When Illawarra’s Top Model finalists take to the main stage at Wollongong Harbour for an Aussie themed runway show at 5.30pm on Australia Day it double as a welcome home for the 2016 winner.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Olivia Strumfin won a chance to model in Europe after taking out the title at the Highlights on Mental Health fundraising event 15 months ago.
Now she has donated her time to help outgoing Wollongong Citizen of the Year Robyn te Velde host what she describes as an exciting Ozzy Beachwear Runway Show for Wollongong City Council on Friday.
“I was over there in Europe for around 11 months,” she said.
“It was a great experience. I made so many contacts over there. It was a new experience for me modelling overseas. It was something I never really thought I would do.”
Ms Strumfin said it was a really good experience to go overseas by herself and work with Mrs te Velde’s son Paul James Hay at his German based model agency Core Artist Management.
I made so many contacts over there. It was a new experience for me modelling overseas. It was something I never really thought I would do
- Illawarra's Top Model 2016 winner Olivia Strumfin
She said it was particularly good to work for a number of different clients.
“I got to walk away with a few magazines I have been in which is something tangible,” she said.
“I didn’t do catwalk. I did more magazine editorial work.”
Ms Strumfin said it was good to be home and she is really looking forward to seeing everything along the Wollongong foreshore on Australia Day.
“I got back just before Christmas to spend it with the family,” she said.
“I left on the 9th of December 2016 so I was in Germany roughly two weeks before Christmas. I am going back again. I met so many new friends over there and I also have a boyfriend. He is from Berlin and wants to come to Australia and New Zealand.”
Ms Strumfin said Kyam Hunt was already in Germany when she arrived and it was good to have an Australian friend working as a model there at the same time.
She also got to spend plenty of time with Kenzie Hancock who is a personal assistant for Mr Hay at Core.
“It is great to have some Aussie connections when you are new to a country because it is a bit daunting at first,” she said.
Ms Strumfin has also been accepted into a Bachelor of Commerce at University of Wollongong and is interested in nutrition. She was doing her HSC during the Illawarra’s Top Model in 2016.
Read more:
Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
