1O7there is. Once Hermès offered for a handbag to be named after me and I thought,
No! I don’t quite remember why now...’
And then, of course, there was the Freedom! ’9O video, now a sort of cultural relic,
both for George Michael and the supermodels who lip synced their way through it:
Linda, Christy, Naomi, Cindy and Tatjana Patitz.
She laughs. ‘Oh, the George Michael video where everyone participated...
I was working with a lot of high-end brands at that time and I just thought, That doesn’t
fit with the strategy right now.’ There’s a pause. ‘It was stupid.’
If this all makes her sound rather like the school prefect of supermodels, you’d
be wrong. One on one, on home turf, Schiffer is smiley, funny, easy. Her warmth is
not immediate, but it builds like a furnace.
‘I think the term was, “She’s very professional,”’ she says when recalling
her reputation. ‘I would just do my work and go: “I’m leaving! I’m rushing
out the door!” There were constantly parties after dinner, but I always
thought, I must succeed, I must be the best, I must go from place to place
and not take time off. So there was rarely “Let’s have drinks” afterwards.
It’s very dangerous opening that up, and sometimes unpredictable. I was
lucky. But I would definitely say to the younger generation of models,
it’s a job at the end of the day – just don’t mix it in with anything else.
Sometimes, of course, you can’t avoid it, even with those rules.’
Schiffer becomes firm when talking about fashion and the harsher
edgesshe has witnessed firsthand. She admits she was spared any form of sexual
intimidation during that time, but intimidation made itself known in other areas.
‘I have seen it and it’s not nice,’ she says. ‘I’m not talking about sexual terms, but
justbullying and exercising of power that you don’t need. Or asking for things that
youdon’tneed. I’ve seen that a lot and I’ve made a mental note that I don’t want to
workwiththose people again. And I haven’t.’hewon’t be drawn on names but will say rather cryptically: ‘Sometimes they
are not great people, but at the same time the photos are really great and
sometimes you make compromises. And that’s life...’
She is proud, however, of how the supermodels used their own power to boycott
those in the industry known for foul play. ‘There was camaraderie in that sense. If
somebody had a bad experience or if they felt they were treated unfairly, [we]
would call everyone and say, “By the way, this just happened.” We thought, We
have the power all together and we should use it, because this is wrong. We made
things change.’
Often with celebrities for whom fame was most prominent early on in life, there is
a reluctance to dwell on the past. They edge away from it, as though the association
somehow confirms their altered status. Not Schiffer. There is an ease when she
talks about the supermodel days, the sort of fondness only afforded those who
never felt defined by it.
As the interview wraps up, she walks me to the door. She asks what my husband
does for a living. I explain that he is a writer. She smiles and there is a short pause.
‘I think, for me, being a writer is the perfect job. You’re known for your name, not
particularly for how you look. So you can have a completely private life, yet have
all the glory from your name. And you can do it from wherever you are. You can just
do your bit of work, live in the middle of nowhere and [your work] speaks for itself.’
With that, I leave her in her own middle of nowhere; a striking figure on
a gravel driveway whose own name stands for far more than she will ever know.“AS SUPERMODELS,
W E T HOUGH T,
‘we have the power
AND WE SHOULD
USE I T, BECAUSE
this is wrong.’
WE MADE THINGS
CHANGE”
S