At 17, Hannah Elyse is getting flown around the world way more than most other kids in school. The steely eyed model is the muse of Daisy designers Renee and Gibson — they’ve cited Hannah as the face of the brand and the dream girl they envision wearing all their clothes. She’s closed Louis Vuitton shows, and flew to Rio for their stellar Rio resort presentation with fellow Australian model Fernanda Ly. Of course, she was at the afterparty with Jaden Smith too. It’s an exceptional lifestyle, which certainly lends itself to indulgence, but Hannah’s on a very different path.
She doesn’t drink, take drugs, or smoke. She’s also vegan. It all clicked for Hannah fairly recently: she became straight edge. It was largely because of the music she listened to—a lot of North American 80s straight edge hardcore bands. Though she won’t push anything on you, if you ask her, Hannah will gladly open up about her choice. We wanted to hear about how she’s managed to lead a healthy lifestyle in a world of temptations and listen to some of her favourite hardcore songs that influenced her along the way.
On getting into to hardcore…
My older siblings are metal heads, so I grew up listening to stuff like machine head. Music has always been a major part of my life — hardcore and punk mostly. A few bands I usually listen to are The Rival Mob, Society’s Chain and Melbourne act Born Free. If someone was interested in [being straight edge] I’d tell them to check out Minor Threat, Youth of Today, SSD, Slapshot, Chain of Strength and Judge.
On going edge…
Drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and doing drugs made me weak, I had no control. [Of all the music I like] I listen to straight edge bands the most, so it just became obvious. For me becoming straight edge was about escaping all the bullshit and having a clean life.
On whether it’s difficult to stay edge while working constantly…
It’s not at all. Life is hard already, and dealing with [work and travel] with a numb mind is even harder. When I’m at parties, it’s easy to do — I love drinking coke. Plus I don’t care about people who hate on straight edge. I don’t care what they think, I ignore it. I’m doing this for me.
On friends and fellow models…
I have friends that are straight edge and friends that aren’t, though most of my friends are people I’ve met at hardcore shows. I actually haven’t come across any models who are straight edge though.
On other issues that matter her…
I love animals, and I’m really passionate about their rights. Animal cruelty really pisses me off; go vegan.
Credits
Photography Aleksandar Zaric