On any given day, one of Australia’s hottest models Jayde Pollard may be on an island in the Bahamas – or poolside in Bali. Editor in Chief Michelle Giglio goes behind the glamour.
It’s a Saturday night and Jayde Pollard is running down George Street, shouting at her parents as she’s just seen a giant ad of herself in a Sea Level bikini on the side of a light rail. “Quick take a pic!” she yells, laughing as they attempt to get a shot while the tram speeds away.
It’s been only two years since the Manly local decided to sign up to modelling agency ICON Management during Year 12 as a ‘side hobby’ to make a bit of money. Now she works full time modelling and is the face of Australian swimwear company Sea Level’s summer campaign, beaming off trams and socials after a shoot in the Bahamas. It sounds like a bit of a dream.
“When (the light rail ad) first came out, I did not see it,” Jayde recalls. “No one in my family saw it. I was thinking ‘Is this real?’ Then I started seeing it all the time so I would take videos, as I knew it would go away soon. It was weird, but really cool.”
In the past year, Jayde has travelled to Pink Sand Beach on Harbour Island in the Bahamas for two weeks with Sea Level, spent a week shooting in Bali for Australian swimwear brand Bydee, done a bridal shoot in New Zealand and strutted the cat walk for Australian Fashion Week.
She admits it has been a fast ride, from Year 12 student at Freshwater Senior Campus in 2023, to international shoots. “It just happened really quickly. It was meant to be a side hobby during Year 12 to make a little bit of money, and then it turned out that I’m working five days a week now.
“I didn’t tell anyone I was doing it. I didn’t want anyone to know. I would miss school and I would feel really embarrassed if anyone would see me anywhere.
“(When I signed up) ICON said ‘You are in the right place. Let’s just try it and see how clients react to you.’ I was the youngest one on their board, and we have all been thrilled with the client reaction.”
Fast forward to 2025 and Jayde juggles fashion shoots for clients in Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand, has done three Australian Fashion Weeks as well as the Australian Hair Industry Awards, and appeared in magazines including British Vogue and Marie Claire. There is not really a ‘school for models,’ so most techniques are learnt on the job. “I remember being at my first shoot and I look back at the photos and it’s so awkward,” Jayde says. “Over time you learn and you look at other people and see someone that you like and copy them.”
Lauren Schulz Visuals
Australian Fashion Week in 2024 for Lychee Alkira
Her first job was Australian Fashion Week at age 17, for the TAFE Innovators collection at the Carriageworks in Eveleigh.
Just what is it like to do the runway at Australia’s biggest fashion showcase? “The whole atmosphere is insane!” laughs Jayde. “Backstage, there are hundreds and hundreds of people running around. There’s someone doing your hair, there’s someone doing your makeup, there’s someone doing your nails. And then there are also the models who have booked 10 different shows and they have to go from show to show and they’re running around.
“But you are also sitting around for a lot. So you get there at 6am but the show’s not until 1pm. So you have two hours where you are rushing, rushing, and then you have a rehearsal and then it’s the real thing.”
Next month, Jayde will fly to the USA for Miami Swim Week, in an attempt to break into the American market.
“Miami is a bit different because they love a body, they love boobs. It’s swimwear and that’s where I work best,” Jayde explains.
“Compared to a very ‘straight market,’ which is Paris and New York Fashion Week. I don’t think I would ever be able to work there. Because (they are very strict on) measurement sizes for a garment. But Miami Swim Week and Australian Fashion Week, they are a little bit more open to different body types.”
Carlene Raschke for Bydee
The whole process in Miami for model selection – called ‘castings’ – is completely brutal. Think thousands of girls all lined up for castings wearing the same tight, black outfit, hair up, high heels and no make up. Jayde will get 22 seconds to walk up and down, impress the creative director and casting director and ‘get them to remember me out of a pool of girls.’ And there is no privacy or being shy.
“The hundred people waiting in the line are seeing you do this. It’s not like you’re in a room; you’re in front of everyone doing it.
“Everyone looks good in a swimsuit. Everyone’s on their top game because it’s once a year. Everyone comes to Miami for it.”
Jayde knows the US market will be tough to crack into. “I’m not necessarily looking to make money when I go over there. I’m probably going to lose money because it’s hard being a new kid in a huge, oversaturated pool.
“I’m going there to connect with other people, and get my toes in the American market and see how they bite back.
“I have boobs and clients either love that or hate that!”
Movies like The Devil Wears Prada and shows like Runway and Australia’s Top Model have painted a cut-throat, incredibly competitive life for models and those who work in fashion. But Jayde paints a very different picture in Australia.
“From what I’ve seen, heard and been in, it is the most diverse, up to date that it can be compared to other industries all over the world, compared to the European market, the American market. In Australia, we have a lot more rules and people don’t say certain things anymore and it’s much nicer over here. It’s a much easier place to work.”
That’s not to say it is all smooth sailing. Jayde – a size 8 to 10 – recalls one ‘casting’ she did at 18 in swimwear for an overseas agent. “He said, ‘Hmm, no, you’re too fat for the European market.’ I was an 18-year-old girl! And I’m like, ‘Okay. Cool. Thank you so much.’ It’s not easy. You really have to just take yourself out of your body, which is what I’ve done since day dot.
“It’s a great industry, but it’s also so emotionally draining.”
How do you deal with such stark rejection? “I just try not to take it personally. Because you hear ‘no’ way more than you hear ‘yes.’ I know my worth and I know to not take it too literally.
“They don’t hate me. I’m just not right for their job.”
Women’s sizing has changed over the years. While Supermodel Kate Moss made the ‘waif’ (aka emaciated) look popular in the 1990s, and the USA started the trend of ‘size 0’ – 23 inch waist! – Jayde says an average body type in Australia is size 12, called a ‘curve.’ Jayde is a ‘straight.’ “But if I go over to Europe, anything under 6 is a straight, and anything from 6 to 12 is a curve.”
Jayde in ‘full not Jayde’ mode at the Australian Hair Industry Awards in 2024. ‘That’s the hottest I’ve ever felt!’
Australian Fashion Week 2023
At her shoots, Jayde is usually paired with a ‘curve’ model. “It’s super normal now because it’s good to see not everyone’s a size six. It’s good to see clothes on a range of body types.”
I ask if modelling is just about being pretty. “It’s about being unique these days. I think anyone can model, honestly. That’s the bottom line. The industry is so diverse and a company is always looking for something different.
“They’re looking for a unique look. They’re looking for a story. They’re looking for more than just a pretty face. Which is a good thing. It means that anyone can get into this industry.”
With the rise of social media, the industry has also changed what it wants from models. On a standard ‘campaign’ photo shoot, Jayde will be told to smoulder, pout, be straight, sexy, flirt! But sometimes she will turn up to a job expecting to pose for photos, only to be told: ‘You are going to have to do TikToks all day. You’re going to have to dance around the camera.’
“These days you need to be able to talk to a camera,” Jayde explains. “You need to be able to do social media, because the budget’s a bit different now. They have a lot of money in social media, instead of campaigns overseas. They would rather just say: ‘Let’s give her a camera and see what she can do with it.’ Because that gets so much more interaction now with clients.”
Luckily for Jayde, some companies still do have a budget for overseas shoots, as she loves to travel.
“One of the huge highlights of my work is getting to travel. It’s taken me to so many beautiful places around the world that I could only dream of. And on top of it, I got paid to do it. So it’s insane. Most 20-year-olds don’t get paid to travel the world!”
For our interview, Jayde is wearing a casual off the shoulder black top and non-descript jeans, no make up, with her hair out. She admits to preferring sweatpants and trainers to all the glitz and glamour. Which is not surprising given she has three older brothers!
But put her in a bikini, with full hair and make up, fake nails and heels to boot, and she takes on a different personality. Does she recognise herself all done up in a photo? “Sometimes, but sometimes not. If you know me in my life, (you would say): ‘That’s not Jayde.’ I dress like a boy all the time!”
Far from the embarrassed school girl who didn’t want anyone to know she was modelling, Jayde now has the confidence and mental strength to work in the industry. “You have to know yourself and know your self worth, because (otherwise) you will just get destroyed.”
It’s also an industry where every part of your body is on show, especially with swimwear. How do you manage to focus, especially when you are shooting in very busy public areas like the popular Pink Sands Beach in the Bahamas?
“There are people everywhere and you just kind of block it out. I take myself out of my body and (say to myself), ‘This is a job. I’m not Jayde. I’m whoever they want me to be. I’m this sexy 27-year-old that they’re trying to sell to. I’m not this 20-year-old girl who has no idea what she’s doing!’”
While it may sound nice to have people fussing over you all day, it can be quite taxing to constantly have to ‘perform.’
“People are touching you all day, and you have to be ‘on’ all day. You are on, changing, back on, changing; hair’s getting touched up. Wind is blowing in your hair, you’re sweating, things are sticking to you. ‘Let’s put more body oil on,’ they will say. You’re not in charge of anything.
“It’s a very over-stimulating job. So when I get home I won’t talk to my family. I have a shower, get everything out of my hair, wipe off all the makeup, everything that’s fake. I need to recentre.”
Self-care has become very important in the industry. Gone are the days when models would go out all night drinking, and turn up to a shoot the next day. “These days, you have your routine; because you’re not going to last forever, you’re going to burn out if you don’t get sleep and nutrition.
“I really need to put my body first, because that’s where I make money from.”
For any girls aspiring to get into the industry, Jayde warns: “It’s not as easy as just showing up and taking photos. You need to be really mentally strong to get into the industry.
“I’m very lucky that I can do this for a job, and hopefully will do it for as long as I can. Because it’s been really, really fun.”