We’ve always admired supermodel Coco Rocha for speaking up about models’ rights.
And as one of the mentors for the new modeling competition The Face, she’ll be dealing with lots of young, impressionable girls directly, so it’s good to know that she has such strong convictions.
The stunning 24-year-old appears in the February issue of DuJour magazine and discusses her early years as a model, what she will and won’t do on a job, and her “insane” list of demands.
She also shows us what made her such a success in the first place, striking dramatic and whimsical poses for photog Nigel Barker in an embroidered Louis Vuitton jacket, dotted Rochas trench, Bottega Veneta jersey dress, and belted Bally leather coat.
Coco admits there was some tension during her early days as a model, telling the mag:
“Early on in my career, people were forcing me to do stuff. I was young and vulnerable. Those people should have had the courage to say, ‘Hey, let’s not do that.’ They’d never ask their kid to do [what they’d ask me to do], but they forget that models are just children. I also should have had the voice to say no. I didn’t do it, so I can’t blame anyone but myself. That’s why I’m so vocal about things today.”
As she grew older and wiser, she recalls that clients began respecting her choices:
“In the beginning, the clients would say, ‘This is too much,’ but over time, the ones I liked kept working with me. They’d say, ‘It’s not too much. Coco can still be Coco. She still gives 100 percent when she’s on a photo shoot.’ It’s just my boobs aren’t out. And I don’t have a cigarette in my hand, and I’m not making out with a guy. And it’s all fine if you want to do that. I don’t judge. My besties do Victoria’s Secret. I just don’t do it.”
These days her contract stipulations are very strict, as she will be the first to admit:
“My list of what I won’t do compared with any other model’s is insane. No religious artifacts, no government artifacts. If I’m shooting with a male model, what is he exactly doing with me? What is he wearing? If I’m working with other models, what are they wearing? Are they playing something that I don’t want?”
Don’t worry about that “insane” list, Coco. You gotta fight for your rights, after all!
Plus, you’re setting a great precedent!
Check out the full spread in the gallery (below)!
[Image via DuJour]
Related Posts
