Georgia Fowler: ‘Victoria’s Secret was always the goal’
Victoria’s Secret model Georgia Fowler reveals why she can’t find a boyfriend, whether Harry Styles’s song is about her and how her family dealt with the gossip when her sister and entrepreneur Justin Hemmes split.
Stellar
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Looking the way she does, you’d be forgiven for assuming Georgia Fowler would have a date every night of the week. But romantic love isn’t as easy for Fowler as you might think — or particularly high on her list of priorities.
“I’m never really in one place, which makes it hard to find a boyfriend,” Fowler tells Stellar with a wry laugh.
“And when I’m back in New York, I don’t really want to be going out with a random person. I want to see my friends that I miss and, you know, catch up on washing and sit on my couch. And you’re not going to find [a boyfriend] on the couch, right?”
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Despite her DOA love life, Fowler, 26, has long been a target for the rumour mill. Although it was never confirmed, former Disney singer and actor Nick Jonas, who married actor Priyanka Chopra earlier this month, reportedly romanced her last year, and One Direction-turned-solo heart-throb Harry Styles drew speculation that his song ‘Kiwi’ was about her.
They both insist they’re just friends, but Fowler is indeed a Kiwi; growing up in New Zealand, she spent a “tomboy” childhood in Auckland and Australia and watched her father, professional golfer Peter Fowler, on the circuit.
“His work ethic is incredible, so growing up that was reflected, and he always encouraged me [to work hard],” she says. After she was scouted by an agency at just 12, Fowler packed her bags and moved to New York as a 16-year-old, where she has been based ever since.
“[I was lonely] all the time,” Fowler admits.
“It definitely wasn’t easy at the beginning; it was a real push and struggle. I look back now and am like, ‘Wow, that was brave,’ but at the time I just thought, ‘This is what you have to do.’
“Then when you come back home your friends are having fun and going to parties, and I’m working with adults every day or getting myself on a plane and worrying about rent. So it was different, but I don’t regret it at all.”
Fowler quickly realised that being thick-skinned was a necessity in the modelling world. “At an early age you try and please everyone,” she says.
“You think that if you don’t get the job it’s ‘OK, I’m not beautiful,’ but now I [know] that sometimes casting directors are looking for something so specific — it’s not about them not liking you.”
It wasn’t long before her determination and hard work paid off — runway bookings flooded in for Chanel, Miu Miu, Armani, Elie Saab and Max Mara, as well as campaigns for Diesel, Agent Provocateur and GAP, and countless shoots for international magazines including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Love, GQ and Glamour. In 2016 Fowler also landed a starring role in the video clip for Selena Gomez’s song ‘It Ain’t Me’.
Her career was flourishing, but there was one gig that continued to elude her: the coveted Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, an extravaganza broadcast across the world.
For five years, Fowler attended the castings, and was knocked back each time. Finally, in 2016, she made the cut.
“There were a lot of tears,” Fowler tells Stellar.
“It’s a big deal. It was always the goal. I had dreamed of it before I really knew I could even be a model. Adriana [Lima] was on my high-school diary growing up — I’ve always looked up to her.”
Three years and three shows later, she has finally earned those much-desired angel wings.
Fowler will soon get a break over Christmas in New Zealand with her tight-knit family — and is particularly looking forward to spending time with her two young nieces.
When her older sister Kate’s private life recently came under scrutiny after she split from Sydney hospitality king Justin Hemmes, Fowler was there.
“You just don’t read [the stories],” she says of how the family coped.
“There is no need to know about what anyone else is saying because no-one really knows what is going on. People will say what they want, and so be it.”
There’s only a little time for rest, with the new year seeing Fowler step up for a role as Stella Artois’ Special Guest at the 2019 Portsea Polo, as well as attending Stella Artois’ iconic Sensorium dinner in Victoria’s Pt Leo Estate on the night prior.
Having rapidly gained a reputation as one of Australia’s premier fashion events, the polo sees Australia’s style and sporting elite come together for a weekend on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
“I’m so happy to be involved,” Fowler says.
“I’ve always loved sport, and it’s such a classic, sophisticated event. It’s a place to get together with friends, an excuse to dress up and celebrate the amazing Australian fashion industry.”
Fowler leads a charmed but unsettled lifestyle, she admits, yet has no plans to put on the brakes anytime soon.
“There are definitely a lot of sacrifices,” she says.
“And hopefully one day I will find someone and settle down, but it’s challenging trying to find someone that’s suitable and understanding who won’t try and hold you down. I am not that kind of girl. I am a hard worker and I am not going to let anyone stop me.”
Georgia Fowler is Stella Artois’ Special Guest at the 2019 Portsea Polo, taking place on January 12 at the Point Nepean National Park.
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Originally published as Georgia Fowler: ‘Victoria’s Secret was always the goal’
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