Hunter’s girl steps into her designer label shoes
Supermodel Rachel Hunter’s daughter follows in her mother’s footsteps, becoming the new ambassador for Bendon lingerie. Michelle Duff reports.
Rachel Hunter’s daughter, Renee Stewart, is the new face of Bendon lingerie. Like supermodel mother, like daughter.
More than two decades after her mum’s career was launched as the face of Bendon lingerie, daughter Renee Stewart has signed on as the brand’s new ambassador.
Luckily, styles have changed since her mother Rachel Hunter posed for shoots in the mid-eighties.
‘‘It’s funny, I saw the pictures the other day and it was hilarious, like all of the underwear was really high-waisted,’’ Stewart said, on the couch at Auckland’s Showroom 22. ‘‘It looks a lot different.’’ Wearing an over-sized black jacket, a side-slit dress and minimal makeup, the London-based Stewart was in Auckland for a whirlwind round of interviews after an underwear shoot in Sydney earlier this week.
The daughter of Hunter and rocker Rod Stewart, the 22-year-old has been studying at the London Contemporary Dance School.
She had appeared on New Zealand screens in 2010, joining Hunter on a series of Pantene advertisements. [‘‘It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen.’’)
The Bendon campaign helped to propel Hunter to international celebrity after she modelled for them in 1986.
The women were photographed by Graham Shearer, who had shot Hunter for Vogue magazine.
While Stewart has been taking on the odd modelling job, she plans to pursue a career as a dancer – hoping to take a role with a professional company when her degree is over. ‘‘Ever since I was seven, I did ballet class and stuff, but it wasn’t until I was older I realised I wanted to be a dancer. You do get used to being in front of people, but it’s totally different when you’re in your bra.’’
The New Zealand connection was important for her in deciding to take the job, she said. ‘‘For it to be my first solo ambassador role I was like ‘perfect . . .’’
Hunter was ‘‘very excited and very proud, really happy for me,’’ she said.
Had there been any discussions of her and Hunter modelling together for Bendon? ‘‘Um . . . no.’’
When asked what it was like to grow up with celebrity parents, she wouldn’t say. ‘‘I don’t really want to get into that.’’ Her PR minder then asked Fairfax to stick to campaign-related questions.
Images from Stewart’s shoot will be released early next year.