TAO OKAMOTO, 22

Style.com dubbed her a 'rising star' in March last year, but it was not until fall/winter 2009 that the 1.77m Japanese model shot to fame.

That season, she emerged with a bowl haircut which made her the muse of American Chinese designer Phillip Lim - he had all the models on his runway wear wigs cropped in the same style.

She also scored an ad campaign with Ralph Lauren, which landed her a spot on Forbes' list of 15 top-earning models last year with a pay cheque of US$2.3 million (S$3.2 million).

Vogue Japan promptly dedicated the entire November 2009 issue to her.