New Model Army – Glass meets Aneliese Ryan

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Name: Aneliese Ryan
Agency: Profile Model Management
Hometown: Hull
Age: 20

How did you become a model?
I’ve always loved modelling. When me and my best friend Jack Thomson were at ballet school (when we were 14), we started our own modelling agency. He was the photographer and I was the model. We used to go into little vintage boutiques on the weekend and school holidays around Chester, Hull and Selby asking if they wanted anybody to model their clothes. It was fun and we actually got quite a lot of work from it, we even managed to book a fashion show.

Since then dancing took over my life and when I was 16, I moved to London to follow my dream. I trained for three years at The Urdang Academy and when I graduated last year I was booked through my dance agency as a model for the Wella Hair Show in Manchester, everyone told me I should sign with an agency.

But I was so busy with my dancing and I didn’t think I was good enough for a big agency in the capital! In march the dance industry was quiet so I decided that I would try some agencies and within two days i’d gone into pretty much every agency in London and nobody wanted to sign me.

I was either too short, or they “already had somebody like me on their books” one agency even said to me that my boobs were too big, another said my smile wasn’t big enough and i got told by one to come back when my acne had cleared up (I didn’t even have acne) the last agency to visit was Profile. I wasn’t going to go because i was so deflated after all the negative feedback I was getting from other agencies, but I’m a strong person and thought if I don’t go I’ll only regret it, so I did it and they was more than happy to sign me. I was so grateful and so excited and I absolutely love them. It was just meant to be.

Who is your favourite designer?
I love Alexander McQueen. I’ve always dressed quirky and just think his work is out of this world! Although majority of my clothes are from the highstreet, Zara is my best friend.

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What do you wear on your days off?
A day off …  what’s that? Usually a leotard and ballet tights. When I’m not modelling I’ll go and do class or just lounge around at home and bake some cakes in my onsie.

What book, movie or song means the most to you?
CATS!!! The first time I ever saw cats I must have been about four years old, I dressed up as a cat for months after that and used to get my mum to make me a little saucer of milk that I would lick up like a cat! It’s the movie that inspired me to become a dancer and not long after seeing it started to go to ballet class. A couple of years after starting, I was in the Royal Ballet and the Northern Ballet Theatre … it just seemed to come so natural to me.

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Who are your heroes in life?
My biggest heroes in life are my family. I’m one of four children and we are all so supportive of each other. But most of all my mum and dad, they have supported me mentally and financially through my whole life and inspired me to follow my dreams and never give up.

What is your present state of mind?
Just happy 🙂

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What is your idea of happiness?
I think my idea of happiness is the realisation of how happy you actually are. As a model you spend so much time running around from castings to jobs and everything in between that it’s easy to forget who and what you are. Sometimes I just like to stop and think, “Wow I am so lucky to be given this opportunity” and that’s what makes me happy.

How would you like to be perceived by others?
I’d like to think i was perceived by others as the person I actually am, happy and little bit wacky.

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If you were not a model, what would you be?
I don’t know, I love making and designing clothes. I design all my own dance costumes and my prom dress and graduation ball gown. Oh and I’d love to have my own dance agency/school.

What advice do you have for other models?
To stay positive and remember who you are, grasp every opportunity with both hands! Don’t be afraid of rejection. Every time you’re being “rejected” you’re actually being re-directed to something even better.

by Justin van Vliet

All photographs by Justin van Vliet