VietNamNet Bridge – Canadian supermodel Heather Marks will be the guest model of the upcoming Long-legged Festival fashion show this May. The show organizer – Venus – will pay around VND1 billion ($50,000) to invite Marks to Vietnam.

Heather Marks, 23, is known in the fashion world for her big eyes and doll-like or elfin features.

Marks was born in Calgary, Alberta, and was discovered at the Calgary Woman’s Show at the age of 12 (already 178 cms tall) by Kelly Streit, the owner of Mode Models. He invited her to enter Mode’s upcoming model search, which she won. She was still not convinced on the idea of modeling and agreed to help Streit with filing jobs a few times a month.

At almost 15, Marks was sent to Toronto and began booking jobs in New York, including her first editorial for Italian Vogue. She made her runway debut three years later at the Givenchy Spring 2003 couture show. She made her ready-to-wear show debut in the Spring/Summer 2004 season, in which she walked over 43 shows (including Anna Sui, Blumarine, Burberry, Chanel, D&G, Givenchy, Lanvin, Louis Vuitton, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Marni, MaxMara, Rochas, Sportmax and Versus by Versace). In each the Spring/Summer 2005 and Fall/Winter 2005 catwalk show seasons she walked in over 70 shows.

Marks has since done shows and advertisements for D & G, Calvin Klein, Emporio Armani, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Max Mara, Moschino, Kenzo, Jimmy Choo, Lacoste, Anna Sui, Christian Lacroix, Just Cavalli, Badgley Mischka, Jeremy Laing, Sisley and other prominent fashion designers. She has also appeared in advertisements for H&M, Aubin & Wills, Converse, Victoria’s Secret, Lui Jeans, American Eagle, Benneton, Blanco, Cacharel, Daks, GAP, Holt Renfrew, Lee Jeans, Levi’s, Mango, Sportmax, Swarovski, Trussardi and Via Spiga. She is very well known in the industry as a beauty and money model, as she has appeared in cosmetics campaigns for Anna Sui, Revlon, MAC and Nars, as well her many turns in the beauty editions of both Japanese and Italian Vogue.

She has appeared on the covers of magazines such as the German, Korean, Latinoamerican, Mexican and Spanish editions of Vogue, the Croation, Canadian, and Italian editions of Elle in addition to Harper’s Bazaar, Dazed, French, Velvet, Flair, Fashion, BLACK and Mixte. In 2006 she participated in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Marks has also appeared in the catalogs for Bloomingdales, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Lloyd Jewelry, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Holt Renfrew, Max Mara, Americana Manhasset and Aubin & Wills.

The Long-legged Festival 2011 is the most expensive show so far of Venus. Well known director, Pham Hoang Nam, will be the director of the fifth Long-legged Festival this May, which will attract top models of Vietnam.

Pham Hoang Nam was the director of the most famous events in Vietnam, like Miss Vietnam World pageant, diva Hong Nhung’s, “Nhu canh vac bay” live show, etc.

“The name, Pham Hoang Nam, is attached with many highly appreciated shows in Vietnam. He has great talent in using light. I believe that the annual “Long-legged Festival” will be different and at a higher level with the participation of Pham Hoang Nam,” said the representative of the organizing board, director of Venus Modeling Company Vu Khac Tiep.

Forty Vietnamese and international models from the UK, South Korea and Singapore will perform the latest collections of international famous brands and collections by Vietnamese American designer, Cory.

Over 250 celebrities, including beauty queens, movie stars, top singers and models like Giang My, Diem My, Truong Ngoc Anh, Nguyen Thi Huyen, Dieu Hoa, Bao Ngoc, Ha Kieu Anh, Mai Phuong Thuy, Vu Cam Nhung, Thuy Dung, Ngoc Han, Thanh Hang, Vu Thu Phuong, Huong Giang, Hoang Yen, Lan Huong, etc. will join the show.

Ho Ngoc Ha will be the only singer performing in the festival.

The event will take place at 8 pm, May 15, at the Ocean Club, HCM City.

Long-legged Festival is an annual fashion show organized by Venus, a chance for models in the HCM City and Hanoi to see and exchange experience.

To advertise Vietnam’s fashion to the world, Venus has invited international models to join the show in recent years. This modeling company has also held overseas fashion shows. Last December, it successfully organized “Viet’s Beauty” in London. This year Venus planed to introduce Vietnamese fashion in South Korea.

PV