34th ELITE MODEL LOOK WORLD FINAL 2017 WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Valeria Chenskaya from Russia and Antonio Freitas from Brazil are proclaimed overall winners
Milan, November 29th 2017 – Elite World, the world’s leading model management company is delighted to reveal the grand winners of Elite Model Look 2017 who were selected today, during the evaluation of a committee made up of Elite agents and a jury of illustrious fashion industry icons that included Anne Catherine Lacroix, Natasa Vojnovic, Mark Vanderloo, Tony Ward, Giampaolo Sgura and Lorenzo Serafini, and was chaired by Elite management President Vick Mihaci. From the 63 finalists, hailing from the world over, one girl and one boy – Antonio Freitas (17 years old - 188 cm) and Valeria Chenskaya (15 years old - 178 cm) were proclaimed overall winners.
Valeria Chenskaya lives in Moscow, she is a passionate swimmer, loves Coco Chanel and travel; Antonio Freitas is 17 years old and from Guaxupe in Brazil, he loves football, listens to hard rock with a preference for AC/DC, his fashion icon is Gisele Bundchen and becoming a model has been his dream since he was very young.
The Elite Model Look World Final was held in Milan for the second time since its inception in 1983. The event was organized under the patronage of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana – The National Chamber for Italian Fashion, gatekeeper of the cultural excellence of Italian fashion since 1958.
The 2017 Finalists arrived in Milan on the 22nd of November to participate in a six-day model boot camp in Milan, to acquire essential skills and to prepare themselves for the show. Photographers, catwalk coaches and hair and makeup artists have mentored the finalists through photo shoots, catwalk training and individual interviews.
TOP 10 FEMALE MODELS
VALERIA C., 15 years 178 cm, Russia, WINNER
BEATRIZ, 14 years, 177 cm, Brazil
PETRA, 15 years, 177 cm, Croatia
MONA, 15 years, 179 cm, Denmark
ELISA, 15 years 182 cm, French Guyana
VALERIA B., 14 years 179 cm, Italy
LISSA, 16 years, 178 cm, Kazakhstan
RENEE, 14 years, 178 cm, Netherlands
NATASA,15 years 180 cm, Slovakia
NANA, 15 years 179 cm, Ukraine
TOP 5 MALE MODELS
ANTONIO, 17 years, 188 cm, Brazil, WINNER
HAN, 16 years 190 cm, Belux
HAKIL, 17 years, 184 cm, United States
SIGGI, 17 years, 187 cm, Iceland
ALESSANDRO, 16 years, 189 cm, Italy
Hailing from 36 countries, 63 contestants (34 girls and 29 boys) participated in the Final, as they were judged over various categories. Valeria Chenskaya and Antonio Freitas will receive contracts worth a guaranteed 150.000 Euros and 50.000 Euros respectively. The Top 15 Winners, 10 girls and 5 boys, will receive a two-year contract with the Elite worldwide network. For the other Top Winners, the contracts are guaranteed at 50.000 Euros minimum for the girls, and 20.000 Euros minimum for the boys. This year, as ever, scouting began in early spring, with hundreds of castings held around the world. Thousands more applied through a global application on Facebook. For each National Final, the very best applicants competed for the chance to represent their country at the World Final in Milan.
Established in Paris in 1972, Elite is known for discovering and launching the careers of some of the most famous models in the world. Since 1983, Elite Model Look and its annual model scouting competition allows Elite to discover the most in demand new faces, thanks to its unrivalled scouting network. The goal is not to find perfection, but personality. At its core, the Elite Model Look contest gives participants vital tools to unlock their own potential, enabling each girl and boy to find their unique charisma and talents, setting them apart as models. The Elite Model Look contest has discovered some of the most recognizable names in the industry, such as Cindy Crawford, Gisele Bündchen, Fei Fei Sun and Sigrid Agren.
This year, as ever, scouting began in early spring, with hundreds of castings held around the world. Thousands more applied through a global application on Facebook. For each National Final, the very best applicants competed for the chance to represent their country at the World Final held tonight.
Held in Milan in front of 1,500 people, the thrilling event mixed both runway and live performances from artists Ofenbach and AaRON. Inviting spectators to bear testimony to our young hopeful contestants’ enrolment to a magnificent new world, the final revealed a process of self-discovery. Under the watchful eye of Elite World, identity, personality, strength of character and ambition combined to form a formidable new world order.
ELITE MODEL LOOK BOOT CAMP
Held in preparation for the final, the Elite Model Look boot camp is a unique series of masterclasses with Elite agents and industry professionals. Held at the Spazio Antologico, Finalists learn essential skills to leave the contest as independent new models. Arriving on the 22nd November, the finalists started their journey with an initiation into the world of a model: starting by confronting themselves with the camera, and experiencing the catwalk, the young models are introduced for the first time to the reality of their future careers.
Mentored by model coaches Erika Oliveira and Ruben Rua, this singular experience separates Elite Model Look from any other model competition, giving the Finalists a robust set of skills and the chance to practise ahead of launching their career at the top end of the fashion industry.
A unique experience, the Elite Model Look boot camp is a one-of-a-kind celebration of diversity and individuality: the finalists are brought together to share an experience of the professional world, with all the richness of their multicultural backgrounds. Building friendships in a working environment, the models are able to encounter a community, built up of like-minded individuals who have been given an incredible opportunity. Above all, the boot camp is a unique human experience, where young models are discovering the foundations of their identity, entering into a professional sphere for the first time without their parents, in a foreign country. Drawing parallels between boot camp and their upcoming careers, Elite prides itself in preparing models for the for the life trajectory awaiting them; bringing to light the travelling, the relations that are built between them as individuals and their work, and showing the finalists how their personalities and individuality come to the forefront.
ABOUT ELITE
Founded in 1972, Elite has decades of insider experience and an incontestable awareness of emerging fashion industry trends around the world. Elite Model Look, its prestigious model selection process, reflects this keen insight. Elite represents thousands of models across the globe through its exclusive network of over 30 agencies and was the first major modeling agency to have representation in the five continents. It was the first major modeling agency to open a Chinese office, in Shanghai in 2012. A glance at Elite’s diverse roster of models over the years confirms the agency’s preeminent position in the business. It propelled the careers of Cindy Crawford, Stephanie Seymour, Gisele Bündchen, Linda Evangelista and Helena Christensen, guiding them on the path to supermodel success. It has also championed the likes of Cara Delevingne, Kendall Jenner, Adriana Lima, Tao Okamoto, Guinevere Van Seenus, Behati Prinsloo, Lindsey Wixson, Caroline Trentini, Liu Wen, Magdalena Frackowiak, Josephine Skiver, Li Fei Fei Sun, Vittoria Ceretti, Greta Varlese among countless other internationally known faces. Along with its women’s division the Group represents some of the industry’s most recognizable men, such as Mark Vanderloo, Noah Mills, Alex Lundqvist, Tony Ward, Arthur Kulkov, Garrett Neff, Mark Cox, Alessio Pozzi, Benjamin Eidem, Tobias Torensen, Florian Luger, Marlon Teixeira, Diego Fragoso, Richard Biedul, Tony Thornburg and Janis Ancens, through its international men’s divisions.
To learn more, visit www.elitemodelworld.com
ABOUT ELITE MODEL LOOK
Elite has an unparalleled ability to scout promising new faces across the five continents. The Elite Model Look competition, created in 1983, is the sole contest that provides aspiring models of all backgrounds with the opportunity to approach the fashion world in a professional setting, and kick-start their careers. Elite is the only model agency in the world to have such a successful scouting tool as Elite Model Look. Managed entirely in-house, it is the most influential and professionally respected contest in the industry, making Elite stand out from the crowd. Icons such as Cindy Crawford, Stephanie Seymour, Alessandra Ambrosio, Gisele Bündchen, Constance Jablonski, Fei Fei Sun, Ming Xi, Sigrid Agren and in recent years top models as Pauline Hoarau, Vittoria Ceretti, Greta Varlese, Ruth Bell, Benjamin Benedek, Matthew Bell, Serge Rigvava were all discovered by the Elite Model Look contest and propelled to fame.​
To learn more, visit www.elitemodellook.com
B-roll and other materials will also be made available on Red Robots MediaGRAB;
https://mediagrab.press/presskit/Elite%20Model%20Management
B-roll footage features:
Footage from boot camp
Red carpet / scene-setting shots of tonight’s global final
Excerpts from the final
Behind the scenes / backstage
Winners announcement
Winners reaction and sound bites in native language and English
VIP / previous winner comments back stage after the event, giving their reaction to the evening and the result (in front of media board)
Sound bites from Elite spokesperson on the industry and the finals.
30 November 2017
