Can you tell us about your early life growing up in Connecticut and your aspirations?
I had an idyllic life in Old Greenwich, a charming coastal New England village steeped in its puritan roots with an amusing dose of WASP culture. It was a place where being called “glamorous” or “ambitious” was an insult. As much as I enjoyed my childhood there, I craved experiences and travel and my parents indulged me by sending me to summer camp in Lugano, Switzerland, and later, allowed me to spend summers as a teen model in New York City, Tokyo and London.
What did you learn from your modelling years?
I always loved the idea of being a model, after all, I grew up with the supers but it was a rude awakening as to how much work it was. From building up a portfolio of test shots and then editorial shots, and earning income with catalog and commercial shoots, it was hard work. Later, learning how to handle rejection, and how, as a teenager, to work with grown-ups, building a steady roster of clients, and photographers, and by earning a good reputation as someone who is always on time, and had the physical stamina and a positive attitude when required to do the hard jobs - wearing fur coats in hot weather or making pre-dawn call times in ever-changing time zones. One had to be incredibly independent and learn to advocate for themselves to be paid on time, negotiate rates and fees with your agency and to learn how to take feedback on how to do better. It was much harder work than anyone could have imagined which prepared me for the future. Honestly, every job felt easy after that.
But most importantly, through modeling I figured out the job that I wanted. Sassy Magazine (an alt-teen ‘zine’) was a regular client and the editor that booked me, Andrea Linnet, endlessly inspired me. She was the one who was calling the shots, that everyone was listening to... the one that had an idea in her head of the shot she wanted and like a director, got everyone on set to execute her vision. I knew, then and there, that being a Fashion Editor was the job I wanted.
You studied history at university and went on to live and work in Paris - tell us about your time there.
I was always drawn to Paris as an act of rebellion. My father worked for a French company and found it to be tiresome. He used to joke that he only learned two words in French, ‘au’ and ‘revoir’. So to fall in love with France and to want to move there was my form of rebellion. Better than a tattoo, a suppose.
One of your first jobs was at Vogue which sounds hugely glamorous - what was it really like and how did you work your way up?
It really was, and the line from the book The Devil Wears Prada, 'a million girls would kill for this job’ really was true. Like modeling - or like ANY job in fashion - it was emotionally and psychically exhausting. I missed my best friend’s wedding that fell over a fashion week, multiple family vacations and nights out with girlfriends because I was working late - but I would not change it for anything and it was the best preparation for life I could have asked for.
You then spent time as a PR for Carolina Herrera - how has this knowledge from the designer perspective helped you at Moda?
I loved working for Carolina Herrera and Anna Wintour. They were both in charge of their domain but retained their femininity and had great style and elegance while doing so and created an environment that, while demanding, was nurturing of young talent.
