Jennifer Atilemile takes on the modelling industry on her own terms

She was scouted to model at age 15 but told she would only make the big time if she lost weight, so Australian beauty Jennifer Atilemile decided to forge her own path.

Sports Illustrated model Jennifer Atilemile has approached the modelling industry differently to many others – and it’s working for her.

Many of Australia’s top models, including Gemma Ward and Cat McNeil, began working at a young age, succumbed to the pressures to be thin, and burnt out by their late 20s, forcing them to exit or take a break from the industry.

However Atilemile bucked the trend in many ways, graduating from Monash University with a double master’s degree before pursuing the industry as a 25-year-old curvy model.

And it’s worked in her favour, with the Melbourne-born beauty fast gaining momentum as one of our busiest working models.

“I think if I had started any earlier, I wouldn’t know who I was,” Atilemile told Saturday Confidential. “I was able to finish school, able to go to university.

Jennifer Atilemile in the Berlie Because range. Picture: Supplied

“University was so pivotal in me working out who I was, what I stood for, what inspired me and what made me angry.

“If I had started modelling at 15, I never would have done all of that and seen the world the way I do.”

Atilemile wants to advocate for self-love and confidence.

She’s thrilled to be back in Australia, working with Berlei.

Thanks to her unique and striking looks (Jennifer’s mother is Australian and her father is from the French island called Réunion), Atilemile was on the radar of modelling agencies from a young age.

However, she was told she would have to lose weight in order to make it.

“If I did lose weight and take that route, I probably would have ended up walking the big runways and working for the big design houses,” she said.

“My look is different and I am sure I would have done really well, but now I would probably be dealing with eating disorders, I would probably be in a bad mental state and I would probably not still be in the industry.”

Atilemile has gone on to work for Sports Illustrated, Maybelline and Clarins — and most recently lingerie brand Berlei for their Because campaign.

Berlei was one of the first brands to take a chance on her in 2018.

“Just to be brought back to Australia to shoot this campaign with one of the first brands to ever take a chance on me was this beautiful, full-circle moment,” she said of working with Berlei.

“It was a breakthrough in that Australia saw me but I also think I realised I could do this.

“It is more than just a little hobby.”

Berlei’s Because range consists of supportive intricate lace & mesh bras and underwear.

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