the Pink line for teens.

But even at only 21 years old these milestones and achievements, revered in the fashion industry, hardly seem to encompass the powerhouse that is Cara.

She has “the” look; the delicate mouth, the elfin cheekbones, the bushy eyebrows that need no introduction. Then there's her colourful lineage and background straight out of a movie script: her grandfather, Sir Jocelyn Stevens, was a prominent newspaper executive; her eccentric mother, Pandora, a personal shopper; her father, Charles, a handsome man about town; and her older sister Poppy, also a successful model and socialite.

But perhaps the best part of Cara, the part that her facial features and body language epitomise so intriguingly, is that punch-to-the-gut personality that make so many of the headlines about her. She’s witty, quirky, and enchantingly unpredictable.

A perfect fit for the fashion world, Cara gives the photographer what they want before they even realize they want it. She’s a photographer’s dream, daring and experimental, and has even gone pretty much nude in November last year for a shoot with Nick Knight for SHOWstudio and Garage magazine. She always manages to be classy and sultry – a combination not easily achieved.

Renowned photographer Mario Testino has called her “the new Kate Moss” – but this wild-child who cites Charlie Chaplin as her style icon and the Milan-based street-wear brand You Need This Shit as a favourite label – isn’t replacing anyone in the fashion world but is carving out her own niche.

Dream Shoot(s)

I was recently thinking if I could shoot any 3 people in the world today. Who would they be? 

3. Nelson Mandela

I think shooting a man such as this at this current stage of his life would be an unforgettable life experience. The shots would be iconic and spending time with this legendary world figure would be priceless.

2. Lana Del Rey

My favourite female vocalist at the moment.  Not only for her good lyrics but also her unique look and feel. She is fresh and unusual. She would be used to produce images of timeless beauty. 

1. Candice Swanepoel

South African model best known for her Victoria Secret work embodies the commercial beauty appeal. Her strongest work has her in lingerie and swimwear. Last year she came in at 10th place on Forbes Top earning model list. Not bad for this KZN lady.  

Who would make your list and why?