5 upcoming top models to keep an eye on

They are beautiful, talented, unique. You've seen them be the stars of the latest fashion weeks, walking the catwalks of the major brands and working for the most important campaigns. Each one, with her own style and personality, is fighting to change the fashion industry, promoting inclusion, body positivity and expanding the Eurocentric concept of beauty.

Learn their names because these young women are meant to do great things: Paloma Elsesser, Maty Fall, Adesuwa Aighewi, Mona Tougaard and Raya Martigny.

Paloma Elsesser

Her face is one of the most famous in contemporary fashion, but you may not know that Paloma Elsesser was born in London in 1992, to a Buddhist-Afro-American mother and a father of Chilean-Swiss descent, but she grew up in Los Angeles. Her modeling career began almost by accident, after make-up artist Pat McGrath noticed her Instagram profile and cast her for the Golden Makeover limited edition campaign. Since then, came the covers of Vogue and other prestigious magazines, collaborations with Savage x Fenty, Fenty Beauty, Nike, ASOS, H&M, and the debut as an actress in Uncut Gems. An unforgettable highlight of her career was Glossier's Body Hero ad campaign starring Paloma, portrayed completely nude to prove that "being fat is not a burden, nor something to be ashamed of." Elsesser, in fact, is one of the most influential body positivity activists in fashion and, working in the industry, is fighting against the stereotype that suggests a model's status should be applied to someone thin, tall, and white. Her voice became even louder after Paloma walked the runway for Fendi, Lanvin, and Alexander McQueen and joined the TIME Magazine 100 Next list that names the personalities who are shaping contemporary culture. On that occasion, friend and colleague Ashley Graham described her perfectly: 

"Paloma Elsesser knows who she is. From the moment I met her, I could tell she’s the type of woman who walks to the beat of her own drum. You don’t know cool until you’ve met Paloma—­outgoing, dynamic and magnetic. She challenges the norm and refuses to conform to what society has set as the typical beauty standard. She reminds her friends, colleagues and fans to constantly be loud and take up space. In doing so, she’s helped so many women feel powerful within their own strong and beautiful bodies."

Salvatore Ferragamo

Lanvin

Chloé

Fendi

Alexander McQueen

Eckhaus Latta

Gabriela Hearst

Prabal Gurung

Coach

Fendi

Marni

Savage X Fenty

Maryam Nassir Zadeh

Ganni

Maty Fall

Maty Fall Diba is 19 years old, she lives in Chiampo, in the province of Vicenza, but she comes from Ouest Foire, a Senegalese city a few steps from Dakar and the Atlantic Ocean. Beautiful and very young, the Img Models agency recruited her immediately after meeting her and Pier Paolo Piccioli cast her to close the SS20 show of Valentino. In a short time, she has walked the major catwalks: from Saint Laurent to Dior, from Jacquemus to Burberry, from Salvatore Ferragamo to Etro. A shot of her on the cover of Vogue Italy in February 2020 has aroused (sterile) controversy, and Maty responded with a smile, continuing to divide her life between her high school teenager and successful model. Because the revolution needs facts and not words. 

Etro

Philosophy by Lorenzo Serafini

Dior

Dior

Lanvin

Versace

Sportmax

Hugo Boss

Alberta Ferretti

Saint Laurent

Dsquared2

Valentino

Valentino

Salvatore Ferragamo

Jacquemus

Burberry

Fendi

Adesuwa Aighewi

Adesuwa Aighewi hates sports, thinks podcasts are too preachy, loves science (she did an internship at NASA when she was 22!), politics, and never thought working in fashion could be a real career. At least until she finally accepted the requests of a talent scout who noticed her in Prince George's County, Maryland, and posed for her first photoshoot. Since then, everything has changed. Everything except the strong, free, and independent personality of this young woman of Chinese-Thai-Nigerian origins. She has worked for Chanel, Vivienne Westwood, Miu Miu, Alexander Wang, Kenzo, Chloé, but when one of her agents proposed to her to have a breast makeover to walk Victoria's Secret catwalk, she decided to go against the tide and tattoo her chest. To combat aesthetic and cultural stereotypes, tired of people warning her that her dreadlocks were too black and limited her business, in 2017 Adesuwa wrote a powerful personal essay for The Guardian on the issue of diversity in fashion. Her mantra, which she constantly repeats to her many followers, is "I'm not a brand, I'm just me". 

Jacquemus

Sophie Theallet

Alexander Wang

Miu Miu

Tommy Hilfiger

Fendi

Chanel

Louis Vuitton

Dior

Sacai

Longchamp

Chanel

Michael Kors

Jeremy Scott

Tory Burch

Balmain

Mona Tougaard

Mona Tougaard goes fast. She was only 12 years old when she was discovered by the world of fashion and 15 years old when she won the Elite Model Look competition in Denmark. In between there were lots of editorials and collaborations that became more and more prestigious after the young model from Aarhus made her debut as Wednesday Addams on the Prada catwalk. The FW19 fashion weeks turned out to be a golden season for Mona, who walked the runway and created campaigns for Chanel, Max Mara, Louis Vuitton, Loewe, Versace, Valentino, and Dior. The secret that has made her one of the most recognizable and popular faces in contemporary fashion is her particular beauty, the result of a unique mix of Somali, Ethiopian, Danish and Turkish origins. 

Louis Vuitton

Chloé

Versace

Miu Miu

Dior

Alberta Ferretti

Loewe

Paco Rabanne

Burberry

Stella McCartney

Valentino

Hugo Boss

Etro

Miu Miu

Jacquemus

Max Mara

Fendi

Raya Martigny

Probably, in a previous life, Raya Martigny was a true amazon: charming, statuesque (she is 1.89 cm tall!), determined and fearless. Born in the middle of the Indian Ocean, on the volcanic island of La Réunion, she left home early to be free to build a destiny and an identity that would perfectly reflect the woman she always knew she was. The destination chosen for this rebirth is Paris where the 20-year-old, after an initial experience as a hairstylist and artist, began a successful career as a model. Her sharp and expressive face, her feline stride, and her strong personality made her noticed by iconic brands such as Mugler, Maison Margiela, Jean-Paul Gaultier, and Off-White who hired her for collaborations and for fashion shows during the latest fashion weeks, making her one of the few transgender models to appear on such important catwalks. As Raya said, fashion is not only a way to feel beautiful and confident, but it is also a way to be an activist, because by sharing her image she can help other people in difficult circumstances to feel free.

Off-White

Koché

Jean Paul Gaultier

Mugler

Mugler

Mugler

PAUL & JOE

Stefano Pilati for Random Identities

Stefano Pilati for Random Identities

Han Kjøbenhavn