Beauty versus prettiness: what makes a new fashion face

Beauty is a very elusive thing.

Earlier today I was looking at some photos from the Australian fashion week. I was rather surprised to see how the models have very different features from the ones I am used to see on the catwalks.

I know beauty is constantly changing, especially in fashion: agents spot a new girl or a new look every three months.

It was the case with Twiggy, Naomi Campbell, Gemma Ward or Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (one of the new faces of the late noughties year).

Faces change because newness sells.

But I also think there is something more to it. The girls that start the trends have a characteristic: they have presence. That's what makes fashion photography so vibrant.

Beauty is the opposite of prettiness. It has nothing to do with fashion. On the contrary, someone like Angelina Jolie or Christy Turlington still turns heads when she is wearing a dirty old tee-shirt and no makeup.

It's a fascinating (and unfair!) gift. That's why, it's worth looking back twice at someone who caught your attention. Beauty is like a collectible you can store in your memory. A bit like an uncanny landscape.