INSIDER'S EXCLUSIVE: COLETTE WALKER OPENS UP ABOUT WHY SHE LEFT MODELLING
Colette Walker: Fashion makes us bleed interview by Hinny Tran
Introduce yourself: Who are you? Age, City, etc.
Hi my name is Colette Walker, I am 20 years old and I live in Brunswick.
I am currently studying psychology at Swinburne and I teach swimming.
Colette, you recently had seen and experienced quite the notable success in the fashion world as an elite model, booked in NYC to Paris to London, opportunities and work that I know many other talents would kill for. You walked away from this status, what's the story? Why did you become a model to begin with?
I grew up in the dance world and lots of people used to tell my mum that I should model. When I finished high school my mum said I had to get a job and as a joke I said fine I’ll become a model and thats what I did. I walked away from that life because when I was modelling for the first time in my life I became depressed, there was so much emphasis placed on how I looked and I felt that nothing was ever right or good enough; “loose weight, gain weight” the list goes on. I used to think that when I got a big job I would be happy but as the jobs got bigger I actually became more depressed. The lows ended up outweighing the highs, I wanted to be happy again and to do so I had to leave the industry.
You featured as a collaborating artist in one of FHF's award winning fashion film productions in collaboration with designer Etal x Director Chase Burns (Produced by Hannah Bellil) where you had you embody and play a youth who one day is widowed when her husband never returns home again from walking/working/looking ridiculously good looking at the shores of Philip Island.
How did you get into the mindset for the character role?
I remember it was Winter and I was freezing cold, so it wasn’t so difficult to put on a sad face for the camera, in fact I was feeling exactly how the character needed to act so it just happen to work well for me.
What were the highlights on production for you?
Being taken to the beautiful hidden places in Phillip Island, the views were incredible. Getting kicked out of that old mans house where we were filming was pretty funny and memorable and just getting to be apart of a film as that is something I hadn’t done before.
What was it like, playing in a film as opposed to editorial stills?
I remember I got home and I said “mum I am never ever going into acting”. It was so different to editorial stills. I had to do the same thing again and again, there were so many people involved, it was so fast moving and hectic. When I shot editorials it was mostly relaxed and familiar and the main difference was I knew what I was doing.
What do you think of how it turned out?
I think it was incredible. I love watching it and seeing how the scenes were all put together and Phillip Island looks so amazing on camera.
You shared quite a huge chunk of what was happening to you to friends on Facebook. How has the response been from peers and others? What's the response been like from your ex colleagues and fellow models?
The response has been quite surprising, I honestly didn’t think anyone would care and there are so many models that no-one would even notice I was gone.
From the general public most people have has been kind and supportive, I had a lot of people ask ‘why’ and not understand no matter what I said but you really have to live it to truly grasp it.
From other models the response has varied, some don’t understand, some congratulated me, some wanted to do the same, some came to me with stories of their own asking for advice and help. On the whole people has been very supportive and understanding.
Would you recommend such a public process to others in need or who may be experiencing the same thing?
It really depends on the person. I never planned as such to be so public in sharing my story it all started from the day I quit I wrote a short status saying not much more than “I quit modelling” just because I used to get so many messages of people wanting to work with me and I just didn’t want to have to deal with explaining myself over and over again. Months after I quit I explained in more depth about how the industry affected me, it was scary, it was definitely not necessary to be so public, I just wanted to raise awareness about the industry and what it can do as so many outsiders used to think the fact I was a model was amazing and it really wasn’t.
Fred was created to be an open forum to share and provoke independent thought, Colette, what do you hate about fashion? What do you love about it?
I hate how Instagram is influencing fashion and the whole thing about the more followers you have the more work you get. Modelling was draining enough without having to post pictures of myself parading around the nation. I love that you can express yourself through what you wear.
What do you think about Fred's Sex change from Jacob Linnett to Rowena Xi Kang?
I think it is cool that Fred is expressing herself in a way she feels comfortable.
Feminism in fashion. What would or does this look like in your experience?
Keeping my clothes on. There is a whole movement ‘free the nipple’ I personally disagree with it. I think you can show skin and keep it tasteful but I don’t like raunchy underwear and sexualised posing.
What are you working towards now?
I have just started studying psychology full-time which was something I couldn’t do when I was modelling. Psychology is something I have always been interested in. I took a two year gap year following high school and I forgot how much hard work studying really is. So much so that sometimes I utter “damn I should have stuck with modelling.”
Tell us a time when fashion made you bleed (figuratively or literally).
Well it literally made me bleed when I was given shoes that were a size or two too small, that seemed to happen often, the blisters were awful, worse than what pointe shoes used to give me. Figuratively it made me bleed because as a model you can work hard and be really good at what you do and your success isn’t up to you. I couldn’t stand having no control over my life and my future.
And finally, Any advice you would give to others who are experiencing a similar situation to what you faced and championed?
Take a step back from modelling and concentrate on something else for a while. Learn that you are more than just a body you have to believe that. Try to stop basing your worth on your job, or how well you do at castings or your body because none of that has anything to do with your worth. Most importantly don’t be afraid to be yourself, wear what you want, tell people ‘no' if someone asks something unrealistic of you. There are so many other things you can do in the world that doesn’t involve modelling, explore, empower yourself and good luck.
IMAGE CREDITS: headshot by Danielle Chau: full length shot by Anthony Tosello, Hair: Leah Briody, Makeup: Brooke Pearson, Styling: Simone Vinski
