All set to conquer New York

Press, 30 August 1984, Page 16

All set to conquer New York

Lorraine Downes is quite a lady. When I was on the judging panel when she won the “Miss Universe New Zealand” last year, we were all aware of this potential element. After her year as “Miss Universe” she’s home for a well-earned break, to catch her breath and decide on the direction her next year will take. The tall, blonde, Aucklander who went away to America and won the prestigious beauty title has returned a well-travelled, much-admired, and very sophisticated 20-year-old. In her own words, "I suppose it’s a thing called growing up.” Lorraine now has an air about her that a year as a glamour personality has given her. “At the beginning I was really homesick — I have to be completely honest — but as the year went on, I knew that I had to make the most of it. At the end of it I could be home with my family,” she says. “Sometimes I would get a little tired, and think, ‘I just want to be myself, or, ‘How am I going to get through this next day?’ “But the next day I’d be right back into it — I would bounce back.”

‘New Zealanders tend to be unsure of themselves’

Lorraine Downes says being a celebrity has been a tough assignment. “It’s tough, in that it’s hard work, it really is. You’re always in the public eye and the public can be your biggest critic. “People had expectations of me, and I never wanted to let people down, so it was a constant effort on my part. That was my responsibility. “I think the whole experience of travelling has been the biggest highlight. I have visited 15 countries in the past year, and that has been very exciting and a wonderful learning experience. “I loved Hong Kong, the city and the people. “In Mexico I learned about the Mexican people —

PAULA RYAN filed this interview with '‘Miss Universe 1983,” just before her departure from Auckland. Lorraine Downes will join a Sydney modelling agency in preparation for her entry into the highly competitive modelling world in New York. But she vows to return to New Zealand.

they’re very emotional people and very outgoing and vibrant.

had a wonderful year.” Now she is looking to the future.

“In South Africa, I went on a safari drive way out into the jungle and that was amazing. “In the States, I was a guest on an American quiz show. We taped five shows and it was lots of fun to play an American quiz game.” During her reign Lorraine Downs had the chance to meet many famous people. “I met President Reagan, and that was very exciting. And I met a lot of stars — Meryl Streep, George Benson, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Frank Sinatra, and many others. “That was great, but I

also enjoyed meeting people of all levels — poor people, sick people, the native people of the countries I visited in Latin America. I really have learnt a lot.” Lorraine Downes spent the last year based in New York, sharing an apartment with the runner-up to her title. New York took a lot of getting used to. “At first I wondered what I had gone to, everything there is so different to New Zealand and to my home city of Auckland. It’s so big, and the people — we don’t have many different nationalities here, but in New York, there is every nationality.” Lorraine Downes says that the year has been of much value to her personally. “I’ve become much stronger, more mature, and I feel my whole outlook on life has broadened. I have

“I could easily stay in New Zealand, and I’d love to. But I know that if I do that, in five years time, I’ll kick myself. “I have learned that you must make the most of opportunities or your chance is lost. I feel I owe it to myself and to my country to make the most of all the last year has brought me.” Lorraine Downes’ first love is modelling, and it’s that work she wants to go back to.

“I’d like to get into acting — I enjoyed the screen audition I did in Hollywood as part of my prize-package — but, really, modelling is my number one interest.” A recent complication is that though she has the “Miss Universe 1983” title to her credit, she now cannot get a visa into the United States until the Eileen Ford Model Agency can support her application. The agency can’t do that until she gets together a “tear-sheet,” a compilation of recent editorial fashion shots.

“Any shots taken during my year as ‘Miss Universe’ don’t count, so I have to start again,” Lorraine. explains. So the determined Aucklander leaves this week for Sydney, to model for Ursula Hufnagl’s elite School of Beauty, a reputable agency that will put her back on the modelling map before she returns to New York. In November, she will fly to Colombia, as a guest judge of the “Miss Colombia” contest, returning in time to be bridesmaid at her girlfriend’s wedding in Auckland. Then she has promised herself and her family a very relaxing holiday at

Christmas.

“I’ve had a hectic year, and since I’ve come home I’ve been busy. The last few weeks have been a non-stop round of interviews, speeches and appearances, and I will need a break before I go back to America.

“I’m really excited about the future, because this is now, and this is me, and I’ll be doing what I want to do. “I’ll be on my own, without the security I’ve had for the last year, but it’s a big challenge — and I love challenges.” A “fitness fanatic,” she plans to get back to dancing and exercise. “I love it, and I miss the dance troupe I was a member of in Auck-

land before I went away, so when I get back to New York, I’ll take dancing classes, acting classes, and get back into working out at the gym I have joined over there.”

Lorraine is looking forward to getting back to see her Kiwi friend, Cantabrian Kirsty Lay, who is now modelling with the Ford Agency. “Kirsty’s success as a model overseas is fantastic, and we should all be very proud of her. The last I heard she was in Switzerland, but I got a message from her through a friend that she wants us to room together when I get back to New York. That will be fun.”

Lorraine Downes declares she will definitely come t back to New Zealand, and always thinks of it as home. “This is my home and I love it. The only reason I’m leaving is that I want to model and there really is , not the market here, so I have to go where the work

“I want to get overseas experience, then come back and share it with other New Zealanders. Too many New Zealanders are a little negative, unsure of themselves and their capabilities, and think because we’re so far way, we’re not good enough.

"But I hope they’ll realise we can do anything the rest of the world can do.”