Sydney model told she was 'too big and too small' now starring in Vogue

A 20-year-old Sydney model told she needed to "lose weight or gain weight" by European agencies has since graced British and Australian Vogue.

Jayde Pollard.

Sydney model Jayde Pollard has well and truly proven her critics wrong.

Two years ago, told she was too big for main-board modelling in Europe and too small for ‘plus-size’, the 20-year-old didn’t let no get in her way.

And it has paid off, with Pollard working with major brands here and abroad, as well as appearing in British and Australian Vogue multiple times.

“The European market, they’re more backward thinking in that they are very much constricted in the measurements of your hips, your bust and waist,” Pollard told Confidential.

Sydney model Jayde Pollard has been likened to a young Elle Macpherson. Here, she appears in a new campaign for Bellaruchi shot by Ivana Martyn-Zyznikow.

“They think about that more than the person that is in front of them so my measurements weren’t the right fit for them. They were like, ‘you either need to lose weight or gain weight to be in our market’. That didn’t come across well with me or my agents.”

Pollard is 181cm tall, has a 70cm waist, 99cm hips and wears a size 10 dress.

“My hip size was an issue for them because I’m a size eight to 10 and for them that’s considered a curve (model),” she explained.

“So you either want to be a plus size, which is above a size twelve, or like a size six and under for their straight category because curve isn’t the ideal sizing for the market over there, so they were like, you either need to lose weight or gain weight to fit our market.”

Pollard is represented by Icon Management in Australia and is with Select out of LA.

Despite the initial setback, she has been likened to a young Elle Macpherson and credits her parents for her drive.

Sydney model Jayde Pollard in a new campaign for Bellaruchi. Picture: Ivana Martyn-Zyznikow.

Her mum, Maria, has worked in the modelling industry, at Icon, for nearly two decades.

“Having my family around me has definitely helped me a thousand per cent,” she said.

Another major career coup came at Miami Swim Week in May and June, when Pollard walked for multiple big brands – Shan, Oceanus and Monday Swimwear.

“Not a lot of people get to book one show, let alone three shows that have beautiful names associated with them so it was really amazing,” she said.

“My dream is honestly to stay as long as I can in the industry … normally it is quite a short, three years is the average lifespan of a model so if I can go longer than that in the industry that’s changing so regularly. I feel like it’s very hard to do because there’s new faces, there’s new techniques, AI is becoming a thing as well, so I just hope that I can work as long as I can.”