on the HUNT ALREADY A RECOGNIZED FACE FOR HER WORK WITH UP-AND-COMING FASHION BRANDS, MODEL MARTHA HUNT ACHIEVES SUPERSTARDOM AS ONE OF VICTORIA’S SECRET’S NEWEST CROP OF ANGELS. by JILL SIER ACKI photography by RANDALL SLAVIN OPPOSITE PAGE: Swimsuit, Melissa Odabash ($258). Intermix, 634 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-531-5950; intermixonline.com. Natalie Aviator, Bobbi Brown ($139). Solstice Sunglass Boutique, 227 Eighth St., Miami Beach, 786-245-5006; solstice sunglasses.com THIS PAGE: Swimsuit, Melissa Odabash ($258). Intermix, 634 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-531-5950; intermixonline.com. Parallel quill brass cuff, K/ller Collection ($420). Barneys New York, 832 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-421-2010; barneys.com 176 OCEANDRIVE.COM
Transcript
on the HUNTALREADY A RECOGNIZED FACE FOR HER WORK WITH UP-AND-COMING FASHION
BRANDS, MODEL MARTHA HUNT ACHIEVES SUPERSTARDOM AS ONE OF VICTORIA’S SECRET’S NEWEST CROP OF ANGELS.
by JILL SIERACKI photography by RANDALL SLAVIN
opposite page: Swimsuit, Melissa Odabash ($258). Intermix, 634 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-531-5950; intermixonline.com. Natalie Aviator, Bobbi Brown ($139). Solstice Sunglass Boutique, 227 Eighth St., Miami Beach, 786-245-5006; solstice sunglasses.com
this page: Swimsuit, Melissa Odabash ($258). Intermix, 634 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-531-5950; intermixonline.com. Parallel quill brass cuff, K/ller Collection ($420). Barneys New York, 832 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-421-2010; barneys.com
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Swimsuit, Victoria’s Secret ($89). 745 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-538-2107; victoriassecret.com. Single bar cuff ($597), arrow cuff ($238), and triangular block cuff ($248), Jennifer Fisher. Barneys New York, 832 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-421-2010; barneys.com
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#THENEWESTANGELS—it was the April 28 tweet read around the world: Ten new Victoria’s Secret Angels were getting their wings, including Martha Hunt, a 26-year-old North Carolina native who had appeared in the lingerie brand’s famed holiday fashion show and catalogs. Already a rising star in the industry, Hunt had modeled for Free People before joining Victoria’s Secret at the end of 2012. “At the time, I was shooting a lot of their cata-log, and one day it just so happened that Ed Razek [chief marketing officer of L Brands, Victoria’s Secret’s parent company] came by the shoot, and everything changed from that moment on,” says Hunt. “He immediately was interested in me, and he took a chance and decided to put me on an advertising job. That was huge for me because it took me from just being one of the catalog girls to being one of the featured girls.”
Now that her star status is about to go through the heavens, Hunt already has a healthy approach to walking the catwalk in next to nothing. “You don’t want to overthink it. You want to still be yourself, but the best version of yourself,” she says of modeling in lingerie. “You just train really hard and eat healthy. You don’t want to be too thin; you want to be a good example of a feminine woman’s body who’s very fit and who takes care of herself.”
Hunt cites other Angels, such as Lily Aldridge, as inspiration for how to balance the busy lifestyle that comes with being one of the brand’s ambassadors. “I really look up to her. She’s a good role model for me,” says Hunt of Aldridge. “She’s a mom and this super successful model, and she also has this great sense of fashion style, and she’s just really kind. Lily, Alessandra [Ambrosio], Doutzen [Kroes], and Adriana [Lima], they’ve all managed to maintain great careers—in fact, some of their careers have been getting better and better [since becoming mothers]. Motherhood in a way helps them to be more focused. That’s also really inspiring because I know one day I can be like that as well.”
While motherhood is still in the future, currently Hunt is juggling her career and a relationship with her boyfriend, photographer Jason McDonald, who shot much of Hunt’s work with Free People. “It’s great to have somebody who understands—you might not get big points for [canceling on dinner plans], but they get it,” she says of dating someone with an equally unpredictable work schedule. “You have to be ready to surprise your man with a trip or with something you guys haven’t done before just to keep it interesting. We do a good job of going to concerts, taking trips together, even if it’s just upstate for the weekend. We give each other advice and our opin-ions on each other’s work. We bring each other up.”
A constant on the social media scene, Hunt fills her Instagram feed with pics of her work, travels, and motivational quotes, many about strong women, like Hunt’s role models—her sister Caroline,
“because I see her juggle a career and being a mom,” and her current BFF, Taylor Swift, with whom she attended the recent Billboard Music Awards. (Hunt also appears as “HomeSlice” in the singer’s “Bad Blood” music video.) “I can’t say enough good things about her,” says Hunt about Swift. “I admire her so much as a person and as a role model for young women. We need more people like her who really want to bring women together, and not oversexualize themselves as that being what makes them worthy. Plus she’s just talented, and she’s just the best.”
Now, with more than 740,000 Instagram follow-ers, Hunt was one of the first models to embrace the social media trend. “You can have a voice. You can choose the way people perceive you,” she says of posting online. “I think the benefit of it for models is we can have a say over which pictures we choose to put on the Internet, whereas with the jobs we do, they put whatever photos make the clothes look great. We get to art direct our own gallery.”
Also filling Hunt’s feed are shots of her exercising, often tagged #TrainLikeAnAngel. “I try to keep it in a very low impact—I have scoliosis, so exercises can be really hard on my back, whether it’s too much run-ning, jumping, or boxing,” says Hunt. “I’ll do those things once in a while, but I keep it mostly Pilates, resistance-band based, softer exercises that build strength from inside the muscle.”
Scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine, has been a challenge for Hunt since she was 14. At 17, she had major surgery to insert metal rods to help straighten her back. “It has been great but makes it a little harder to do any exercise, and I have to be
“YOU DON’T WANT TO BE TOO THIN; YOU WANT TO BE
A GOOD EXAMPLE OF A FEMININE WOMAN’S BODY WHO’S VERY FIT AND WHO TAKES CARE OF HERSELF.”
Swimsuit, Proenza Schouler ($365). The Webster, 1220 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-674-7899; thewebster miami.com. Ravenna cuff, Lulu Frost ($130). Intermix, 634 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 305-531-5950; intermixonline.com
beauty: Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Stick in Warm Natural ($44) and Metallic Eye Shadow in Burnt Sugar ($24). Neiman Marcus, Village of Merrick Park, 358 San Lorenzo Ave., Coral Gables, 786-999-1000; neiman marcus.com. Face Stockholm Eye Dust in Reality ($22). Face Brow & Beauty Bar, 900 S. Miami Ave., Ste. 128, Miami, 305-456-2244; facebrowandbeautybar.com. NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Sex Machine ($26). Neiman Marcus, see above. Oribe Après Beach Wave and Shine Spray ($39) and Thick Dry Finishing Spray ($39). Neiman Marcus, see above
“WE NEED MORE PEOPLE LIKE TAYLOR SWIFT WHO
REALLY WANT TO BRING WOMEN TOGETHER, AND
NOT OVERSEXUALIZE THEMSELVES.”
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more careful in life in general,” says Hunt of coping with the aftereffects of the surgery. “Scoliosis can compress your organs, and your lungs, your heart; it would hurt when I would sneeze, so it definitely makes a difference now. Having [surgery] has really helped me be straighter, feel better with less pain. It’s made walking the runway a little more of a chal-lenge, but I’m just so thankful that I’ve been able to walk runways and been able to achieve so much even with this condition. I haven’t really gone pub-lic with it yet, but I would love to at some point do something proactive with [a scoliosis organization]. It’s important to me to show this to young girls, [what you can achieve].”
Hunt got her start in her early teens after entering a model search contest in her home state. “I was so long and awkward and skinny and hadn’t really grown into my features yet,” she says of her preteen years. “People were like, ‘You can be a model, you look really different,’ so I just got so used to hearing it. I remember having my appendix taken out and the surgeon said to my mom, ‘You should really get your daughter into modeling,’ and my mom was like, ‘That’s so creepy….’”
Still based in North Carolina, Hunt’s family has been her strongest support system since she launched her career. “A lot of my friends—Taylor included—we all come from similar backgrounds of smaller towns and hardworking families that are very family oriented,” says Hunt. “I think that makes such a big difference when you go off into the world trying to achieve something, knowing that somebody will be there in case you fail, somebody will be there to hug you and cook you a nice meal.”
Next up, Hunt will be busy with her expanded role with Victoria’s Secret, which will make her more of a paparazzi target. However, it’s a role she’s learning to navigate after her first big run-in with the photographers, where else but Miami. “I had asked my best friend to come down to Miami with me for a girls’ trip,” recalls Hunt, who was in the Magic City shooting for Victoria’s Secret. “We were hanging out by the pool, and we had gone out to the beach just to take a funny selfie, and one guy came out and started taking our picture and then another, and then they were everywhere. They followed us the whole walk back to the hotel. [The paparazzi] knew where the Victoria’s Secret models were stay-ing, so they were waiting for us to come out, but I was so naïve to it. They somehow always find me in Miami; it’s incredible. I don’t get paparazzied that much, but in Miami, they’re out to get you.” OD
Swimsuit, La Perla ($848). Bal Harbour Shops, 9700 Collins Ave.,
305-864-3173; laperla.com. Cubist bangle set with crystal pavé
details, Swarovski ($125). 734 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach,
305-538-4877; swarovski.com
Styling by CannonHair and makeup by Craig
Honeycutt/UtopiaPhotography assistance and
video by Noah SchutzStyling assistance by Izzy Ruiz
Shot on location at Baha Mar Casino & Hotel, Nassau, BahamasSpecial thanks to Valentino Lloyd, Eureka Smith, and Karlyle Harris
Location courtesy of Baha Mar, the new Bahamian Riviera, set on 3,000 feet of pristine beachfront in
Nassau. The highly anticipated 2,200-room, $3.5 billion luxury lifestyle resort reflects the vision of its CEO and
chairman, Sarkis Izmirlian. Architect Mike Hong master-planned and designed the 1,000-acre destination, while interior designer Dianna Wong looked to the ocean, people, art, and glamorous history of the Bahamas’ 700 islands to create a resort that celebrates them all. Baha
Mar features four hotels; a luxury villa designed by Grammy Award-winning musician Lenny Kravitz; private
residences; a world-class, Jack Nicklaus-designed 18-hole golf course and clubhouse; multiple restaurants
and retailers; a nightclub; a lavish 30,000-square-foot spa; three 14-foot-deep blue-hole pools; and the Baha Mar Casino—the crown jewel of the resort, featuring 100,000 square feet of gaming and rivaling the best
casinos in the world. For reservations or information, call 844-800-BAHA or visit bahamar.com.
