Alexis Primous by Mario Sorrenti for W Magazine September 2015

Over the past month, thousands of hopeful models from all over the country submitted photos and videos on Instagram using the hashtag #WmagModelSearch— Alexis Primous (@alexisprimous), a 20-year-old college student from Palmetto, Florida, among them. “Nobody knows I entered, not even my family,” she said over the phone, after finding out that she had been selected as the winner by W‘s Fashion Director Edward Enninful, W‘s Booking Director Erin Simon, fashion photographer Mario Sorrenti, and IMG Models‘ We Love Your Genes scouting team.