Modelling rookies walk off with Panache runway honours

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This article was published 15/04/2003 (8307 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NINETEEN-year-old Scott Spulnick and 14-year-old Vanessa Lambert had never walked down a runway in their lives.

That is, until this past weekend, when the modelling rookies suddenly sprang into the spotlight as winners of the 10th annual Panache International Model and Talent Search.

More than 200 young men and women from all over Manitoba entered the contest that offers aspiring models a chance to be discovered. A short list of 23 finalists was chosen to take part in a spring fashion show at St. Vital Centre that took place on Friday and Saturday.

Top modelling scouts from around the world judged the competition, and the winners were announced Saturday after the show.

“I was blown away,” says Spulnick who lives in Matlock. He says he had never seriously thought about modeling, but had entered the contest on the urging of some friends.

Unlike other talent searches, which often cost anywhere between $500 and $1,500 to enter, the Panache contest fee is only $20, all of which is donated to a local charity. This year’s beneficiary is the Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Spulnick is a University of Winnipeg student who is currently taking a year off school for financial reasons, but plans to go back next year to study philosophy. He also has acting ambitions.

Lambert, on the other hand, has longed to be a model since she was a little girl, so winning the contest was a dream come true.

“It is really exciting,” says the Grade 8 student from Stanley Knowles School. “I was nervous at the rehearsals but when I went onstage I was having so much fun, I didn’t even notice the crowd.”

As contest winners, Spulnick and Lambert each receive a free six-month Panache professional modelling course, which is worth $895 for females and $595 for men.

Lambert will also have professional fashion photographers take photos for her portfolio, a service which retails for around $500.

Spulnick has the opportunity to attend the next annual Faces West convention in Vancouver, where more than 30 international agents scout for talent. Panache will cover his entrance fee — $1,400 just to get in the door.

“We will spend the next year developing their talent,” explains Panache owner Jane Campbell. “They need training, grooming, self-confidence and some experience.”

The winners also met with some of the world’s top international modelling scouts representing agencies such as I.M.G. of New York, Paris and London, Brave Models of Milan, and Avenue One of Tokyo, among others.

I.M.G. is very interested in representing Lambert, says Campbell, and she may have the opportunity to spend two months working in the Asian market next summer.

cheryl.binning@freepress.mb.ca