Kate Upton lands profile in Vogue after snub from lingerie giant (and there’s …

Best known for her bikini body, the 20-year-old is wrapped up in Michael Kors and Altuzzura with not a hint of cleavage in sight for the magazine’s July issue.

Clearly the wholesomely proportioned model’s public rejection from Victoria’s Secret earlier this year, for having ‘too obvious’ a face, may have been a grave oversight by the lingerie giant – Vogue’s profile signals a highly-likely fast-track foray in the competitive world of high-fashion.

Sexy back: Best known for her bikini body, Kate Upton, 20, is wrapped up in Michael Kors and Altuzzura with not a hint of cleavage in sight for the Vogue’s July 2012 issue

Miss Upton, who strutted her way to stardom largely thanks to two nearly naked YouTube videos, and this year’s Sports Illustrated cover, revealed: ‘I enjoy fashion so much but I don’t think people realise it because I’m always in a bikini.’

Shot by Sebastian Kim and styled by Katie Shillingford, the Michigan native looks every bit the predictable Vogue part, showing off wooly coats, knee-high Givenchy boots, tailored separates and even a turtle-neck sweater, all paired with barely there make-up.

A largely self-created Internet phenomenon, Miss Upton has climbed her way to the top by wielding the powers of social media – she has nearly 430,00 Twitter followers, and a notorious scantily-clad Cat Daddy YouTube video, shot by Terry Richardson, which quickly went viral.

And while Victoria’s Secret shunned the model, saying they would ‘never use’ her for its famous runway show, labelling her ‘a Page 3 girl…like a footballer’s wife, with the too-blond hair and that kind of face that anyone with enough money can go out and buy,’ Vogue clearly thinks otherwise.

Bikini body: While Miss Upton is almost always photographed nearly naked, as seen here during the Beach Bunny swimwear runways show, she is transformed into a high-fashion clothes horse for Vogue

The magazine, which last month launched the its Health Initiative, a six-point plan adopted by its 19 international editions to stop the use of models who are under age 16 or appear to have an eating disorder, reveals that the 5’11 model with 36-25-34 proportions has modelling aspirations far beyond the swimsuit category she now reigns.

She
recalled: ‘When I first went to my agency, I said “I know I’m not right
for high fashion; I like doing commercial work; it’s ok”.

‘But they told me, No! Actually, we think you could be!’

Embracing a voluptuous woman, in the eyes of high-fashion designers, such as Miss Upton, is not without precedent, but it is still far from being the norm.

While Miranda Kerr and Doutzen Kroes are examples of commercial models who have, with ease, traversed the territory between Victoria’s Secret and Prada runways, their tiny frames (Ms Kerr’s proportions according to her IMG comp card, for example, sit comparatively at 33-23-34) are far from the ‘curvaceous’ luminaries that Vogue describes them.

‘I enjoy fashion so much but I don’t think people realize it because I’m always in a bikini’

The designer Joseph Altuzzura, who like Michael Kors, believes the old size-zero rules are in fact starting to tumble, said: ‘I personally love a beautiful bust, a curvier body. When I was growing up, it was the supermodel era, they were goddesses!’

Mr Kors added: ‘She could go sporty and American, a Christie Brinkley type, or bombshell Fifties, but let’s face it, I’m not going to turn her into Annie Hall.

‘When I cast a show, I’m not looking for robots. I don’t want to see the same size or coloring or proportions. I want personality! We went from big personalities on the runway to no personalities–now I think we’re ready for a blend.’

Perhaps this is why Miss Upton would do so well walking down Michael Kors and Altuzzura’s runways.

While
her face may be ‘too obvious’ for the glitter and wings of Victoria’s
Secret, her sunny and confident, if not sometimes slightly obnoxious,
persona is a long way from the coolly robotic Eastern European beauty
ideals that have dominated the catwalks for so many seasons.

Vogue approval: The Sports Illustrated model features inside the July 2012 issue of Vogue, with Emma Stone (pictured) on the cover

Not long ago, the only path to modelling stardom was down the high-flying runways of a top designer’s show.

And until recently, it would have been unthinkable to have a swimsuit girl among the industry’s top ranks whose only ad campaigns included Guess jeans and Beach Bunny Swimwear.

However, Miss Upton explained to the New York Times: ‘For a long time, fashion has been going to celebrities.

‘Celebrities are on the magazine covers, and nobody wanted models. But why not have a model celebrity? Why not a girl who comes with her own following? Social media brings a personality to models. That’s how consumers today decide what to buy.’

She continued: ‘People told me I couldn’t be fashion, that I’m just an old-fashioned body girl, only good for swimwear. But I knew that I could bring back the supermodel. What can I say? I’m relatable.’

And Mr Kors agrees, adding: ‘Today it’s not enough to have beauty. You have to have personality, be smart and love fashion, or else you’ll disappear quickly.

‘There are a brilliant few who can do it all – commercial, high fashion, everything. Why not?’

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She’s got breasts but no waistline !!

- lazy me , Manchester, UK , 30/6/2012 10:36

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She looks like a young Christie Brinkley in the runway shots.

- colleen, santa barbara, ca, 30/6/2012 08:15

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AH! So maybe that’s why men look at some women’s chests when they talk, it’s because they must have an UN obvious face! Thanks VS!

- Ivy, London, UK, 30/6/2012 06:23

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Personally I think she is certainly prettier in the face and sexier overall than all the VS Angels after Heidi Klum. In recent years VS seems to prefer very tall and really slender, though well toned, “models” . Their faces (except Miranda Kerr) are often far too sculpted for me to be feminine at all. They often look very “runway” but I don’t find them beautiful nor sexy (even though I am very thin too). Kate Upton’s body is not perfect but it has an allure that I think not many VS Angels nowadays actually have. Her smile is captivating. She has the image of a girl-next-door who is drop dead gorgeous. More natural looking and sexier than the current VS angels.
As a straight woman , I think Kate is very very attractive.

- Queenie, london, 30/6/2012 03:38

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I prefer VS models…

- Jack, Britain, 30/6/2012 02:11

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Mmmmm look at the flab ripple on her waist….mmmmm…… Don’t tell me men LIKE that??

- Aaron, Uk, 30/6/2012 02:09

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The second catwalk picture is awful…cover upthe flab girl!

- Aaron, UK, 30/6/2012 01:29

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She looks better with clothes on and she certainly doesn’t have the body of a Victoria Secret model. I like that she’s a little heavier and healthy-looking, but she has a very odd-shaped body!

- Justine, Los Angeles, 30/6/2012 01:18

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Kate really does have an allure that most models don’t have – most runway models look like zombie clothes horses, whereas she looks healthier, happier, sexier and more of a personality. From a business point of view I think Kate’s image would have a positive effect on the fashion industry as she has a body shape that more women could reasonably aspire to have, rather than that of a stick insect.

- emma, clouds, 29/6/2012 23:56

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Well it’s no surprise considering VS only takes on high fashion models these days. Magdelena Fracowiak, Karlie Kloss and Anja Rubik are as skinny as you can get and they’re the girls being hired to walk the shows and pose in the campaigns. Nothing against them as they are beautiful but it’s clear that VS stopped hiring the curvy, luscious models after Adriana Lima. I think Kate is a sweet girl but she’s done some trashy videos and taken some trashy pictures and that image doesn’t fit well with the classy models of VS.

- Dee, Canada, 29/6/2012 23:31

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