3.22.2008

alice burdeu and "top model"

Tyra's "Top Model" franchise hasn't only produced mediocrity; a winner actually emerged from her show: Alice Burdeu. She has broke the barrier between being a "Top Model" Winner and becoming an actual, well, model. Granted, the girl won "Australia's Next Top Model", but it still astounds me when actual successful models are produced out of the Ms. Bank's franchise, when the typical advice is to "smile with your eyes" or "squint to add eye intensity".

With her porcelain doll mug and Elson red hair, Alice Burdeu took advantage of the Elite contract she won, and ended up shuttling to New York, where she walked in Proenza Schouler, Marc Jacobs, Marchesa, amongst others. Not only did she score big runway mileage in New York, she totally went to Dolce & Gabbana, Jil Sander, Moschino in Milan and walked Louis Vuitton, Dries Van Noten, McQueen, and others in Paris. And you know you dug yourself out of the stagnant depths of Top Model-dom when you've got a style.com and nymag profile, and constant hype and publicity.

I mean really, the American winners get contracts with Elite (an agency which is gaining momentum, what with head bobber Karlie Kloss and Ali Stephens) and Tyra shovels on a CoverGirl contract to top things off. Even after 10 cycles, America's Next Top Model winners have faded into obscurity while a rising star like Alice has risen to the top. Now, can someone demystify this contrast between the "winners" from America's Next Top Model and Alice Burdeu? Could it be Tyra's obssession with putting ratty weaves and extensions in the girl's hair during makeover time? Discuss.

Photos - style.com

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

The weaves and the 'fierce' qualities that Tyra tries to instill seems to have something to do with the lack of actual success from ANTM winners.... love this girl though....

Bojana said...

Wow that girl looks amazing!! Redheads are truly beautiful

Siru said...

Please tell me if I'm wrong, but according to my counts there has been only two real models that have their history in reality show like X's next top model : Suvi Koponen and Alice Burdeu.

juliet xxx

discotheque confusion said...

ohh fantastic post!
i hadn't heard of Alice Burdeu before but I think she has a look about her which is just more "high fashion model" than some of ATNM's winners.

having said that, I always did wonder why nothing became of them. Would be interesting to know what goes on behind the scenes, because we only ever see the shoot and not the regular routines like working out and coaching they (presumably have..) maybe something to do with the fact that tyra was never exactly "high" high fashion, was she?

and don't forgot suvi k. i find of amazing she started on a NTM show!

Miss at la Playa said...

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1234 said...

i believe alice has also had an australia vogue cover. and i didnt know that about suvi! which season was she in?

Anonymous said...

Suvi won the first season of "Mallikoulu" (Model School) in 2005, which isn't part of tyra's top model franchise but shares many similarities to its format so it's known as Finland's Next Top Model.

Anonymous said...

Ksenia Kakhnovich won Russia's Next Top Model

Miss Lix said...

Alice is gorgeous. I like Tyra for her values concerning young girls and positive image and I think that ANTM is just very... well, "television". The more mediocre and easily sterotyped the material is (i.e. overusage of "fierceness"), the easier it is for the common American to understand the world of high fashion/modeling -- through a blurred lense.

P.S. Your blog is wonderful, wanna exchange links? I just kind of started my own kind of watered-down fashion blog.

emsie said...

I never knew she came out of Australian's Next Top Model. She's beautiful though.

No one successful ever comes out of Britain's version.

Ella Gregory said...

I've never seen her before
I'm not really up on all the next top model shows because they never seem to become one!
She does have a strong look though!

WendyB said...

She's very striking.

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Anonymous said...

She's stunning.

bronwyn said...

She's really beautiful, she's got that special something all right.

Tori said...

I'm ashamed to say it but i'm slightly obsessed with the whole franchise, i've seen pretty much all of the shows. This is probably because it is soooo cheesy. Nothing ever comes of the americas top models. I already know the winner of the new series that's on now and i have to say i'm really disappointed. The winner is not good, but one or two of the other contestants could possibly do ok, in my 'professional' opinion.
I like this alice character, possibly because i'm a fellow red head. I'm glad she's done well.

Kat said...

Wow, she has a fabulous look. Red hair and pale skin is such a striking combination.

alluretone said...

o wow she's from a top model? i saw her during fashion week and thought she was absolutely gorgeousss. love her red hair and paleness! would love to see more of her.

Anonymous said...

srsly though tyra picks girls that are least likely to be real models. like that one crazyass jade from a couple seasons back. she was fuckin insaaaaane

Lauren said...

that girl is gorgeous! very unique!

the funny thing is that on the america version, after they win, they do everything but model lol

Lauren said...

that girl is gorgeous! very unique!

the funny thing is that on the america version, after they win, they do everything but model lol

Anonymous said...

Karlie left Elite a few mos. back, didn't she?

sofi said...

aww thats my friend simona with her!!

Anonymous said...

Ksenia Kahnovich won the Russia's Next Top Model cycle 1 (as was already told here) and she is now doing the runways for all big names such as Valentino, Dior, Versache, Carolina Herrera. She was also on the covers of Harper's Bazaar (Singapure) and Amico (Italy). So she seems the most successful of all the Next Top Model winners in the world. You can easily google her, she works with IMG Milan. ANTM actually disappointed me, I don't know how they can choose this starting material, most of the girls don't even look like models. In Russia's Next Top Model cycle 1 they had quite some girls who really made it as Top Models: besides Ksenia Kahnovich, there were Julia Vorobyova who is the face of international campaign of Sunsilk and made numerous fashion magazine covers in Russia and Evgenia Tolstikova, who did a lot of runways in Asia.

Anonymous said...

Nicole Trunfio got her break the Australian version of 'Search For A Supermodel'.

Anonymous said...

Gemma Ward entered but didn't win (she didn't even get into the top 10) of Australia's Search for a Supermodel, and Miranda Kerr won a modelling competition that was run by an Australian magazine (Dolly Magazine).

Anonymous said...

Honestly most of the girls on top model are too "fat" for high fashion, the only reason Alice is walking those international runways is that she is naturally skinny. If she was voluptuous and curvy, she would not have international success, despite her stunning looks.

Also most international models are discovered by talent scouts, they do not wake up when they are six and tell their mummies they want to be a model and then end up being an international success. Nor do they enter a competition and gain skills in 10 weeks or so to be a supermodel, and then start walking straight off for Dolce & Gabbana and Dior. It's not how the modeling industry (and the fashion industry) works. As Heidi Klum says, 'You're either in, or you're out.' and Tyra's girls are unfortunately out.

Anonymous said...

Some of the problems with ANTM is that all the girls are either too fat or too short or just too commercial. Whatsherface was like what, 5'6.5"? At that height you'll NEVER get a show, let alone success. Their faces are very "television", and none of them have that special quality, that unique, ethereal look it takes. Only Alice had this, and I knew, from the firt moment she stepped on the show that she was going to win it!

Farrin said...

ANTM had 1 good model come out of it and that was Jaslene. I believe she's been semi-successful...well at least for AMERICAS next top model.

Is anyone else pissed that the plus sized chick won last season? I mean seriously, what a waste. No offense but you cant be fat and be a model.