“I know so many other women would have looked at me and thought: ‘We’re really similar, I’m going to look so cool as well,” explains Cameron Stephens, the 18-year-old model who walked five shows at last year’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia and stars in ‘Now wave’, from page 124 in this issue.

 After a snap decision to attend an open casting call for inclusive clothing label Good American (co-founded by Khloe Kardashian) in 2018 landed her a coveted spot in the Good Squad, as the brand dubs its models, Stephens signed a contract with IMG Sydney in March last year.

“I was one of the first curve models signed. It was gratifying that they wanted to have a change in the agency,” says Stephens, who had never considered modelling before. “They wanted to represent girls and guys of different shapes and sizes, and I think that’s so important.”

Stephens’s first introduction to the runway was in May last year, when she walked for designers including Matteau and Hansen & Gretel at Australian fashion week. The experience, she recalls, illuminated the industry’s receptivity to body positivity and diversity in fashion. “I think it’s great that so many Australian brands wanted to have someone in their show who was different,” she explains.

Conscious that this has not always been the status quo, Stephens cites models like Ashley Graham as instrumental in pushing for new doors to open. “I’m so fortunate that I got into the industry at a time where they really are making change,” she says. “[Graham] is teaching girls and guys to just embrace themselves. Before her, I didn’t see myself in the people brands were using in advertising.”

Stephens believes past imbalances in representation have fuelled misconceptions surrounding women who don’t fit the narrow mould. It’s something she is keen to dispel. “I feel like brands and designers really should take into account that being a curvy girl doesn’t mean that you’re older or that your curves should be hidden. They should be shown. Everybody deserves to have equal representation of themselves.”

Taking matters into her own hands, she is also using her newfound platform - digital and professional - to align with causes close to her heart. For her, climate change is front of mind and social media is the means to push the message forward. “We have one gorgeous planet to take care of and it’s so important for future generations, for our kids, that they’re able to live in a nice way,” Stephens says. “The more traction climate change issues gain, the more educated people will become. The more we post about it, the better.”

The budding model also recognises that when it comes to her professional career it is a combination of spontaneity and being receptive to opportunities that has led her to where she is now - travelling the world and working with brands she’s always admired. As a result, she’s less fettered by considering what’s next and more interested in enjoying the journey.

She says fashion needs to redefine style as being conscious and wearing things more and in more creative ways, over having the latest and greatest. "We are pursuing an old-fashioned growth model where we take, make and dispose," she says.

"It has worked for 100 years but if we look at all our surveys, we are exceeding the planet’s boundaries – [fashion production] will be growing at 81 per cent towards 2030 – we don't have the natural resources, we have to think of a new business model. And we have to slow pace."

“I don’t want to disrupt what’s in store for me and what the universe has planned,” she says, “so I’m just going to let it do its thing.”