The social media superstar

Rocha is one of the few models who has become known by just her first name. At a moment when the fashion industry has increasingly marginalised models—to anonymous,size 0 waifs,a life span of three seasons—she has emerged as the model’s liberator. Her message is about reclaiming power in a profession that has been depleted of it. Her medium is the Web,where Rocha has acquired millions of followers across 13 social media platforms. Rocha has earned spokeswoman gigs typically reserved for actresses,a secondary role as an advocate for model’s rights,and now,one of the most high-profile jobs of her career. This fall,Rocha will begin filming episodes of The Face,appearing alongside Naomi Campbell and Karolina Kurkova as a celebrity coach.

Long gone is the era of the supermodel,but if there was ever a hope for its return,Rocha just might be it. Said Valerie Boster,the bookings editor at Vogue, “For a while we had these anonymous faces that changed every season and designers who maybe didn’t want a model to insert her own personality or label,but Coco is very different. Coco is a brand of her own.”

“I’m an overzealous poser: one-two-three-four,” said Rocha,striking a pose a second. “I’m known for this,it’s my brand. On the morning that Oxygen announced the show’s celebrity lineup,Rocha was sitting at home with her husband,the muralist James Conran; the couple has been trying a life in the suburbs. As part of an ongoing effort to balance her high-fashion work with more commercial spokeswoman roles,Rocha last year appeared in a Diet Coke campaign shot by Karl Lagerfeld.

“In the beginning I thought maybe I shouldn’t do that or say that or take that job because it’s not high fashion enough. But when high fashion is done with you,guess what? You go back to your parents’ basement and no one ever hears from you again.” Rocha’s approach to her career is populist. On the Web is where she reveals the more prosaic moments of a model’s existence,responds to fans and airs grievances against the industry. “I’m a 21-year-old model,6 inches taller and 10 sizes smaller than the average American woman,” Rocha wrote on Tumblr two years ago after reports surfaced that she had gained a few pounds. “Yet in another parallel universe I am considered ‘fat.”’

And yet the fashion industry,which has preferred its models to be seen and not heard,has embraced Rocha’s candour. Anna Wintour invited Rocha to participate in the yearly Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Health Initiative conferences and speak about the weight and age pressures facing models. “I’m not interested in a new girl every season,” said the designer Zac Posen,who has booked Rocha for his runways for the last six years. “I’d rather have a girl like Coco who’s not just a hanger but a brand all by herself.”

So far,Rocha has been able to walk the fraught tightrope between high fashion and commercial work rather effortlessly—simultaneously working for John Galliano,Louis Vuitton and Chanel,as well as for Ann Taylor Loft,Nordstrom and Esprit. But could she succeed in the realm of reality TV without having to forfeit her career as a high fashion model?

The Face will show Rocha and her fellow celebrity mentors coaching teams of aspiring models as they compete to become “the face” of a yet-to-be-disclosed brand. Rocha’s hope for the show,at least as far as her own career is concerned,is somewhat contrary. “I think it will make Middle America know who I am,” she said. “Not that that’s the biggest goal of my life,but if there are companies deciding between a model and a celebrity,the celebrity usually wins. This could change that.”