A walk on the style side

Nine of this year's The New Paper New Face finalists had a weekend reunion at the Her World Fashion Walk.

Even though the New Face competition ended less than a month ago, with the finals on Oct 1, it looked like the girls had not met in years as they hugged each other happily.

New Face first runner-up R. Nametha, 17, a St Hilda's Secondary School student, joined the Fashion Walk even though she still has three O-level papers to sit for this week.

"I decided to give myself a break from all the studying... Seeing the New Face girls again was also part of the reason I'm here," she said.

Even though most of the girls haven't been modelling since their New Face days, they turned up looking flawless, thanks to make-up artists from beauty school Cosmoprof Academy.

The first Fashion Walk, to wrap up fashion magazine Her World's year-long 55th anniversary celebrations, started at 4pm on Saturday. It attracted more than 1,000 participants including readers, newsmakers, social-media influencers and celebrities.

Along the 1.8km route on Orchard Road were fun activities such as hunky male models giving away sunscreen samples and models parading in street fashion.

There were also performances by Ngee Ann Polytechnic's percussion band Baracuda Batucada, dancers from ITE College West and cheerleaders from Republic Polytechnic.

This year's New Face winner, Selynna Norhisham, 22, an administrative manager, said: "The street fashion walk was the best part because the models looked really cool strutting down Orchard Road."

'NOSTALGIC'

New Face second runner-up Lee Qian Hui, 23, a Nanyang Technological University graduate, added: "It's very nostalgic for us because it reminded us of our time preparing for the New Face competition."

A Fashion Police crew consisting of social-media influencers, who were called Her World's Beauty Fashion Friends (BFFs), were also out to spot the most creatively dressed participants. Those who were picked got $100 New Look vouchers and one-year Her World digital subscriptions.

The walk started at Dhoby Ghaut Green and ended at Ion Orchard with a big party hosted by celebrity host and former MTV VJ Utt, as well as a two-hour set by DJ Has from W Hotel.

Utt said the New Face girls really "brightened things up".

He said: "I was wondering why there was a group of pretty ladies walking in and then I realised that they were the New Face finalists. It's a refreshing surprise to see them here."

This article was first published on October 26, 2015.
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