Models Direct writers saw Kate Upton walk away with the Model Of The Year award at the Annual Style Awards last night. This unexpected achievement from Upton proves once and for all that you do not have to be a perfectly proportioned, size zero to establish yourself as one of the world’s modelling elite!

Victoria’s Secret bosses must be feeling a little embarrassed after their stylist Sophie Neophitou recently described 21-year-old Upton as “too obvious” and declared that she could never appear on a VS catwalk event: “We would never use [Upton],” She said, “She’s like a Page 3 girl. She’s like a footballer’s wife, with the ‘too-blonde’ hair and that kind of face that anyone with enough money can go out and buy.”

Now it seems that she will have to eat her words. Not only has curvy Upton won this, much coveted, award – she also appears (styled as Marylin Monroe) on the 100th anniversary edition of Vanity Fair this month in another decision that shocked the fashion world.

Inside the prestigious magazine Upton told of her rise to stardom and some of the bias that she encountered on the way: “I’m not going to name names, but one agency told me, ‘You’re too American, and everybody knows American women are lazy.’ I was so offended! I’ve never been so offended! I was like, ‘You know that you’re in America, right?’ And it wasn’t ‘American models’—it was ‘American women are lazy,’ period! I feel like a lot of women would disagree with that. A lot!”

What do you think about the recent rise of the curvier model? Here at Models Direct we can’t help thinking what a breath of fresh air it is to see some unexpected faces gaining exposure in recent months. We would love to hear your opinions.