Naki Depass is a BLANC cover girl
Aurelie, Sanique land Anna Sui and Phase Eight campaigns
Published:Friday | June 20, 2025 | 12:08 AM
From Down Under to The Big Apple and The Kingdom of Spain, SAINT International models are everywhere in the ‘fashion-phere’. Fresh-faced Sanique Dill and veterans Aurelie Giraud and Naki Depass are gracing magazine covers, splashy brand campaigns, and top-tier designer lookbooks. Notably, Depass is featured on the new issue of BLANC magazine, which dropped on Tuesday.
Shot in Sydney, Australia, where Depass was on work assignments for multiple clients over the past three months, the glossy cover editorial is another crowning achievement in her nine-year international career. A wave of astonishment swept over her as she saw herself staring back.
“The job details I had received for the shoot day didn’t say ‘cover story’ so I had no idea. It was a very pleasant surprise,” she told Living of the fashion assignment lensed in April by Tim Ashton and styled by Monica Russell.
Her seven-page BLANC cover editorial, titled ‘The Trace Between’ sees her rocking a mod beehive pixie by hairstylist Alan White, and wearing fresh fits from Prada, Fendi, Acne Studios, and other luxury labels.
“It was a bit different and I liked that,” she shared, adding, “The hair, the styling, the whole vibe allowed me to transform into a different character. We drove around to various spots in the neighbourhood where we were shooting.”
As for how she’s processing her second magazine cover – the August 2023 edition of Harper’s Bazaar Brasil being her first – the beauty who holds an accounting degree from the University of the West Indies, Mona, said: “It will always feel so surreal and exciting to see yourself on a magazine’s front no matter how many times it may happen. But that Harper’s cover will forever hold a special place in my heart because it was the first.”
Besides her latest major get, Depass is also co-fronting Australian brand SABA’s Autumn/Winter 2025 womenswear collection campaign, lensed by Drew Wheeler back in March.
She explained that “the mood was mostly relaxed and called for a lot of natural movement,” referring to the SABA booking made by her Aussie agency, Chadwick Models, with Jess Pecoraro coordinating wardrobe looks and Nadine Monley on double duty doing hair and makeup.
Meanwhile, hot on the heels of her DAZED solo-girl cover reveal just two weeks ago, SAINT’s Dill is in the just-out lookbook campaign for iconic American designer Anna Sui’s Resort 2026 collection.
Titled Neo-Romantic, the designer said her new 30-look collection was “inspired by the Belle Époque drawings of the late French artist and illustrator Christian Bérard and his painterly colour palettes.
For Dill, currently the cat’s meow of the global fashion circuit, having caught the eyes and fresh ad campaigns for Valentino creative director Alessandro Michele and Miu Miu creative director Miuccia Prada, the ascendant star welcomed the chance to shoot Stateside.
Taking us behind the scenes, she said of the New York-based photo shoot by Jeannie Sui Wonders that co-starred American model Ryleabeth, “Miss Sui is such a sweet, caring person. She was on set. There was a vibrant mood and the experience was enjoyable for me.”
Dill was suitably impressed by the 17 outfit changes she’s captured sporting in the lookbook, noting “I love how the collection blends vintage aesthetics with a fresh, youthful energy. My favourite outfit is Look 11 – the green spaghetti-strap dress.”
Over in Europe, SAINT’s Martiniquan head-turner Aurelie Giraud appears in British women’s wear brand Phase Eight’s ‘Summer Palette Masterclass’ campaign, which highlights their seasonal dress collection.
Giraud told The Gleaner that her London agency, Premier Model Management, booked the job, which was photographed in Spain by Christian Hunter in March.
“It was my first time working with Phase Eight and the team was fabulous. We went to several locations in Barcelona to shoot. It was great working with my model co-star Fanny Francois, she was so lovely,” Giraud shared.
She went on, “I loved the dresses as they were colourful and I particularly liked the floral prints. It’s a great collection of summer party dresses that can work for weddings or brunches.”
Calling Paris home for the past two years, she and her eight-year-old daughter Lou have mother-daughter travel plans in the making.
“We will be going home to Martinique for the summer,” shared the Caribbean supermodel who has starred alongside A-list actress Zoe Kravitz in a YSL beauty campaign and strutted the catwalk for Balenciaga several times.