By KATHERINE HOBY
Australia's latest supermodel-to-be, Sophie Falkiner, plans to make her name by throwing a curve ball to the industry.
The new face (and chest) of Wonderbra Australasia, Ms Falkiner was in Auckland to launch the new bra.
She insists that real women are made up of curves and not straight lines
as promoted by waif-look models in recent years.
The silver lining for the curvy Sydneysider is a possible career following in the footsteps of former Wonderbra girls and now supermodels Eva Herzigova and Sarah O'Hare.
She was chosen after six months of scouring Australia for a fresh face to represent the deceptive undergarment in Australasia.
"They wanted someone blond 'cause blond equals fun, someone from Australia, about 25, and someone who believes in the product. And that was me," she said.
"It's cheeky, it's fun and it's confident. It's all about women having a wink with women at men's expense. Who doesn't love that?"
The only topic on which Ms Falkiner would not comment was her bra size. "None of your business," she said, laughing.
Promoters say this model of push-up bra has several factors which make it superior to "pretenders." To the untrained eye the biggest difference is the price. The Wonderbra is storming the New Zealand market at $29.95 at Farmers, which has an exclusive deal to sell the product here. Others - cost $45 or $50.
New Zealanders are about to be bombarded with images of Ms Falkiner in the Wonderbra on central city billboards.
The ad campaign has short, sassy messages under the eye-popping pictures. "By the way, my eyes are blue," one reads. "Am I keeping you up?" asks another.
The lunch party to launch Wonderbra in New Zealand was a glamorous affair, with sleek models parading the product leaving those attending feeling distinctly overdressed.
Trays of champagne were handed around. Photographers tried to get on with their jobs, pretending to look past models with cleavage so boosted that it was hard to look anywhere else.
As for the latest golden girl of lingerie, she hopes to go from flipping letters on Australia's Wheel of Fortune to rearranging them as a television presenter.
Meantime, her present role allows her plenty of space to learn her As, Bs, Cs and double Ds.
