Supermodels are smart and tough – trust me, I know them
When I came across a derogatory piece about models being uninteresting and stupid recently, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the writer had come across many models in real life. Or whether they mistook models’ professional images for real life.
Believe me, I’ve met all the supermodels – or most of them, at least. And they are bright, hard-working and ultra-resilient. They have to be, to survive in a cut-throat business.
As a fashion hairstylist, I meet models as young as 16 (it used to be younger). Some barely speak English, having been sent here or to America to try to make some money, often to send home to their family. I’ve had the pleasure of watching quite a few gangly, awkward teenagers turn into confident, savvy twenty-something businesswomen who speak three or four languages – and who know exactly their value.
The motto I’ve always told young models is “buy the flat, not the handbag” – and I’m pleasantly surprised by how quickly they learn to be smart with their money. I guess flying across the world as a teenager forces them to wise up quickly.
Two very successful women I worked with a lot on the fashion circuit, Iselin Steiro and Julia Nobis, studied for years backstage and on planes during break times. Now they are an architect and a doctor respectively. The Hadid sisters, Gigi and Bella, work tirelessly for many charities. Gisele Bündchen, meanwhile, uses her fame to promote environmental causes.
Naomi Campbell – that giggling, gangly 15-year-old I met in 1985 – has weathered many storms, but has found her role as a mother and a crusader for black communities (I knew instantly when I first met her that she had a starlike quality about her, but of course you might not believe me now).
Kate Moss, once the much shorter, less traditional model, went on to be the most iconic of all. Now she has her own agency representing young “outsiders”. What used to be a two-dimensional “cookie cutter” career has morphed into every model developing their own social media platform and following, to create their own value and power without relying on one agency or person.
Now, although it can be very lucrative, modelling is definitely not for the faint-hearted. You see, creating the illusion of “glamour” is a very unglamorous business.
Models may look like exotic animals, but they work like Welsh pit ponies. Have you tried jumping on a trampoline for 10 hours, wearing winter wool in the hot sun? Or worn a bikini in 10°C drizzle in January on a Cornwall beach? You don’t read about that in the tabloids. Most of the really successful models are not the traditional “pretty girl” in school – pretty isn’t quite enough in front of the camera. Being striking, unusual, original: these attributes are the key to success. So often, the odd-looking, gangly, wide-eyed giraffe in the class turns out to be the swan-like cover girl in the photo studio.
After being scouted by an agency, there are maybe a couple of years of
Models may look like exotic animals, but they work like Welsh pit ponies
rejection before the magic happens – which is when they build up the resilience that’s needed by the tonne.
It’s almost an Olympic sport. You will not always have the look the client wants, and that is not your fault – which is tough for a teenager to understand. When people say models are dumb, I want to exclaim: “Educate yourself!” But then, oddly, the past 45 years has been more of an education for me than the models I’ve worked with.
Modelling is unlike any other career, because you simply cannot lose face: whether you’re on a cliff edge in a storm, or have travelled 10,000 miles on a moped and three planes, the job must be done. You can have a good moan or a cry in the make-up chair – but unless you keep smiling when on camera, the money won’t reach your bank account. Their insistence on creating the perfect image in the face of adversity has rubbed off on me. It has taught me that anything is possible, to see the positive in every situation, and to strive to give 100 per cent with a smile.
Unlike a few decades ago, now a model’s career need not be over when they hit 25. To this day I still work with Moss, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington and Yasmin Le Bon. All are in their fifties and still going strong. And just look at all the models who went on to be successful actresses: Nicole Kidman, Jessica Lange and Twiggy.
But still, for most of the models I work with, so much time has passed that I’m 50 years older than them. Their electric energy and youthful enthusiasm is infectious. Sometimes, I see bits of my young self in them and want to share my wisdom, to stop them making the mistakes I did. If only they’d listen.