Cameron is an 18-year-old model from Sydney. Her family is South African on both sides, “so you can imagine the family gatherings!” She’s only been modelling for a little over three months, but her break into the industry sure started with a bang.
“The story of how I got scouted is quite an interesting one,” she says. “I was scouted by Simone Hellicar and my manager alongside Kiki Cook, at the open casting call for Good American. Good American is an amazing brand curated by Khloe Kardashian and Emma Grede and I was lucky enough to be invited back to the casting day where there were members of the Good Squad and IMG model managers present. My modelling journey started there, and it was a monumental one nonetheless—out of 60,000 unique women I was lucky enough to be 1 of 10 chosen to be part of the Good Squad. Up until a month ago I have felt like everything was a dream! I’m so lucky to be able to say that all these amazing opportunities quite literally fell into my lap and I’ve been running with it ever since.”
Outside of modelling, she leads a pretty normal life and likes to surround herself with good friends and fam, who she credits with helping to make her into the person she is today. “Being able to relax, unwind and be myself with no judgement, and having a laugh about all of the things that’s going on in our lives, is just so freeing and I wouldn’t change any of it for the world,” she says. <3.
The most interesting thing that she’s learned recently is that climate change could be irreversible by 2030. She (rightly) believes that it’s a fundamental issue that everyone should get behind, and that educating ourselves on what changes we can make to help save and preserve our planet for future generations is paramount. She also hopes to see more diversity in media, TV and advertising in Australia in the next ten years. “Australia is a melting pot of different cultures, races and religions and I think we need to highlight people from all different walks of life,” she says. “This comes back to people wanting to be well represented and respected and I think we can do a better job of being more inclusive in a whole range of industries and in what we advertise. The fashion industry here is just starting to represent more people of colour and diverse body types in mainstream media—it’s so important to be inclusive and show people and consumers that they’re being thought of.
“When I was growing up, I never thought I could make it in the industry because I didn’t look like other girls that were on runways and in campaigns. In the past few years, I think people have become more accepting and have realised how important it is to be showing an equal representation of people. I hope that in the next 10 years, we would have truly gotten to a better place where everybody is represented. My goal is to tell my truth and hopefully inspire and teach young girls and guys out there that you are unique and can accomplish anything you put your mind to—you can’t let fears and insecurities get in the way of you achieving great things!” *Standing ovation. *
The best piece of advice she’s been given is that comparison is the thief of joy. Ooft! Adopting that one! For her, this is especially applicable to our generation since “social media had created this wave of insecurity by looking at what people have and how they live their ‘lives’” and she believes we need to remember how unique and cool we all are in our own way instead. Preach! She regards herself as more of a spiritual person than a religious one, but thinks it changes quite often and can be a grey area. She likes to believe there’s something more powerful than us, and that when things happen in our lives, that we should look for signs or a meaning behind it. If she had to give up social media for a week, she doesn’t think it’d affect her too much. “Social media shouldn’t be running our lives,” she explains. “It should be a tool we use to tell stories, network, help others and express ourselves and what we stand for. As long as you’re being authentic and spreading positivity, I think it’s fine.”
Her most treasured item is a gold ring her Aunty gave her for Christmas one year—it had been in the fam for quite a while and she’d always loved it and tried it on all the time, and now she will cherish it forever. Her ideal day changes depending on the weather. In summer, it would be going to the beach and hanging out with friends, and in winter it would be staying in bed and watching Netflix and movies all day. She’s been burning through a lot of Baz Luhrmann’s films lately and adores The Great Gatsby (“it was such a memorable movie that left me feeling some type of way after, and who doesn’t love a movie with Leonardo in it?!”). As for TV shows, she’s started watching Shameless again and thinks it’s such a funny series and definitely binge worthy and doesn’t mind a bit of The Get Down. If she could only eat one meal for the rest of her life, it’d be her grandma’s curry (“Sorry mum, lol!”) and her favourite meme is the “And they were roommates” meme, which makes her LOL every time.
As a young woman, she believes that female relationships are super important. “Women are powerful,” she says. “We are smart, and we are enough. Educating and creating common ground amongst women regardless of age or sexuality is key as I believe it helps us to gain a better understanding into our purpose as women and how we can use our voices to be heard and be forthright. We all have a right to speak our opinions, share our stories and truths and there is so much power in that. I think it is so inspiring to see change happening, love being spread and women uplifting one another because it gives us the power to strive for greatness!”
To her, ‘cool’ means “being yourself wholeheartedly and continually growing as a person and improving on things that are important to you. I also think cool is an aura that is light, fun and mysterious. The essence of coolness is having a young at heart energy and an open mindedness to life.”
Words: Maddy Woon Photos: Sarah Adamson Fashion: Miguel Urbina Tan
Cameron is represented by IMG SYDNEY
