Renee Stewart models for Bendon

Renee Stewart
Renee Stewart
Her dad's an aging rock god and her mum's a former supermodel.

Fitting then, perhaps, that Renee Stewart, 22, has just signed as the new face of Bendon lingerie.

The leggy brunette is in Auckland today for a whirlwind series of media interviews after completing her first underwear shoot in Sydney earlier this week.

She's following in the footsteps of mother Rachel Hunter, who began modelling for Bendon in 1986 before going on to a stellar international career in front of the camera.

"I'm proud of it," Stewart said of the link with her mother's professional modelling work.

"It's exciting that we get to both share the same experience -- a couple of years apart."

She admits she was nervous before shedding her clothes for the Sydney shoot -- "it's lingerie".

But Hunter, who is based in Los Angeles, gave her daughter some simple advice.

"I think it's just to always have fun and be yourself and be comfortable. I think that's the best advice you can give anyone."

Stewart is based in London where she's studying towards a dance degree at the London Contemporary Dance School. Dancing has always been her passion and she hopes to eventually sign with a professional dance company.

"It's just an amazing way to be able to express yourself through movement."

She launched her modelling debut in New Zealand in 2010 when, as 17-year-old, she helped Hunter reprise her role in a television hair commercial that yielded the Kiwi catch-cry: "It won't happen over night - but it will happen."

Stewart says she has a special relationship with New Zealand and its cuisine-- "you really do good eggs" -- and loves returning to see family and visit the beaches.

She will fly out tonight bound for LA for three weeks' holiday before returning to her studies in London.

Images from the Bendon shoot are expected to be unveiled early next year.

By Lane Nichols of the New Zealand Herald

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