September 2008

In Hinze Sight

Hot on Heidi Klum’s four-inch heels comes Kristy Hinze, now sizzling on Project Runway Australia


Photo: © Foxtel/David Gubert WORDS MARGRET MEAGHER

She’s often described as a “blonde glamazon,” so when Australian supermodel, actress and TV presenter, Kristy Hinze walks into the room, it isn’t hard to recognise her. Standing nearly 178cm tall, Hinze is known for her sun-kissed goddess looks and swimsuit body, but today she is every bit the girl-next-door, looking fresh in a crisp white shirt, gold hoop earrings and snug blue jeans with a wide welcoming smile.

Much has been written about Hinze’s rise to fame when, at 14, she became the youngest model ever to land an exclusive contract with Vogue Australia. Raised on a horse and cattle ranch in Beaudesert, Queensland, Hinze was sent to a deportment school in 1994 by her mother.

“She wanted me to be more of a lady. I was horse-mad and only left home to go to school. All I dreamed about was becoming a show jumper at the Olympics,” she says. Instead, the deportment school tipped off Vivien’s Model Management and Hinze was offered her first modelling job with Vogue.

Since that first milestone, Hinze has graced the covers of many illustrious magazines in Australia and overseas, including Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. Modelling international brands such as Victoria’s Secret and Givenchy further consolidated her reputation as a supermodel and she made headlines at Australian Fashion Week 2001 when she wore a AU$6 million diamond-encrusted Tigerlily bikini with a python around her neck. Now, she’s the face of local fashion label Sportscraft.


Killer looks and a bodacious body
to boot Photo: © Foxtel/David GubertA natural in front of the camera, Hinze has also flirted with the world of movies, appearing in films such as Boys And Girls (2000) and the Australian feature The Extra (2005) with comedian Jimeoin. In television, Hinze has recorded segments for A Current Affair and The Great Outdoors, but her TV career stepped up a few notches when she landed the hotly contested role of host for the Australian version of the fashion reality show Project Runway.

“I’m so excited to be hosting Project Runway. It’s my favourite US reality show and you get hooked watching it. I’m really looking forward to finding the next big Australian designer and I hope people get addicted to it the way I am to the American one,” she says enthusiastically, adding “Knowing what a success the show has been overseas really makes you want to deliver your best so it lives up to the international standard.”

Launched on Foxtel’s Arena channel in July, Project Runway Australia’s finale airs at 8:30pm on Monday, 15 September. The Emmy-nominated US series is superbly hosted by German übermodel Heidi Klum.

It pits the skills of a dozen budding fashion designers against each other as they pursue the prize of a fashion spread in Madison magazine, the opportunity to design and showcase their own AU$100,000 collection at the L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival in 2009, and a Fiat 50.

Rumour has it that other celebrities, such as Megan Gale, Elle McPherson, Miranda Kerr and Natalie Imbruglia were also considered for the top job before Hinze was confirmed.


Hinze with the 12 contestants of
Australia’s Project Runway
Photo: Serge Thomann/Getty ImagesAccording to Foxtel’s executive director of television and marketing, Brian Walsh: “Kristy’s position as one of the world’s most popular and in-demand Australian models, as well as more than 10 years of her own fashion industry experience, makes her the perfect fit as the show’s host.”

For Hinze, it’s a dream job. “I love TV, I love the camera, so I think this is a great natural progression for me. And it’s great knowing more than two days in advance when I will be working and what times!” She adds that the Australian version, while offering lots of constructive criticism, is not as hard on contestants as its US counterpart. Hinze’s sign-off is also more heartfelt than Klum’s clipped “auf wiedersehen” farewelling each week’s unlucky contestant with “goodbye and good luck” accompanied by her signature smile.

Based in New York, Hinze is enjoying spending time in Australia filming the series. “I feel more Australian when I am overseas: you can take the girl out of Australia, but you can’t take Australia out of the girl,” she laughs. “I have a close family. Mum and dad live in Brisbane and so does my sister. I have two brothers, one lives in Cairns and the other lives in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast. That’s my favourite place in Australia. I bought a house there some years back and that’s my home away from home.”


That bikini Photo: Brett
Costello/Newspix
Hinze’s foray into real estate dates back to her teens when she was encouraged to think about a future beyond modelling. She purchased her first apartment in Bondi at 17 and now has an impressive property portfolio, which includes an apartment in New York’s fashionable Chelsea district.

The early start to Hinze’s career also meant that as she was travelling back and forth between Sydney and Melbourne on modelling assignments, she continued her secondary schooling by correspondence. The discipline to study on her own has stood her in good stead.

“I have spent so much time sitting alone in hotel rooms. When I was in Paris, I taught myself French online. I’m about to start teaching myself Spanish. I don’t think it’s great not to finish school, but travelling the world has allowed me to experience other things and helped me to define where I want to be. Now I’m completing high school online and I have a real thirst for knowledge and researching history.” This might explain why Hinze is also studying marine biology by correspondence through New York University.


Brains and beauty
make Hinze a formidable
presence in the
modelling world
Photo: Adam Armstrong/
Newspix“Whenever I can, I like to scuba dive and sit at the bottom of the ocean, watching the world go by.” She has a strong commitment to marine conservation and is passionate about protecting marine life in international waters. “I particularly love whales. They’re so majestic and harmless. Those animals are all there for a reason.”

Besides French, Hinze also taught herself to play guitar. “I like all sorts of music, from classical Bach to ACDC. I find playing music is very therapeutic.”

And she plays off a golf handicap of 23. No wonder this over-achiever was able to nab herself a self-made Texan billionaire, Jim Clark, the 64-year-old founder of Netscape and her partner of nearly three years.

There has been ongoing media fascination with Hinze’s relationship with a man 35 years her senior and of such fabulous wealth. But, as a successful businesswoman in her own right, she’s comfortable with the scrutiny. “I’m a really low-key, jeans and top person,she says while describing the guy in her life as “charismatic, funny, incredibly intelligent and down-to-earth”.


Kristy Hinze in Melbourne with The Derby
favourite ‘Marching’ – it’s all a long way
from Beaudesert, where she was better
known as the granddaughter of the late
Queensland minister Russ Hinze
Photo: Bruce Magilton/Newspix“I never thought I was going to date an older man when I met him,she says, “but we are interested in the same things and have a great relationship. Jim’s a wonderful man and a fantastic friend.”

Time out for the twosome is spent cruising exotic coastlines aboard Clark’s US$100 million yacht Athena, the largest privately-owned yacht in the world, playing golf in Hawaii or skiing the slopes of Aspen. Wedding bells don’t seem to be on the horizon. “There is nothing more I could possibly wish for,” she says, with that winning smile. For now, “I’m looking forward to getting straight back into my modelling work in New York and doing it all again!” Goodbye and good luck.

Kristy Hinze’s Top Spots

Favourite destination: Noosa. “It has some of the best reef diving on the Sunshine Coast and great marine life – majestic whales, green turtles and manta rays.”

On her wishlist:
“The Kimberleys in Western Australia – I want to explore its spectacular gorges and waterfalls, caves and rainforest.”
“Discovering new dive sites and shipwrecks off the coast of North Queensland.”
“Driving along Victoria’s Great Ocean Road to see the Twelve Apostles.”






Comments

There are no comments posted yet. Be the first one!

Post a new comment

Your name
Your comment