Source: IMG Models
Jessica Gomes (born 25 September 1985) is an Australian model. She works extensively in Australia and Asia. Gomes was the featured spokesperson for Australian company David Jones Limited from 2013 to Dec 2019. Gomes appeared in the Swimsuit Issue of the American publication Sports Illustrated every year from 2008 to 2015. She has also been a spokesperson for South Korean conglomerates LG Electronics and Hyundai. Gomes also served as the face of the Estee Lauder/Sean John fragrance “Unforgivable”.
Jessica Gomes is the daughter of a Portuguese father, Joe Gomes, and a Singaporean mother, Jenny. She was born in Sydney and raised in Perth in a semi-rural environment. She is the youngest child in her family, with two older sisters and an older brother. One of her sisters, Bianca, was a successful model in Australia and overseas before Jessica began seriously modeling. She counts Australian Elle Macpherson and the multiracial model China Machado, the first non-white model to appear on a US fashion magazine cover, as her role models. She dined with Perth native and friend Heath Ledger in New York the day before he died.
Gomes moved to New York City in 2005, where she shared the same flat with Gemma Ward. Despite making her Swimsuit Issue debut in 2008, Jessica continued to live in New York until 2011.
The modeling school in Midland where Gomes attended was also a child casting agency. In 1997, Gomes, along with many other school students, appeared as extras in the Australian miniseries The Adventures of the Bush Patrol. In 2004, she signed with IMG Models after moving to New York City. She has avoided Paris and Milan and done extensive work in most of Asia’s major markets—including Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai—where she feels mixed heritage models are more successful.
Gomes has enjoyed tremendous success through South Korean advertising campaigns: in 2007 she appeared in advertisements for Hyundai Sonata. The following year, she appeared in an ad for LG Cyon Bikini Phone, in which she promoted the split-screen cellphone wearing a two-piece bikini, under the tagline “Touch the Wonder.” This ad campaign is credited as having pushed Gomes to stardom in South Korea. Her popularity grew, and by 2013, between her spokesman ships and Korean television show appearances, she had reached celebrity status.
Beyond her South Korean success, Gomes has appeared in Vogue, Teen Vogue, Glamour, American Glamour, and Victoria’s Secret catalog. She has modeled for Garnier, Levi’s, Motorola, and Victoria’s Secret and appeared on the cover of Biba. She signed with Estee Lauder as the face of Sean John’s Unforgivable fragrance. She has been featured in ads for Jay-Z Rocawear. In 2009, she was in a Cass Beer ad campaign with Lee Min Ho. On 22 March 2013, Gomes was announced as the fashion ambassador for Australian retail giant David Jones Limited, replacing Miranda Kerr and joining Megan Gale, Jason Dundas, Montana Cox, Gai Waterhouse and Emma Freedman. That July, she debuted for Jones on the runway.
Gomes ranked at number 34, 8 and 94 in the 2012, 2013, and 2014 edition of AskMen international poll of “World’s Most Desirable Women.” She is also listed at number 25 in Maxim’s Top 25 Hottest Females of 2012 and number 8 in Maxim Australia’s Hot 100 of 2012. In the same poll in 2013, she ranked at number 6. By 2015 she had appeared in eight Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues (2008–2015).
Gomes has a variety of East Coast Hip Hop connections. In January 2012, Gomes was revealed as the voice behind Rick Ross’s label Maybach Music Group at the beginning of certain tracks that the company produces. She is “name-checked” in the Kanye West GOOD Fridays song “Christian Dior Denim Flow.” Gomes participated as a celebrity driver in a promotional celebrity challenge racing event by Mazda associated with the 2013 Australian Grand Prix. In 2015, Gomes starred in Chinese Pop singer Z.Tao’s music video “Crown.”
Connect with Jessica on Instagram.
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