TWO Northumberland teenagers have made it to the semi-finals as they bid to win a prestigious modelling competition.
Elle Burnett, 15, and 16-year-old Ben Wonders will join four other hopefuls from the North East, who have made it through to the semi-finals of Elite Model Look UK following an impromptu photo shoot at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Durham.
Elite Model Look is the prestigious model search that has launched the careers of Cindy Crawford, Gisele Bundchen, Sigrid Agren and more recently, UK models-of-the-moment Nyasha Matonhodze and last year’s female winner Gillian Matthew.
Contestants from the 2012 UK Selection have already realised a huge amount, including shooting for British Vogue, Wonderland, i-D and Hunger magazine, walking for the likes of Mulberry, Richard Nicoll, JW Anderson and Topman at London Fashion Week and working for major clients such as Burberry, Rankin and Topshop in the short amount of time since the competition ended in August 2012.
The six semi-finalists will join contestants selected from all over the UK, to take part in the National Casting on Saturday in London.
During the National Casting, the girls will have their hair and make-up completed by expert make-up artists and hair stylists and the boys will be groomed by a team of professionals.
They will have pictures taken against a studio backdrop, before meeting with the panel of Elite Model Look judges, who will decide which lucky contestants will make it through to the Elite Model Look UK 2013 Model Botcamp and Grand Final, where 12 female and 12 male finalists will compete for the chance to be named winner of the Elite Model Look UK for their respective categories.
The female winner will be jetted off to the Elite Model Look world final in December in China, while the male winner will visit Milan during Men’s Fashion Week and have the opportunity to walk for some of the worlds most renowned designers.