Gemma Ward on her unique look and getting back on the catwalk

SHE’S the girl whose “alien features” sparked a new trend in modelling, but Gemma Ward says she sometimes wishes she didn’t resemble the tag that made her famous.

Mercedes-Benz Presents Ellery - Arrivals - Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia 2015

SHE’S the girl whose “alien features” were credited with sparking a whole new trend in international modelling, but Gemma Ward says she sometimes wishes she didn’t resemble the tag that made her famous.

Ward, who was earning a rumoured $25,000 per fashion show in her early teens, was said to have inspired a new look of wide-eyed models with giant eyes and rounder faces in the early 2000s, but the label didn’t always sit comfortably with her.

“Sometimes I wish that I didn't look like an alien,” Ward told news.com.au. “I was probably aware of it (that I looked different) but it gets more heightened as you get older.”

Ward said she always felt strange that people associated her name with an extraterrestrial, but she learned to respect that it was simply someone’s opinion.

Gemma Ward in 2003.

Gemma Ward models for Valentino in 2005.

“When I used to draw faces they would kind of look alien so maybe sometimes I saw my face looking like that, but I don’t think I grew up looking in the mirror thinking ‘I look like an alien’.

“It can be great to look striking and different and you can embrace that if that’s what you’ve got going for you.”

Ward, one of Australia’s most successful supermodels, began her catwalk career at age 14 and by 16 had become the youngest model ever to grace the cover of American Vogue.

Walking for almost every high fashion brand in the world, by 2007 she was placed tenth in Forbes’ list of the World’s 15 Top-Earning Supermodels.

Gemma Ward in 2011.

Ward, who is now mother to one-year-old Naia with boyfriend David Letts, returned to the catwalk in September last year after a six-year hiatus following the death of her boyfriend Heath Ledger in 2008. On Sunday night, she made her return to Mercedes-Benz Australian Fashion Week, walking for Ellery.

“I’m feeling really good and I think it’s just time for me to share myself again with the world,” she said of her decision to step back onto the runway.

“I was searching for ways to define myself away from modelling and also just exploring things that were already a part of me, like writing and playing music and painting. I didn't intend in the beginning for it (the break) to take so long but I’m really glad that I took the time and I feel like it’s been enriching.”

Gemma Ward, new ambassador for Coca-Cola Life.

Looking back at pictures of herself, the Perth-born model says while her career was a wild ride, she wishes she could have told her younger self to speak up more.
“I see a sweet, young, innocent girl experiencing the world for the first time in an extraordinary fashion. I would tell her to keep her chin up and believe in the strength inside of her and believe in her innocence and beauty and not let anyone knock you around.

“When you’re too tired or you’re too cold or you need the day to be done and you’re overworked or you want to be conservative, then that’s something that you should be expressing.”

The 27-year-old who is in Sydney as a new ambassador for Coca-Cola Life, says she decided to partner with the brand after her own experience growing stevia, a natural sugar alternative.

“I started using stevia a while ago and liked it and I’ve kind of loosened up on not being too restrictive with my diet so I can get behind this, it’s a treat and it’s something that is a little healthier but still enjoyable.”

Gemma Ward during Australian Fashion Week in 2003.

Gemma Ward on the cover of "Vogue Australia" in 2005.

Celebrities at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia