Model crush: Hilary Rhoda

Hilary Hollis Rhoda (born April 6, 1987, in Chevy Chase, Maryland) is an American model. She is perhaps best known for her work with the brand Estée Lauder and her 2009, 2010, and 2011 appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

“Always be nice... If you‘re successful I think you should always be nice, cause then they don‘t want to see you fall. So everyone will like you and you‘ll always have a good time.” (To Fashion TV)

Rhoda attended St. Jane de Chantal school in Bethesda, Maryland for grade school. Before her career as a model, Rhoda graduated from the Academy of the Holy Cross, a Catholic all-girls school in Maryland. While a student, Rhoda played on her school's field hockey and lacrosse teams.

Rhoda was originally discovered at a ProScout event in Washington, D.C. After getting numerous call backs, she decided to be represented by Women Model Management. She soon appeared in ads for Hollister and Abercrombie, before switching to Click Model Management and recently with IMG Models, globally. She is currently represented by Elite Model Management in New York.

She is currently featured in the 2011 Max Mara AW campaign. Before she has appeared in advertisements for Balenciaga, Valentino, Belstaff, Dolce & Gabbana, Givenchy, Donna Karan, Gucci, Gap, Dsquared, Shiatzy Chen, Blumarine, and Ralph Lauren, and in Victoria's Secret catalogs. She has also appeared on the covers of American Vogue, Vogue Italia, Vogue Paris, British Harper's Bazaar, Time, Numéro, and W. In particular, for the May 2007 issue of American Vogue, Rhoda was featured on the cover with fellow models Doutzen Kroes, Caroline Trentini, Raquel Zimmermann, Sasha Pivovarova, Agyness Deyn, Coco Rocha, Jessica Stam, Chanel Iman, and Lily Donaldson as the "World’s Next Top Models."

In January 2007, Rhoda signed an exclusive contract with Estée Lauder as their newest face. In July of that same year, earning at an estimated total of $2 million in the past 12 months, Forbes named her twelfth in their list of The World's 15 Top-Earning Supermodels. She is the current face of St. John Knits (replacing Angelina Jolie), ERES Beachwear, and the Neiman Marcus spring/summer 2009 campaigns. 2009 also marks Rhoda's debut in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.

Rhoda was selected to model the Hope Diamond in the Embrace Hope necklace on November 18, 2010 for the 50th anniversary on display at the Smithsonian.