It’s a good time to be a model. With the explosion of social media and the unshakable buoyancy of the fashion industry (despite the downturn), today’s models have a real chance of making a name for themselves beyond the catwalk. We can watch their lives unfold on Instagram and Twitter; every burger they eat (yes, it does happen), every turn of their heel on the catwalk and how they wrap their cashmere scarf across their shoulders pre-flight (and if you’re interested, these are the ones to follow on Instagram).

Many of the models’ we tipped for success last season have gone onto land huge campaigns, grow their social followings and become familiar names in the fashion world. So who’s got everything to play for this time around?

We spoke to the world’s foremost model agents to create a hand-selected edit of the forty faces that are currently creating little whirlpools of excitement on and off the catwalk. Get to know them now, for in as little as two weeks, you’ll be privy to a constant flow of their imagery when New York kicks off the autumn/winter14 shows on 6 February. 

Among these, you’ll find the next Stella Tennant, the next Devon Aoki and possibly even, dare I say it, the next Mossy. You saw them here first.

Click through the gallery above for the forty model faces of the future.