Meet the supermodel redefining the fashion industry

More than just a model, Seafolly’s new global ambassador Joanna Halpin is flipping the script on what it means to work in fashion for good.

Joanna Halpin is more than a model – and that’s the way she likes it. The British-born, New York-based 31-year-old, who is also a photographer and social-media star, is as comfortable behind a camera as she is in front of it. And while she may carry the glamour of a ’90s supermodel in her role as the newest face of – and first British global ambassador for – Australian swimwear brand Seafolly, she also represents the thoroughly modern direction in which the fashion industry is heading. Being a multi-hyphenate? No problem, Halpin tells Stellar: “It isn’t something I ever felt much stress or pressure over”

What goes around comes around in fashion. No-one knows this better than top British model Joanna Halpin, who has rocked retro looks, futuristic frocks and everything in-between.

But if the beachy blonde hair and bold trends she’s sporting in her Stellar photo shoot give off a distinctly ’90s supermodel vibe – one where you can almost hear Linda Evangelista declare that she and her friends “don’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day” – Halpin is all the more thrilled to walk in her idols’ sandy footsteps.

Joanna Halpin: ‘You can have a successful modelling career [even if you’re not] really, really tall’ Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar.

“They’re all iconic, aren’t they?” muses Halpin about the likes of industry legends Evangelista, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington.

Given that Halpin is just 170cm tall, she cites another particularly kindred spirit: “I don’t know whether it’s the English thing, but I feel that Kate Moss, for me, is one of the most iconic names.

“Also maybe the fact that she was a little shorter, too [Moss is reportedly the same height]. She gave me hope that, being on the shorter side, you can have a successful modelling career [even if you’re not] really, really tall.”

But unlike the era when supermodels such as Moss and Cindy Crawford dominated runways and magazine spreads, the fashion ecosystem is now less hierarchical and more democratic, Halpin says, with models like herself branching out behind the camera, managing their own public personas (Halpin, with 293,000 Instagram followers, is a brand in her own right), and making sure colleagues stick to the more mindful practices adopted within the past decade.

“I’ve never had something happen that’s made me feel uncomfortable when I’m on set in all the years I’ve been modelling,” the 31-year-old tells Stellar.

“I’ve never felt compromised in any way and people are more respectful if you’re getting changed. They ask you if you’re comfortable wearing that type of swimsuit or taking your top off if it’s from behind in that shot.

“Rather than just expecting something of you, people are much more aware of what they’re asking [for]. They realise you’re a person and you might not feel comfortable to go along with whatever.”

Joanna Halpin is the dace of the newest campaign for Seafolly, Summer Somewhere. Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar.

Joanna Halpin is as comfortable in front of the camera as she is behind it. Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar.

As the face of Summer Somewhere, the newest campaign for Seafolly, Halpin fits right in with contemporaries such as Lara Worthington, Shanina Shaik, Gigi Hadid, Jesinta Franklin and Miranda Kerr – all of whom have collaborated with the Australian swimwear juggernaut.

“Brands now work with people who are not necessarily a model, more a personality,” Halpin says of her decidedly 21st-century cadre of fashionistas. “It’s not just limited to models in the way it was in the ’90s, with traditionally beautiful women.”

While she describes her personal aesthetic as more minimalist and tailored, Halpin appreciates the whimsy of the Seafolly campaign and was particularly taken by a baby-blue bikini.

Of course, it didn’t hurt to sport these new looks on an Australian beach. Halpin first visited these shores in 2014 to model for Bec + Bridge and now relishes these trips as a chance to catch up with her Aussie partner’s family.

“It’s such an amazing place to be able to come to work when it’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere,” Halpin says.

“I love the lifestyle [in Australia], everyone is so healthy, and the fact you can go to the beach after or before work makes it such a special place to escape to for a couple of months.”

Joanna Halpin: ‘[The model pool] is so much more diverse in terms of the people brands have to walk their show or have in their campaign’ Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar.

When she is able to kick back, Halpin uses Instagram to showcase her photography and her modelling assignments.

She recently did stills photography on two projects that were directed by artist and filmmaker Daniel Askill, her boyfriend of three years, who is renowned for his commercial partnerships with Apple, Facebook and BMW as well as making music videos for Sia, Lady Gaga and Flume.

“It’s a more personal way of working,” she says of training her lens on natural environments or everyday life, something she started doing when she grew up by the beach in Cornwall, England, with her sister Sarah, also a model.

“It’s your creative vision and your voice, whereas modelling... it’s always someone else’s vision and voice and you’re more the blank canvas. With photography, I love observing things that are already there rather than changing or manipulating a situation.”

While social media cops criticism for its obsession with body image, Halpin says she stays in her lane, preferring the stillness and observational qualities of Instagram over the more personal and performative aspects of TikTok.

“When I started modelling, Instagram was a platform everyone was suddenly looking to,” she recalls.

“I started working with brands [using] Instagram alongside modelling early on, so it isn’t something I ever felt much stress or pressure over. It developed organically at the same time as my modelling career.”

Joanna Halpin stars on the cover of this Sunday’s Stellar. Picture: Simon Upton for Stellar.

So if the ’90s aesthetic the first time around focused on a select group of women known by their first names, its second incarnation is characterised, Halpin says, by greater inclusivity.

“[The model pool] is so much more diverse in terms of the people brands have to walk their show or have in their campaign,” she says.

Even so, she admits, “It definitely feels like there are a few names coming full circle.”

Originally published as Meet the supermodel redefining the fashion industry