Newsmaker Of The Week : Nicole Trunfio
Model and Woman of the moment Nicole Trunfio is our newsmaker this week.
The Italian Australian is a print and runway veteran having worked for Versace, Chanel, Christian Dior and Gucci and has been a regular on fashion magazines including Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, and Allure. Discovered by a model scout while shopping with her sister she was invited to partake in the “Search for a Supermodel” in 2002 which she won and her career took off. Post her win she she went on to compete in the international version of the show coming in second place. She moved to New York in 2005, acting as a mentor on the second season of the US version of Make Me a Supermodel.
In 2011 she replaced Miranda Kerr as the face of David Jones’ winter launch in Australia and has also participated in advertising campaigns for Pantene, Ann Taylor, Dolce and Gabana, and Lacoste and has modeled for renowned photographers including Patrick Demarchelier, Peter Lindbergh, Patrick Shaw, Steven Klein, Alexei Hay and Karl Lagerfeld. Nicole’s true passion is acting and in 2009 she played a small part in Australian film Two Fists, One Heart. Other acting credits include The Last International Playboy and the Sofia Coppola film called Somewhere. She will be seen this year in “Paper Planes” in which she plays a small role.
Trunfio also released a collection of statement jewellery designed to “empower women” and has been lately a strong advocate for a change in the stigma surrounding women who breastfeed in public. Following her sensational cover of the June Issue of Elle Australia in which she posed with one breast out while feeding her infant son Zion, Trunfio has come out strongly in defense after the cover was met with backlash from critics who questioned whether showing such an intimate moment on the cover of a fashion magazine normalizes breast-feeding and celebrate motherhood, or sexualizes an act that needs to be understood as purely maternal in order to gain wider acceptance in public spaces. ( See Nicole’s Elle Cover here)
On Tuesday morning’s episode of Good Morning America, Trunfio spoke out in support of the breastfeeding photo. “I didn’t think it was going to be such a big deal. There’s nothing worse than, as a mother, doing something that’s so necessary like feeding your child and feeling like somebody could have an opinion about it or somebody’s looking at you the wrong way,” she said. “I think it should be something that isn’t a [subscriber’s cover], it’s a huge part of being a woman and motherhood.”
In an effort to fight the stigma of nursing in public she took to social media making a Facebook post saying ‘There is nothing more powerful and beautiful than motherhood. The last thing I want to do is be controversial, so please take this for what it is, let us #normalizebreastfeeding there is nothing worse than a mother that is judged for feeding her hungry child in public.’ While last week she replicated Gisele’s famous breastfeeding shot, posing with her son Zion during a glamorous photoshoot. The image was shared with her 102k Instagram followers with the caption; ‘Work! Love this glam squad @jodieboland @thomasdunkin1 @ingefonteyne.’
Zion is Trunfio’s first child with fiance, Texan blues guitarist and Grammy winner Gary Clark Jr.
For more on Nicole check out her profile on FMD and check back next week to find out who our next Newsmaker is.
