International model and born and bred local Kawani Prenter sits down with Peninsula Living to chat about family, the pandemic and finding her footing in the fashion industry.
Long have we tried to narrow down the ‘it’ factor that makes the lucky few who have it incredibly successful. Is it confidence or humility? Charisma or authenticity?
International model Kawani Prenter proves it’s all of the above. As the 23-year-old strides into the upstairs bar at Newport’s Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club it’s impossible not to stare.
At close to six foot tall and dressed in a sleek black, long-sleeved dress, she commands the room. But it’s her smile you notice first – warm and genuine.
It’s a side you don’t often get to see of the fashion sensation, whose stunning features and piercing glare have seen her booked for campaigns and runways across the globe.
“From my eight years of modelling, I think I’ve worked with every Australian designer,” she admits early on in our chat.
It’s a statistic any model would uphold as a point of pride, let alone one so young. It’s unsurprising, however, when you hear her resume. At 16-years-old she was stepping out on runway for the late, great Karl Lagerfeld in Chanel.
She’s walked in shows for fashion weeks in London, Portugal and Australia, including for icons Carla Zampatti and Alice McCall, and been the face of campaigns for Bonds, Country Road, Honey Birdette and David Jones.
But it all started when the then-14-year-old attended a poolside barbeque in Narrabeen and was scouted by her current agency, IMG models.
“They signed me immediately and they got me working really young, and so I had to drop out of school,” she recalls.
“I didn’t really like school that much. So, I was happy to leave and do modelling and go around the world and work.
“Travelling you learn so much about yourself, so I was so happy. It was easy for
me and I loved it.”
Booking Chanel’s Paris Fashion Week show just two years into her career proved game-changing for the young model, a moment she says she will ‘remember forever’.
“I was so shocked, I was crying. I was actually running to the Airbnb where my Mum was waiting for me to tell her, and I was so, so happy. It was one of the best feelings ever,” she says.
“Now, I guess I’m kind of just used to it. It’s my job.”
Her eight-year career has spanned a time of monumental change for the industry, from the ‘no-photoshop’ movement of the mid-2010s, to the advent of social media and ongoing calls for increased diversity.
She speaks candidly of her ‘on again off again’ relationship with Instagram, admitting she finds it difficult to embrace the influencer culture and worries about the impact it is having on fellow young women.
“Back in the day, I used to post heaps. I loved social media. But I find it kind of screws around with girls,” she says.
“People do edit their photos. It’s the sad truth and sad that girls see that and be like, ‘Why don’t I look like that?’ Some of it is not even real.”
A proud Japanese, Brazilian, Irish and Australian woman, she says it’s been heartening to see the fashion world ‘open up to diversity and all body sizes’.
While she confirms there has been a ‘big improvement’ in the industry since she started, she says the Australian market still has a ‘bit further to go’.
“With shoots sometimes it’s like they need to have a blonde, a dark-haired girl, and I’m Asian. But it’s like, ‘Why can’t we maybe just have just me?’
“They need a lead to be a blonde, I still find. I can still kind of pick that.”
Kawani with her sister Yasmin, her boyfriend Jona and her mother Lili.
As a largely face-to-face industry and one reliant on consumer spend, modelling was hit hard by the pandemic.
While Kawani says there were moments of normalcy, new variants, closed borders, and lockdowns meant she was mostly unable to work for ‘a good year and a half’.
“I couldn’t actually work at all. Because, you know, when you’re getting your
makeup done, the makeup artist is really close to your face,” she explains.
“I kind of liked it a little bit, because it gave me a bit of a break to focus on myself. But then after a while, you go a bit insane. It makes you grateful for work, I think.”
The pandemic did afford the international talent rare time at home with her family, all of whom she says have been ‘incredibly supportive of her career’.
“My grandparents are always asking me to send my photos to their email,” she smiles.
“My Mum is like my go-to stylist. She has great style. In our house, she has a whole room just for her clothes and shoes.
“She’s actually away right now and she’s locked the door, because she knows I go in and steal her stuff,” Kawani laughs.
With the industry returning to normal and Australian Fashion Week returning to Sydney this month, it’s sure to be a busy year for the top model.
“I don’t like just staying in one position for so long. I need to move; I need to do things,” she says.
“I’ve been doing acting training through my agency, but I don’t want to take it too seriously, because I don’t want to get my heart broken if I don’t get any roles. But for now, I’m loving it. It’s so much fun.
What would be the ideal role for this up-and-coming superstar?
“I love horror movies and I’ve always wanted to be in a horror film. I don’t get scared at all and it looks like a lot of fun to film.”