This month, America’s beloved shopping magazine Lucky has thrown aside the celebrities and models that usually adorn their cover in favour of three superstar bloggers, two of whom call Australia home.
Eva Chen, the magazine’s Editor in Chief (the youngest at Condé Nast, the first Asian-American Editor-in-Chief at the publishing house, and widely considered one of the most creative, clever cats in mags) recruited Gary Pepper Girl Nicole Warne, The Blonde Salad’s Chiara Ferragni and Zanita Whittington to star as her February cover girls and the subjects of an extended photo shoot and feature story within the magazine’s widely-circulated pages.
The move has, incidentally or not, put Australia in the spotlight — Nicole still calls the Central Coast of NSW home, and Zanita spent her formative years growing up on a farm in Esperance, Western Australia. Chiara hails from Italy and has been blogging as The Blonde Salad since 2009, amassing a jaw-dropping 3.1 million Instagram followers as a result.
From Nicole’s recent creative project with Mulberry to Zanita shooting a campaign with Louis Vuitton and Ferragni signed as a model and spokesperson for Guess, even the most persistent blogging naysayers can no longer deny that these girls are the real deal and this cover really doesn’t come as too much of a surprise at all.
And if all this wasn’t proof enough that these homegrown bloggers are killing it internationally, in the same week that the Lucky cover hit stands, Warne celebrated another cover — this time on NYLON Singapore where she stands alone in Hermes looking every bit the worthy cover girl.
We had Nicole Warne on the RESCUTV couch right after she signed with IMG not just as a model, but as a brand and the beauty revealed how she became a brand, what it’s like working with her partner Luke Shadbolt, and how her personal style has changed since the early days of the Gary Pepper Girl. Watch the video below. Sneaking this read in at the office? We’ve pasted the transcription below for you…
RESCU: You’re on RESCUTV with the beautiful Nicole Warne. Congratulations on being signed up to IMG as not just a model but really as a brand.
Nicole Warne: Yeah, it’s very exciting. It’s a very new arena for IMG. I was actually technically the first to sign to the talent division. So, it’s great. We really work together and we share the same vision of working long term.
RESCU: So, you’re a 24-year-old trailblazer in this digital world, which kind of makes you really old enough to know what you’re doing in the digital world. Tell us a little bit about your fashion pedigree from Gary Pepper Vintage, to your collaboration with Westfield.
Nicole Warne: Okay, so I started Gary Pepper Vintage in 2009, October. So it’s still relatively new I guess. And I started with an online store and I opened my blog on the same day. And, for the first two years I did my store full time. So the interaction with my readers was always really high. And I learned a lot about them and then through my blog they kind of became friends and it’s only recently that I decided to do it full time. And I head shotted actually with Westfield a few months ago for a vintage exhibition they had done, so it was very well aligned. And then we just got along so well and we share the same perspective on Spring Summer fashion and it just was this natural evolution I guess. So it was very exciting and now we’re here today and we launched the fashion film last night.
RESCU: So you launched it and Al Weekes was the director. And he’s an amazing friend and talent. And the Stenmark boys who are an amazing talent of nature.
Nicole Warne: Yeah. It’s a little bit unfair, but yes.
RESCU: It’s fun and it’s sexy. Tell me, you collaborated with them too on the ideas, so tell me a little bit about not just being the talent but what you brought to the shoot.
Nicole Warne: So, with the fashion film, so it’s called #Limousine 13, we wanted to do something a little bit different. I think being online all the time, it can be a little predictable so they really wanted to go for the shock value and so you probably see that the hair and the makeup is very, very different to what I usually wear. And they were so wonderful. They gave me a lot of creative freedom with even the styling, like Kelly Hume styled it but I got to oversee everything as well which is wonderful.
RESCU: And, I mean, that’s I guess the talent that they brought you on board for. You’re not just a mannequin that people project and image on. You are part of the art installation; you are part of the conversation.
Nicole Warne: Well that’s the thing about bloggers is you’re not just a model or a writer. You’re a brand. And so you’ve really got to protect that, so they [Westfield] were lovely. They just said, “do you like this? What colours do you wear?” And we were kind of really aligned I guess.
RESCU: But you really pushed it there and I think that that was fun too, to see you looking very different.
Nicole Warne: Yeah, it’s kind of hard for me to watch, to be honest.
RESCU: Is it?
Nicole Warne: Yeah, like I said. It’s such a different look. It’s a bit sexy.
RESCU: Yeah, it’s very sexy.
Nicole Warne: Yeah, so it was nice. It was the first time I’d actually done anything like that. And like you said, Al directed it and he’s very good, made me feel really comfortable. So it actually only took a few takes for each scene.
RESCU: My God, she’s a pro. It’s her first movie and she’s a pro.
Nicole Warne: It’s not a movie. It’s a short movie. But the Stenmark twins are lovely to work with so now they’re kind of like brothers like we just kind of goof around in between takes and…
RESCU: What a waste, to make them brothers. Hey, you’re still…
Nicole Warne: Oh. I’ve got a boyfriend. Zach’s been with his girlfriend for like seven years now.
RESCU: So, your boyfriend is really a huge part of your success. On Instagram, your social media, your blog… He’s been photographing you all these years as well. How do you guys work together because there’s an uncommon thing to be able to do successfully; work with your partner.
Nicole Warne: I know. I mean, my advice to a lot of bloggers is, I would never mix them unless you’re really compatible. Because it’s like travelling with someone; you really test each other. Luke is very creative. He’s a photographer and graphic designer so we do challenge each other on the different perspectives but it keeps it really interesting. And I think that from the very beginning it was one of the best things that I didn’t appreciate I guess. Now I’m really aware of how much Luke has done for my blog and the level of photography that’s been consistent.
RESCU: It’s stunning.
Nicole Warne: It’s really come down to him.
RESCU: It’s such a pleasure to watch. I was reading something, I think it was Vanity Fair, somebody was saying that, it was a design interview, and she was saying that she doesn’t read blogs anymore, she just goes to Instagram and I think a picture that can speak a thousand words is such an art form.
Nicole Warne: It is, yeah and Instagram itself, I’m completely addicted to it and I think if you use it the right way, it’s not just a way to show photos, you can also use it really perfectly for brand awareness. It’s like free marketing and advertising. I think it’s a really good social media platform.
RESCU: So, as a style commentator and as a trendsetter, can you tell us what are some of the things that are going to be sneaking into your wardrobe this Spring, Summer?
Nicole Warne: I always struggle to answer this question because every season I kind of stick to the same things.
RESCU: Oh, really?
Nicole Warne: Well, I love bright colours. I love really clean lines like white on white. I think as I’ve grown up I’ve become a little bit more streamline so I try to invest in classic, versatile pieces.
RESCU: Your look has evolved though.
Nicole Warne: Yeah…
RESCU: So you’re obviously, you know…
Nicole Warne: It’s hard though because your readers see you one way and then like, oh you’ve changed. But, you put yourself online I think people forget that you are growing up as well. So, yeah I’ve definitely changed a lot since I first started blogging. Definitely my style as well. But, we shot some great pieces, we shot a lot of satin and added the embellishment. I think is definitely coming in. And a lot of colour, actually…
RESCU: So, you’ll be right at home.
Nicole Warne: Exactly.
RESCU: You’ll be absolutely, fabulously at home. Now, as someone who’s just really embraced the new digital medium but in quite an effortless way and I think that that’s kind of been your success, but it never feels forced. You’re in the photo but it’s not all about me, me, me and I think that that’s something that people really love when they follow you. What would be your advice to people? And you were saying that a blogger is…that you are the brand. How do you, as somebody who wants to be in social media, wants to have a voice, how do you protect your brand integrity in these ever changing times?
Nicole Warne: It’s very fast pace, isn’t it?
RESCU: And the rules of endorsement and engagement.
Nicole Warne: I know, I know. It is tricky and I’ve learned over a long period of time and it’s such a new space that we’re getting into; there really are no rules. We’re kind of writing them now. But, I think if someone said this to me a few years ago, that I would have really taken on this advice. I always think long term. It’s really simple but it’s kind of like building a portfolio, building a CV, and the only down point is it’s online. So it’s like a public record. You can’t take it down: it’s out there for the world to see. So, luckily I have always worked with brands that I really, really love. And now, as everything’s got a lot crazier, I’m really grateful that it was just something that I definitely thought about. But…
RESCU: But I think even the fact that there doesn’t seem to be anything crazy and tasteless and brash and crass about you that’s out there. It’s…
Nicole Warne: Well, not online anyway, right? That’s on my personal Facebook.
RESCU: It feels like you’ve really had this very clear brand vision for yourself, even before you were a brand.
Nicole Warne: Well I think it’s because I started with an online store so I was a business. A lot of bloggers start as bloggers and then they become a business or a model or a status and I was completely opposite. So I started as a business…
RESCU: As a 19 year old.
Nicole Warne: …and then I became a full time blogger. Yeah, so I was at that point where I was like, I’ve got nothing to lose; I may as well give it a go. And I guess when I had…I guess the fear of failure kind of really drives me. Yeah it was very new at the time as well. So I definitely think it helps, always keeping in mind and treating yourself like a business.
RESCU: And what’s next for you?
Nicole Warne: I leave for New York on Friday.
RESCU: Wow, you’re covering the shows?
Nicole Warne: I am. We have an event with Westfield for Vogue Fashion out tomorrow. And then I’m on a plane the next morning. And then I’ll be coming back. I’m only there for three weeks and then I’ll come back again for Westfield, so…
RESCU: Fantastic, congratulations.
Nicole Warne: Thank you.
RESCU: It’s always a pleasure keeping up with you and your beautiful interpretations of the world.
Nicole Warne: Oh, thank you.
RESCU: Lovely to see you.
Nicole Warne: Thank you.
Images: Lucky Magazine, Nylon Singapore