Cara Delevingne covers the newest issue of WSJ. Magazine. I’m not the biggest believer in Cara’s modeling skills, but she looks attractive in this editorial. She looks less Angry-Baby-ish, although her eyebrows are even bigger here than they usually are. WSJ. Mag even comes out and basically says that Cara is enormously successful even though she’s not, like, the prettiest girl in the room. The whole point of this is that the modeling game has changed and all of the successful models these days are very active on social media. Cara is not only an example of how social media “made” her into an in-demand model, but how she parlayed that interest and that modeling career into a legitimate acting career. You can read the full WSJ. Magazine piece here. Some highlights:
Her social media helped her: “I wouldn’t have done as well if I hadn’t had that. Not at all. In the ’90s, I wouldn’t have been a supermodel.”
The downsides of the modeling industry: “It’s horrible living in a world where I’ll get a call from someone saying, So-and-so says you were partying a lot and you were looking this way and you need to lose weight. It makes me so angry. If you don’t want to hire me, don’t hire me.”
Putting her dream of becoming an actress on the back-burner to pursue modeling: “I basically gave up on acting, because trying to get an agent was impossible. Everyone said, ‘You’re just a model,’ …once I had my mind set that I was going to do this modeling thing, I really wanted to beat it, if that makes sense. Win it.”
Modeling not fulfilling her: “I ended up feeling a bit empty. Fashion is about what’s on the outside, and that’s it. There’s no searching, it’s just creating pretty things.”
Expanding her career and avoiding stereotypes: “I don’t want to be that cliché: model-slash-actress.”
Not limiting her career options: “I want to prove that you can be anything you want to be. I love working, and I love what I do. If I f—it up now, it’s all my fault.”
Her hopes of recording her own music album: “People are going to judge it so harshly that I think it has to be amazing.”
Finding herself in the tabloids: “It makes me never want to set foot outside ever again. I used to read them and torture myself.”
Finding inner peace in recent years: “I used to be in a constant state of panic and anxiety and have far too many voices in my head. I suddenly realized I’m peaceful inside, and I’ve never had that. Even when I was growing up.”
I have such mixed feelings about Cara and her fame. First of all, it’s a bit of humble-brag for her to say that she’s a “supermodel” now. She’s a socialite-slash-model-slash-actress. She came from a wealthy, well-connected family and she parlayed that into landing some big modeling campaigns and walking some important runways, but she’s basically only had a solid modeling career for like three years, and she’s already tapping out of modeling gigs to pursue acting. Maybe Cara will be accepted as an actress, maybe not. I have no doubt that she really wants that. But I do have doubts about the rest of it. Some of these younger models, like Cara, come across like they have never really worked or struggled for much. Her version of “struggle” is when photographers catch her handling cocaine.
Photos courtesy of Daniel Jackson for WSJ.Magazine.
Spot on analysis. She’s definitely not a ‘supermodel’ and she had a lot of help from her family connections to reach the spotlight. This girl doesnt know what struggling really is. It would do her some good to recognise that.
She’s as much of a Supermodel as models gets to be nowadays. The time of the real supermodels endend decades ago with Gisele Bündchen being the last one.
Sure she always had the advantage of coming from a rich family of socialites, but most other models from those families don’t manage to get to Cara’s level of popularity.
Her older sister Poppy is a model as well and despite having better preconditions lookewise (taller etc.) she is nowhere near as successful in the field.
I agree. As actresses have taken the place of models on magazine covers and in campaigns, and as models have skewed younger, thinner, and more Eastern European than the Supermodel heyday of the 90s, the Supermodel as a huge star in her own right has become a thing of the past (I agree with the above poster about Gisele, though). Cara is one of the most widely recognized current models at least.
I find it interesting that social media now plays such a big part in acting and modeling. It’s not just about being able to do the modeling job, but being able to promote it to your followers. It’s why Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid have exploded so much. And the fact that moat of these girls got a leg up from family connections shows 1) that modeling itself isn’t actually that hard and 2) is probably one of the reasons why we don’t have the same Supermodels, as women with ‘It’ have been replaced by women with families. It is what it is.
You should see her in motion – talking, moving – she has a LOT of charisma. I guess that’s why she is more successful than her sister. And she seems to be very comfy in her skin which it always an advantage. 🙂
It’s not just from coming rich and connected family. It’s her dad’s fashion and press connections that helped her to score so many covers and campaigns at the beginning of her career. Not all the socialites have fathers with the power to put them on a cover of a women’s magazine.
As Linn pointed out, it didn’t work for her older sister Poppy.
Only so many favors you can cash in?
Agree with everything said here excepting Gisele being the last supermodel. Coco Rocha is a GREAT supermodel, and a lovely human being. She is queen of posing, and a REAL model.
@Cici
It’s her godfather, not father
I LOVE Coco Rocha, but I don’t think she reached that same level of ubiquity.
Cara has a unique look at least and loads of personality, like her or not. Her sister Poppy…that looks like complete nepotism to me. She is completely bland and unremarkable.
I have to agree ISee. Her family is well conected and it helped her to become model. But these days many models came from famous parents or family. And all together they are not all that great looking bunch. ’90’s models were icons for many generations to come, they ruled the world.
I think the 90’s Supermodels were the last of the real Supermodels.
I don’t even include Gisele in that group, I never really liked Giseles face , great body, but face meh…but she is more of a millennium model anyway. IMO
Cara and most of the models today would never have reached 90’s Supermodel status. IMO
90’s Supermodels were Superstars ,even moviestars we’re excited by them, they floated , they danced , they played, they made videos of the time A Happeneing, they enthralled, they were GLAMAZONS and Absolute Beauties with Real strong Bodies!
Yawn! Oh her life is such a struggle. Said no one ever.
Definitely NOT the prettiest girl in the room, nor in the house.
When someone professionally takes care of her re: hair, make-up, fashion etc. .. she manages to stand from the crowd and the final result might range from nice to gorgeous.
However, in ordinary life she is nothing more than average, this is not meant to be an insult but it’s just to point out that she wouldn’t be considered as model material if not for her family name.
I recommend she stayed away from drugs and booze, which have surely taken a toll on her face/body.
This is true of pretty much all big time models. Catalogue models may be picked for their pretty cheerleader looks but high tier models are selected based on the uniqueness of their features and how malleable their look is.
I agree. I have known women who were as or more beautiful than any actress or model, but they weren’t photogenic, and I’ve known moderately attractive women who looked beautiful on film. Beauty isn’t the main factor.
Exactly. At least i can pick Cara out from a crowd of models. Most popular models look and act the same. She looks unique.
She is actually wrong about not being a success in the 90s, because the 90s was the decade that LOVED ‘odd’ looking but distinctive models like Erin O’Connor or Maggie Rizer, and also loved its posh British models with the cool factor (see: Stella Tennant).
Cara has both a distinctive look as well as family connections to the aristocracy. She’d have been a shoo-in for hit status in the 90s despite her height (Kate Moss is short too, it never stopped her).
I agree her face is memorable, like the 90’s Supermodels, but body-wise she’s not as strong as the 90’s Supermodels.
I think she has great eyebrows and a lot of personality though, which is a great asset.
**sighs** We live in a time where mediocrity rules the roost…If Kendall Jenner can be a model, and Taylor can be #1 sexiest..Cara definitely can be a super model.
On the other hand, it is refreshing for an entitled booger like Cara state the obvious. Also, “I basically gave up on acting, because trying to get an agent was impossible”
**snorts**
Maybe getting an agent was impossible because she, you know, wasn’t very good and had no training?
Yeah that was my first thought as well.
Cara’s face is strong , she does have a good look facially and Kendall Jenner fills all the criteria of a model agency. She may not ever be a supermodel but she definately can model.
My friend is a NYC booker at an agency and she said in some ways the agencies now prefer these girls with money and connections, because it’s simply good business it’s a lot easier to get them to a certain level, quicker. They are less work and save money having to be being paid out by the agencies,to get them going, as long as they fill the criteria of age, weight, height,looks.
I think you’re misinterpreting her here. I think she’s saying that she would not have been one of the supermodels of the nineties, not that she is a supermodel now.
That’s how I took it too. She wouldn’t have huge success and be a supermodel in the 90s,not that she’s a supermodel.
I agree. To me she sounded surprisingly humble and self aware for someone so young.
I could see her being a successful model in the ’70’s. She looks a lot like Margoux Hemmingway.
She would absolutely have been a success in the 90s though. ‘Quirky’ looks like hers were a big trend in models of that decade, as was a posh British background. Think Kate Moss or Stella Tennant, Maggie Rizer, Karen Elson etc.
The 80s, however, are another story.
Her face has strength and power and would have translated well for 90’s covers, but her body is just not on the level strength wise of the 90’s models, IMO Elle, Cindy ,Naomi
@LVN – None of the ladies I named was known for their body, except Erin O’Connor and Kate, who were famed for how skinny they were. It was all about having a distinctive face and look.
Post – ’94, the “supermodel” look started to be considered outdated in high fashion and the contents of the Vogues of that era reflect it.
That’s how I read it too. Maybe even more so in the sense that there are no real supermodels anymore and would there be, she wouldn’t be one of them.
I don’t think she feels the need to brag about her career and that she is, however, well aware of how much luck (and social media) had to do with it.
def. not in the 90’s. With make-up/hair etc she looks interesting but that’s it and the partying will take it’s toll on her if not careful.
I dunno, how long has Kate Moss partied for?
Well, I might be in a minority here but I think that Kate has looked quite bad for a while now and she definitely looks older than her age, especially compared to real stunners like Cindy Crawford, Christe Turlington or even Christine Brinkley, which is more than 20 years older!
I am always baffled when I read enthusiastic comments about Kate still rocking it. Have you people ever seen her in candid pictures? It’s clear to me that she led (probably still leading) a very unhealthy lifestyle, whereas the above-mentioned women work their ass off and put a lot of effort in exercising, eating and drinking properly.
Exibit 1:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3088397/Cara-Delevingne-Kate-Moss-enjoy-lesisurely-lunch-break-fashion-shoot-Toronto.html
Exibit 2:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3087890/Kate-Moss-keeps-casual-skinny-jeans-steers-luggage-trolley-Toronto-airport.html
Exibit 3:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3082943/Kate-Moss-ensures-s-centre-attention-sexy-LBD-taking-DJ-booth-pal-s-party.html
(I could go on for ages).
I agree with both of you. I do think the booze, cigarettes, and other stuff has taken a toll on Kate. But considering how badly and for how long she has abused her body, she still looks pretty damn great. At least she looks younger than Lindsay Lohan.
at least Kate owns the toll partying has taken on her, and doesn’t appear to be frantically botoxing and fillering herself back to age 25 (or even attempting to). I can respect that.
Bishg – totally agree, in fact I don’t know how anyone can think Kate still looks good. I love her as a model, hate her as a mother, I think she WAS definitely special as a model but she has been dead in the eyes for so long now people just think that’s how she’s always looked. I actually cancelled my Vogue subscription (UK) a few years ago when I opened the package to see a dozey eyed Kate looking back at me. I don’t know how Alexandra Shulman signed off on it, Kate couldn’t even keep her eyes open.
You got that right, Cara! I’m glad you know what we’ve all been thinking.
Surprisingly, these are very beautiful photos of her. I like the first pic a lot.
A couple of the other top young models out now come from wealthy, well connected families so I can’t hate too much. Angry Baby at least looks and sounds interesting.
She’s a monobrow away from being the perfect Angry Baby.
Many of the models today are coming from connections
You’d still have to be at least 5’8″ and super-thin to be a model though. In the modelling field, I would think connections can only take you so far. Someone like Cara D or Kendall Jenner might have benefitted from connections, but if they gain a smidgen of weight their careers are over. The standards in modelling are so exacting I guess I can’t imagine connections helping THAT much.
I do think Cara D is a bit weird-looking, but there are also a lot of weird looking models. The sticking point seems to not be the face but how thin and tall you are.
That’s very true perplexed, she does still fill the criteria a model needs, so yes she is valid model material.
Oh, I figure if you know them by name and they do covers, that’s close enough to being a supermodel. She stands out from the crowd, so whether you like her or not, she’s a very successful woman.
Love the concern-trolling that she will ruin her looks with partying 😀
She will be fine, she’s young. She actually seems well adjusted.
I think younge people just want to be famous for the sake of being famous, but the trust fund babies are just really lucky, but complains about how they “struggle and life is so hard” schemes for us “normal people ” to relate and fell as though they are really one of us. Not a humble bone in their bodies. Which is why I am sick of all them. But of course they have to be in the important news just like the Nigerian girls who are kidnapped to the Nepal earthquake that just happened weeks ago.
Cara and the rest of you sel entitled supermodel brats do what you do best and just lavish and brag about how much money you all have. And that also goes with rude and obnoxious pop stars that parade in nothing but a piece of material for clothes.. I’m talying to you Rihanna
She is NOT a supermodel in 2015 either.
Yep. It seems like every model who gains some popularity these days is referred to as a “supermodel.” In my mind, that term should be reserved for iconic models who have had long, successful careers.
XO
Correct. Neither is Kendall Jenner. Forgettable faces and personalities. The days of the super model are over.
XO
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Her connections aside, I think she would have been a good model by the 90s standard. The 90s celebrated a wide range of beauty, not this bland, prettiness that we see everywhere.
You had the top tier glamazons, but you also had a second and third tier of interesting looking models.
She looks like Margaux/Margot Hemingway, who was quite a successful model in her day.
I think other so-called supermodels of today like Kendall and Gigi really wouldn’t have stood out or even made a career because their beauty is as blandly pretty as all the models these days. Social media is definitely propelling their careers, not their looks.
Gigi Hadid’s mother was a famous model and Gigi is only half as pretty as she was in her heyday.
Weird I honestly didn’t read this before I posted my comment below! (re: Hemingways) Great minds! ;-0
I agree. Her eyebrows alone (well, along with the requisite thinness) could have probably gotten her hired in the ’90s.
Please don’t use the words “Kendall Jenner” and “supermodel” in the same sentence. I haven’t had breakfast yet.
XO
I think Cara and Kendall are both quite beautiful. I find them stunning in their photos and they still fill the modelling criteria of height, weight beauty or look so yes they are credible models, but no Kendall is not what I would call a Supermodel, but she’s competent and beautiful.
Cara is the closest to a Supermodel today. She has personality.
I have a friend who use to model in NYC, Europe in the 90’s and she was a working model, worked all the time, never famous but her face was somewhat recognizable from Ads she did.
She now works as a booker at a NY Agency. She told me that Today, the Agencies PREFER the moneyed-girls, the connected girls, because they are less work for the agencies to launch their careers and the agencies don’t have to worry about these girls paying their NYC rents or keeping a roof over their heads, they have so many instant buffers that they are viewed as positives and smart business for Agencies to take on.
The moneyed girls even can afford to pay for their own PR which is definitely a huge plus for the agencies.
Business wise the connected, moneyed young ladies have a lot of positives..she said things have changed since the 90’s.
It doesn’t sound like she was complaining about any struggles, just answering questions in a matter-of-fact way as to how and why her career has progressed and why she chose to start out as a model and then move onto acting. I actually think it’s a bit of a hindrance to start out as a model if you want to become a full-fledged actress, but it seems she has some method as to why she chose to do the things the way she did.
It’s weird because her face actually reminds me of Mariel Hemingway/Brooke Shields, kind of more of an 80’s model look. Strong. I like her big eyebrows for the sheer fact they have made eyebrows (for better or worse) a thing again, wish they’d been in fashion in my youth when I tweezed the bejeezus out of them! She can afford to be carefree with her modelling commitments, it’s not like she doesn’t have family money to fall back on. Still I don’t begrudge her seeking out something more fulfilling, she can’t possibly be a worse actress than Cindy Crawford!
Girl, yes. I tweeted my eyebrows too much in high school but now I let them be thick. But I think here’s are a little too strong for me.
You are correct, Cara. You would not have compared to Naomi/Cindy/Linda/Christy etc.
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I don’t know why she is a supermodel now.
She is NOT! That’s why you don’t understand😂
Cara talks about social media and how it’s made her career, and I fully agree. She has created her own buzz, or perhaps her family has….either way this is some genius marketing.
Then she goes on to bitch when people say she was out partying and looking used up and cracky-thin. Reality check: she most definitely posted photos of her own cokey self from that same night, and wants everyone to comment on her body and how great it looks at 100 lbs or whatever.
When people use social media like this, begging for attention and validation, they are inevitably hurt when what they hear doesn’t fit with their idealized, fantasy, fragile self concept.
I don’t think she’s pretty on the inside or out…and I own that I’m being a judgy mean internet person.
I kind of don’t get why Cara is a thing, but any scum bag who calls her up and tells her a job is hers if she can lose a few lbs can stick it where the sun don’t shine. She has the perfect model figure in my opinion- long and lean, plus she has some subtle curves that gives her a feminine look.
Tbh if she starved herself down to a skeletal size she’d be a perfect 90’s model.
I know people call her angry baby but modeling wasn’t ever about getting the prettiest models in the room together, I could easily see her as an addition to the Calvin Klein Jean ads because she does a great bare face and has that bit of grit that separates her from the other girls.
She’s have done fine. You’d see her everywhere modeling Doc Martens and Converses with fried hair and a Kurt Cobain shirt.
Now all the rest of her little cohorts…they barely deserve to be models now.
90s models weren’t nearly as skeletal as models nowadays. They were still quite slim, but I think their bodies looked much more attainable back in the day.
I do agree but heroin chic didn’t come from nowhere, for Cara to compete I think she’d have had to be a part of that crowd. Generally though you’re right the girls were a more normal size.
Kate Moss was hailed for her thinness. Cara D probably could have fit into whatever category it was that Kate Moss was in. She probably could have also done one of those Calvin Klein ads where everybody looked weird, pasty, and sick.
Jay, the waif look started the trend of unrealistic body size. It is still the standard today.
“If you don’t want to hire me, don’t hire me” – most models from poor backgrounds don’t get to say that.
She photigraphs well, but she’s 5’7 and if it wasn’t for her family she would be an ASOS model.
Born on the third base, this one.
if it wasn’t for her family she would be an ASOS model.
This is so true of her cohort as well (the Jenner girl with the dead eyes)
I think she’s a supermodel in the modern sense, because supermodel as a concept of the 90’s don’t exist anymore. Being a supermodel in the 90’s meant being ubiquitous in the fashion world and having an impact in popular culture, being iconic.
That era doesn’t exist anymore, I mean nowadays models aren’t even in demand for fashion covers, they are getting replaced by celebrities. So yeah I think she’s a supermodel by 2015 standards : extremely popular and with a big social media traction.
I don’t even find her particularly beautiful, but she definitely stands out because of her strange looks.
“They are getting replaced by celebrities”… BINGO!
Which is why social media has been important to her career. The way she’s managed it has turned her into a celebrity, not just a “model”. Smart cookie.
That’s funny, because apart from the eyebrows, she always reminded me of a 90’s poster girl.
I think she’s striking and some of the less conventionally pretty models have already been named In this thread- I would add Lily Cole. I always Thought Linda Evangelista was so – yes – striking and Christie Turlington so classy. The generics – eg Elle McPherson, Heidi Klum- are boring.
Those pictures look like something off of a pinterest stylist’s blog. Boring, moderately pretty, black and white.
When she was just starting out, we thought she looks like Margaux Hemingway. She would be successful in the 80s. But the 80s like their models to be curvy, statuesque and adult looking. She actually fits the mid 90s model – thin, not so tall, gaunt looking.
I don’t think this girl is appealing for any reason. I realize that most models aren’t attractive and are supposed to just be very thin and very long to showcase the clothing as best as possible and not distract from it, but I still don’t get the appeal with Cara. I completely agree with Kaiser’s assessment of her looking like an angry baby, which is hilarious but so true.
Why do models always wear the same face in photographs where they look like they just stepped in poo?
I don’t care about her looks but the girl is dumb. Whatan ignorant statement on fashion and from who? She clearly has zero idea of thecreative process, zero appreciation of the pieces of art she can wear and zero respect for any creative person, be it a sculptor or a designer. It’s mind blowing how coming fromthis chick creating beautiful things is just… scratching the surface of some mysterious depth she knows better about. Stupid and ignorant, what a combo! As a person working in the arts field, I’m appalled by her idiocy. Better keep your mouth shut and pose.
She usually looks like she has a moustache.
For example here the first photo here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2384317/
I’m all for a natural brow….but hers just dominate her entire face. Bad enough they give her the “angry baby” effect, but they look like giant millipedes crawling across her face. I don’t think she should go crazy, but bush whacking them back a bit would be a good thing.
Actually, I always looked at her like a Kate Moss type. Waifish type, with the very french look favoured by chanel, dior, et cetera since as far back as I can remember. Social media has helped her, probably, but I do think she’s much more a model than Kendall wannabe Jenner who looks like a Target model at best. Cara is not beautiful – but again that’s subjective – and I’ve seen her double chin but I think she’s a really good model on and off the runway.