DOZENS of would-be-models took to the catwalk on Saturday in the hope of becoming the next face of Oxford Fashion Week.

Organisers are looking for just one model to become this year’s fashion pin-up, setting them on the road to a professional modelling career.

And more than 60 auditioned at The House Bar, Blue Boar Street, on Saturday evening in front of judges from the fashion week.

The third Oxford Fashion Week takes place from Sunday, February 28, to Saturday, March 6, 2011.

First up was Abingdon & Witney College childcare student Carli Rose, 18, from Deer Park, Witney.

She said: “I’ve always been told I have the height for the runway. I’ve wanted to be a model since I was 10, but it is a difficult thing to get into.”

Oxford & Cherwell Valley College fashion student Lucy Treadwell, 17, from Arnolds Way, Oxford, hit the catwalk for the first time after being urged on by friends.

The 6ft teenager said: “People kept saying that I should be a model because of my height, and so I thought I should give this a go.

“I’ve been preparing for a couple of weeks, and I think I was okay on the catwalk, given it was my first time.

Superdrug worker Roza Jeffrey, 19, from Garden City, Kidlington, said: “It is something I am really passionate about. Winning this would mean the world to me.”

Striking a blow for larger ladies was Britain’s Got Talent contestant Fabia Cerra, 36, from Blackbird Leys, who performed a burlesque dance on the hit TV show.

Miss Cerra, who now campaigns for the industry to use larger models, said she wanted to ensure not just young, thin teenagers took part in the competition.

She said: “Even after everything I have done, I still get a rush of adrenaline for things like this and that just makes me better.”

Photos of the judges’ shortlisted models will be published in the Oxford Mail on Wednesday, with judges choosing the winner in January.

While other models will be selected to wear designers’ clothes during the week, ‘The Face’ will be appear on all the show’s promotional material and in the media.

Executive producer Carl Angim said: “The most important thing we are looking for is confidence, which shows the model genuinely enjoys it.

“We have no predetermined ideas about who ‘the face’ should be, but they have to love being a model and be flexible to wear our designers’ clothes.”