Fashion’s new force
FROM FRANKSTON TO FRANCE, ANNA ROBINSON IS TAKING THE INTERNATIONAL FASHION WORLD BY STORM. HERE, THE WINNER OF ELLE’S NEXT GEN MODEL AWARD GIVES US A HIGH-FASHION TOUR OF HER NEW HOMETOWN
PHOTOGRAPHED BY PIERRE TOUSSAINT STYLED BY NAOMI SMITH WORDS BY ALEXANDRA ENGLISH
Anna Robinson wears Isabel Marant dress, price on application; Swarovski rings, $330 (left), and, $630.
Imagine, if you will, this exact photoshoot, but with hundreds of cyclists from the Tour de France whizzing past: hordes of high-vis lycra flashing past Pierre Toussaint’s camera as Anna Robinson poses in front of Parisian monuments in the season’s best high fashion. It could have been amazing; more likely, it would have been a disaster. Thankfully, Robinson didn’t even realise the race was on until she’d gotten home and washed her face. “There were clues, but funnily enough I didn’t notice it,” she says with a laugh. “My housemate was like, ‘Oh, I was doing some organising for the Tour de France today,’ and I was like, ‘Wait, what?’”
This ability to zone out her surroundings is part of what makes 22-year-old Robinson “heavenly” to work with, says ELLE’s fashion director, Naomi Smith. And it turns out many of the international fashion houses agree — in little more than 12 months, Robinson has walked more than 40 fashion week runways for brands including Prada, Christian Dior, Hermès, Loewe, Gucci, Chanel and Alaïa, among others. For a girl who grew up outside Melbourne, with no real idea what the luxury fashion world involved, that’s a Very Big Deal.