Meet South African model returning before start of fashion year (7)
I believe the answer is:
satisfy
'meet' is the definition.
(satisfying is a kind of meeting)
'south african model returning before start of fashion year' is the wordplay.
'south african' becomes 'sa'.
'model' becomes 'sit' ('sit' can be a synonym of 'model'**).
'returning' is a reversal indicator.
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'start of' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'fashion year' is 'fy'.
'sit' back-to-front is 'tis'.
'sa'+'tis'+'fy'='SATISFY'
(Other definitions for satisfy that I've seen before include "Content" , "Be good enough for" , "Comply with (condition)" , "Fulfil, gratify" , "Satiate" .)