COSMOPOLITAN June 2015 57
cover story
I
t’s 9.30am in New York City
and Cosmo’s SWAT cover team
is prepping for the arrival of
our cover girl Olivia Palermo.
Everything she’s requested is
in her dressing room. We say
“everything”; Olivia’s rider is, quite
frankly, a bit underwhelming. Just
some energy drinks and bottles of
Evian water. Nope, no fancy foods
or exotic flowers. Or kittens (you
missed a trick there, Olivia!). It’s
the perfect precursor to meeting
this unassuming 29-year-old.
When the girl who captured
the heart of the notoriously fickle
fashion world arrives, she instantly
introduces herself to every single
member of the team. Tick. Then
she makes a beeline for the mood
board we’ve put together, listening
carefully as Cosmo’s stylist takes her
through the shoot concept. She’s
ridiculously elegant. Blazer, white
shirt, jeans, necklace and Oxford
shoes. She looks like an off-duty
princess and it’s easy to see why her
natural, ladylike style caught the
attention of fashion commentators
when she appeared on MTV show
The City seven years ago.
The “Olivia effect” gained
momentum and suddenly she was
everywhere: fronting campaigns for
Mango, Carrera y Carrera, Hogan
and Rochas; front row at New York
Fashion Week; on magazine covers;
attending exclusive fashion parties.
Titles like “fashionista” and “style
icon” were showered on her. She’s
even been called this era’s Audrey
Hepburn. Over-the-top? Slightly
(even we have to concede that). But
such is the love for OP’s style that
people gush, GUSH, when talking
about her. And with good reason.
Just name one bad outfit she’s ever
worn. One. See what we mean?
So forward-thinking is this
former socialite that she’s made her
name a brand, launching her own
website (oliviapalermo.com) to great
success, which she uses to support
youngsters through e-commerce.
Palermo’s most recent endeavour
is designing a bag for quintessential
British accessories brand Aspinalof London. Named the Marylebone
and dubbed as a TechTote, the bag
is stunning (natch) but also highly
practical, with a protective, padded
iPad compartment, cleverly placed
cable paths and even an optional
charger to boost the battery of your
gadgets while on the go.
And get this: 100 per cent of
the proceeds of Palermo’s limited-
edition design will go to ADCAM,
a charity that she’s been a long-time
supporter of, which aims to help
improve the way of life in Maasai
communities [in southern Kenya
and northern Tanzania] through
co-operation projects and social
initiatives. Good one. Time to get
to know our life crush a bit better.When did you fi rst fall
in love with fashion?
As a child I loved dressing up, but
as I got to my late teens and early
twenties, fashion kind of evolved
through me and I grew a lot more
interested in it. My mum and aunt
have always been very fashionable,
so it’s in my heritage.You’ve said fashion has a
lot to do with good taste.
Would you say that can be
learnt or do people have to
be born with it?
A bit of both – as you grow older,
your eye evolves. I’m sure every
fashion editor would tell you that
as the years go by, you learn more
and things get easier, but you have
to have a basis for it.It’s been a varied career:
you’ve been a model, TV
star, designer... What have
you enjoyed the most?
I think that for me, I’m fortunate
because everything I do connects
into each other, whether it’s styling,
editing, consulting, designing or
modelling. I mean, I love modelling
because I’ve been very fortunate to
work with amazing people, travel
around the world and work with
some incredible photographers...
and I think the whole experience of
travelling and being in lots of >