Hot list: Kiwi model named in top 10

Emily Baker's cutting cheekbones and professional approach are said to have set the 17-year-old from Matamata apart from her competition. She says she was a 'quiet kid' growing up. Photo / Vogue

A 17-year-old model from Matamata is touted to give Kate Moss a run for her money after catching the eye of top international fashion houses.

Emily Baker has been named one of 10 new models to watch by Britain's Daily Mail.

Ms Baker is overseas working on international Fall-Winter runway shows. In her debut season, she has walked more than 60 shows; Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein in New York, D&G and Fendi in Milan, and Chanel, Chloe and Alexander McQueen in Paris.

It's a change of scene for the teenager who grew up in a rural town of 12,000. Her cutting cheekbones, runway swagger and professional approach are said to have set her apart from her competition.

Photographer Olivia Hemus shot the teenage sensation for the cover of Pilot magazine before she left for the overseas runway season.

"She's a real sweetheart and her personality is part of the reason why she's doing really well overseas."

Before she left the country, Ms Baker fronted the Zambesi Fall 2011 campaign and posed for the label's look books.

She is the only New Zealand model to rank on models.com's top 50 ranking system. The website is an "unofficial authority on the entire industry", blogged Isaac Hinden Miller, and for any model to feature is a sign of "validation".

The blonde-haired, green-eyed Kiwi swapped classrooms for catwalks in a hurry and hasn't had a chance to reflect on the change, she told New York magazine The Cut in a recent interview.

"It was a whirlwind. I did the shows in all four cities, so basically I worked all day, every day for about four or five weeks straight."

Following the fashion week flurry, she was shot for Vogue China by Daniel Jackson.

Ms Baker said she was a "quiet kid" growing up. "I loved the beach and fishing."