BC Business
Fashion is a world of symbiotic relationships. The designer provides clothes that are the lifeblood of the retailer. The stylist picks the items that become the “must-have buys.” And then the consumer rushes to the store, purchases the shirt or shoes or pants – and everybody’s bills get paid.
But without the model – the face of fashion, the very embodiment of style – that sale might never happen. That makes a top-ranked supermodel such as Noot Seear a woman with clout. The 24-year-old Vancouver native (born Renata) has been a presence in the high-fashion scene for 11 years. (The average model taps out at three.) Annually earning what her mother estimates is in the high six figures, Seear has graced the covers of Italian Vogue and Canadian Elle in recent years and is muse to fashion heavyweights Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani and Vera Wang.
Vancouver agent Selena Wallace discovered Seear at the age of 13 after noticing the youth’s striking features of Scottish, English and Swedish heritage. Though now based in New York where she owns an apartment, Seear is quick to wax nostalgic about snowboarding at Whistler and the benefits of being a Canuck. “I love being Canadian,” she says on the phone from Montreal-Trudeau airport. “I always say, ‘When the shit hits the fan, I have an amazing place to go home to.’ ” The five-foot-nine model also leverages some of her fame and fortune for charitable work through fashion shows, and has raised $150,000 for Rose Charities, an NGO that supports a variety of humanitarian missions.
Seear’s financial savvy comes from her mother, Josephine, who took a hands-on approach to her daughter’s career to ensure she would have financial security when her days in the limelight were over. She set things up so that half of Seear’s income is held in escrow, and introduced her to a trusted New York stockbroker who has helped her invest her earnings. “They don’t teach you business skills when you start out,” says Seear. “They throw you to the wolves and see how you do.”