Samantha Harris aims to be Australia’s first indigenous supermodel. As Rick Molinsky reports, she’s well on her way.MELBOURNE'S weather isn’t playing fair. We’ve ditched the planned poolside bikini shots due to the threat of rain, but luckily our location at the Millswyn restaurant in South Yarra provides the perfect backdrop for our Summer in the Hamptons-themed fashion shoot. It’s here that we’re waiting for our cover girl, whose flight from Sydney has been delayed.
I’m a little nervous and so is the crew. After all, Samantha Harris was photographed by legendary fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier for US Glamour magazine at the age of 13, and graced the cover of Vogue at 19. We needn’t have worried, because when the breathtakingly beautiful 21-year-old arrives, she’s sweet and shy, ready to work and she’s as excited about eating lunch (she likes French fries) as she is about trying on the clothes we’ve chosen.
Click on the image for our Samantha Harris picture gallery.
After eight years in the industry, Harris is a seasoned professional. But while fashion shoots are ‘‘just another day at the office’’, she says she’s still excited by what she does. ‘‘I love everything about it,’’ she says. ‘‘I love that I get to travel, that I get to meet new people.’’
The world of Vogue and Demarchelier is long way from Tweed Heads, New South Wales, where Harris was raised by her Aboriginal mother and a father of German-English descent. After years of entering beauty pageants in second-hand clothes, she was “discovered” at 13 in 2004, when she tried out for a Girlfriend magazine model search competition. She didn’t win. ‘‘Which is a shame,” she giggles, “but other than that, I have done quite well, I suppose.’’
Quite well, indeed. Demarchelier wasn’t the only one completely besotted with the Aussie girl’s mahogany skin, huge eyes and incredible lips. It wasn’t long before model agencies in New York came calling, but Harris’ agents (and parents) felt she needed to mature and finish high school first. So she honed her craft in Australia with campaigns for Seafolly and Sportsgirl, and became known as “the girl to watch” (and for designers to book) at fashion weeks in Sydney and Melbourne. Painfully shy, she also learned to be more outgoing to gain her clients’ confidence. And it’s paid off.
Now settled in Sydney with boyfriend Luke Hunt and their two cats, Pegasus and Spartacus, earlier this year she was annointed as David Jones’ Ambassador for Young Women’s Fashion. And though she still loves heading back to the Gold Coast to catch up with family and friends, she’s determined to fulfil her goal of becoming Australia’s first indigenous supermodel.
Meanwhile, she has already emerged as a role model for aboriginal girls around the country. “I love the fact that a lot of young girls look up to me – to aspire to do well in their lives.’’
Harris does more than just talk about empowering indigenous youngsters – she devotes her time to the school charity One Laptop Per Child, which provides indigenous and non-indigenous kids in remote communities with laptop computers, internet access and educational programs. ‘‘It’s to teach the kids that even though you may live far away from all the other kids in the cities, you can have the same connections and do whatever you set your mind to,’’ she explains.
Her own role models are her mum, Myrna (‘‘she’s a strong and determined woman’’), and fellow model and David Jones Ambassador Miranda Kerr. ‘‘She’s done so well in the industry, but she’s also branched out and done other things,’’ she says.
Like Kerr, Harris plans to head to New York to strut the catwalk at fashion week. ‘‘To walk in the Victoria’s Secret parade is my ultimate goal,’’ she says, ‘‘but I’d also like to say I’ve modelled for Gucci and Prada.’’
And like Kerr, she plans to capitalise on her modelling success with forays into business.
‘‘I love that Miranda has her skin care range [Kora Organics]” she says. “I’d love to do something I am passionate about along those lines – which I haven’t found yet. But hopefully as I get older I’ll figure something out.’’
We have no doubt she will.
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