There was a hushed anticipation that spread inside the cavernous Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on September 6th. Not long after Rihanna was quickly ushered into her seat, the final (and unexpected) attendee to arrive, models began slowly descending down the cylindrical staircase in Peter Mueller’s latest designs for Alaïa. One of those models was Stella Hanan, whose appearance in the show marked her major international debut.

Chosen by famed casting director Ashley Brokaw (who discovered the likes of French supermodel Aymeline Valade and Australia’s own Julia Nobis) and dressed in a cerulean cape with the signature Alaïa hood and a ruffled mini skirt, it set the tone for what would become a blockbuster season. If she had walked Alaïa alone, that would have been impressive — it was the most talked about and beloved show at NYFW that season — but Hanan went on to also walk in Totême, Khaite and Michael Kors in New York and then she backed that up with Prada, Gucci and Versace in Milan. Not to mention the 12 shows she walked in Paris, which included appearances at Chanel, Schiaparelli, Loewe, The Row and Saint Laurent. Did we mention she only moved to New York to pursue modelling seriously this year?

As far as fashion coming outs go, it was a pretty major one for the Sydney-born model who was first scouted six years ago as a 14-year-old while wandering around Paddington Markets one weekend. Not only was she identified as a ‘one to watch’ by industry insiders, but she’s already getting compared to icons like Gemma Ward, marking Hanan not just as a flash-in-the-pan success, but a fashion ingénue with a future as bright as the pearlescent Guggenheim staircase where she took her first step into an international career. Know her name now, for she’s about to be everywhere.