Victoria’s Secret model Bridget Malcolm returns home for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

EIGHT years since launching her career, the 24-year-old stunner Bridget Malcolm returns home next week for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

Perth-raised model Bridget Malcolm. Picture: Victoria Will

AUSTRALIAN model Bridget Malcolm is in a good place. Eight years since launching her career, the 24-year-old stunner returns home next week as the face of Mercedes-Benz for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

And she’s at the top of her game.

“I feel like I’m coming back to Australia not just as a model, but as a woman who has come into her own,” Malcolm says.

 “I’ve grown up in the industry, and I still get nervous about high-profile bookings, but it’s now an excited nervousness.”

Since moving to New York City in 2011, she has worked with Ralph Lauren, Rodarte, Stella McCartney and Tommy Hilfiger.

As her career skyrocketed, the Perth-raised model worked towards her main dream, to walk in the prestigious Victoria’s Secret parade.

After casting for three years, she finally got the phone call and last November walked alongside Alessandra Ambrosio and Shanina Shaik in the highly publicised show, watched by millions of viewers around the world.

With this new-found confidence Malcolm isn’t afraid of putting herself out there.

Recently, she collaborated with fiance and Walking Shapes frontman Nathaniel Hoho for a Polo Ralph Lauren campaign. Singing alongside the musician, the experience pushed her out of her comfort zone. “It was terrifying but I used to sing in a choir so we sang a song together,” Malcolm says.

A woman with many projects on the boil, her main focus is living a balanced lifestyle. Meditation and Kundalini yoga are part of her daily routine, which she shares on social media. While many high-profile models flood their Instagram feed with gratuitous glamour shots jetsetting around the world, Malcolm wants to keep it real.

“I feel a responsibility to let girls know I look a certain way through a lot of work; it doesn’t come through being lazy or slack about the way I eat,” she says.

“You see the end results of celebrities acting badly and it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I haven’t been to a club in years. Most girls spend more time in the gym than out drinking because they know the job is about representing a brand.”

That is the reason Mercedes-Benz wanted to sign Malcolm.

Manager of public relations and product communications at Mercedes-Benz Australia, Jerry Stamoulis, says it’s a strategic move. Spending lots of money on a star Instagram model with millions of followers would distract from the designers and upcoming models.

“Our way of thinking is some of these huge names can take away from what’s happening at the event,” Stamoulis says.

“Bridget is certainly someone who has already done amazing work both locally and overseas. She is a clever girl, loves her job and the amount of work will keep coming.”

Malcolm wants designers to flourish on the international stage. “I feel so proud when I see designers do well. Australians have a cult following in the US and it’s through starting at MBFWA that this has happened,” she says.

Next month, Malcolm will marry Hoho in a country wedding in Pennsylvania. The relaxed bride-to-be plans to wear a lace gown from Sydney label Lover.

The newlyweds plan to visit Costa Rica for the honeymoon and then it’s back to work for Malcolm, who will recast for the 2016 Victoria’s Secret show.

“There’s a time to relax and there’s a time to work out really hard to train for a job. I still have to go in and wow them,” she says.

Originally published as Victoria’s Secret model Bridget Malcolm returns home for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week