From cocktails to catwalks
FORMER WAITRESS DEBUTS AT PARIS SHOW
The Miu Miu fashion show in Paris last Sunday may have starred mega models such as Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Joan Smalls and Jourdan Dunn, but it also made for a stellar debut for newcomer Hanna Sylla.
Until three days before the show, Sylla, 22, worked as a waitress at Paris’s Hotel Tremoille. A chance meeting with Miu Miu casting director Anita Bitton — the woman behind supermodel runway lineups for Marc Jacobs, Mulberry and other top fashion brands — saw her catapulted onto the catwalk for the brand’s Resort show.
“When Anita came into the studio and said she had scouted her waitress that morning at breakfast, we all laughed, but the minute Hanna walked in you could tell she’s a star,” says Katie Grand, LOVE magazine editor and Miu Miu stylist.
“Her skin is perfect, she has amazing bone structure and she’s so elegant. Pat McGrath immediately spotted her backstage at the show and said, ‘Oh my God, who is she?’ She couldn’t believe how beautiful she is and that she’d never modelled before. Miuccia loved her, too.”
“She’s the face of this season’s Paris Haute Couture,” leading makeup artist McGrath added of the Senegalese newcomer.
The Miu Miu show, held in the Paris Automobile Club, featured a parade of abbreviated racing suits and patchworked faux-fur coats. Sylla wore a short, navy boiler suit embellished with racing patches and a name tag that read “Elisabeth.” Although her expression on the runway remained inscrutable, the next day she made it clear she was elated with her lucky break.
“OMG! Last night was just one of the best night(s) of my life,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
Sylla said she had never modelled professionally and had only been working at the Tremoille for six months.
“The show was amazing for me,” she said. “All the people supported me and walking down the runway was incredible.” As for her next steps, she said she’s already receiving calls from agencies. “I want to be a model. That’s all I want now.”