Catherine the name of the fashion future

The man who helped shape the careers of Kate Moss, Gisele Bundchen and even Princess Diana has said McNeil is the name of the fashion future.

Testino has spoken publicly for the first time in the prestigious US fashion magazine V.

A year ago Catherine McNeil didn't even know who Mario Testino was ¨C today the teenage model is the envy of her peers after signing an exclusive contract with the renowned fashion photographer and star maker. [Daily Telegraph]

"This girl is amazing," he told the magazine. "I think Catherine has got what it takes to be an amazing model. That's why I've put her on an exclusive contract."

That six-month contract with Testino has already paid off for McNeil.

She has just shot a Versace campaign in Paris and she'll star in the advertisements, due out in August, alongside Kate Moss.

The 18-year-old model spent last year working in Sydney with Chic Model Management before being catapulted into the international fashion world.

"I love working with him (Testino), he's a good teacher and he's got me some great jobs," McNeil told The Daily Telegraph.

She has also recently completed an advertising campaign for Dolce & Gabbana's D&G label and will star in ads for top New York designer Donna Karan.

The teenager has now left Australia and calls New York home. As well as the new surroundings she is also getting used to the title of supermodel.

After an era of waifs and girl-like looks for models, McNeil is being lauded for bringing back classic beauty and womanly curves.

V Magazine is the latest to give her the "supermodel" title as she headlined fashion shoot "Birth of a Supermodel".

See more pics of McNeil in V Magazine by clicking here.

The New York Times also gave her the supermodel tag after she appeared at 34 shows for top designers in Paris, Milan and New York in February.

And she is set to again appear with the supermodel tag in prestigious US magazine Vanity Fair. It is a tag the down-to-earth teenager still has trouble believing.

"I'm just a normal kid who has a weird job," she said. "I don't think I'm a supermodel."

She said her modelling success had given her the life she had always dreamed about.

Since January she has been living in New York and her life today involves constant travelling to a new job.

"When I was a kid I said I'd love to go to Paris and I'd love to travel. In the past four months I've been to every single place that I've ever wanted to go," she said.

The big trip she is looking forward to now is when she returns to Australia in August.

"I'm coming back to see my family and just hang out," she said.

"I can't wait to just hang out."