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Translation from Elle France 22 February, 2013. Interview by Stéphanie Chayet.
Frida Gustavsson dreamed of being a pilot and was a champion runner … today it’s on the world’s catwalks that she runs!
When she comes to New York for work, Frida Gustavsson always goes to the Maritime Hotel. “I feel at home here,” she says while showing off a sofa by the Swedish designer Josef Frank, whose print reminds her of her grandmother’s living room. This native of Stockholm is not yet 20 years-old and has already spent 4 years at her job – 4 years spent traveling the world. Discovered at 14 years-old in an H&M where she was shopping with a schoolmate, she found herself immediately overbooked [or booked a lot]. “The day after my 15th birthday, I left to work in Japan for the entire summer, accompanied by my father. Every day a car came to get me at dawn. I only had two days of vacation.” Then she moved on to London and Paris, where, at 16 years-old, she opened the Valentino Haute Couture runway show. If she could do it all again, she wouldn’t change anything: Frida lives a fairytale. What should one know about her?
She has two moon-shaped scars on her knees, reminders of a fall during a relay race. Since she was young, Frida ran fast, very fast. Noticed at 7 years-old by a sports trainer who was passing through her school, she signed up for a competition out of curiosity and ended up winning all the awards. A revelation. “Until then, I had never thought to excel in anything. That’s the problem of growing up with two brothers.” Over the years, she accumulated medals (more than 200) and injuries: two broken arms and one hand fracture. “I was awkward. When I stopped to become a model, my parents were relieved.”
She shot her first photographs for a Swedish magazine that was called “Frida” like her. “It was an editorial for Christmas, there was gold and glitter everywhere. I fell in love instantly with this job.”
Walking for Valentino launched her career. “The day of the casting, I saw all of my idols pass by. They kept me in the showroom for 5 days to do the fittings without telling me if I would do the show. The day before the show, my agent called me to tell me that I would open and close the show. That was huge. I had never walked in a show and I was terrified. But when I was pushed towards the lights of the catwalk, I felt euphoric.” The next season she walked 72 shows.
She earned a good mark on her final exams without setting foot in a high school. From the start, Frida did all her schoolwork by correspondence. “Because it was a track specializing in fashion, I had to bring my sewing machine everywhere.” She no longer travels with it, but she’s always sewing. “Certain clothes are difficult to find in my size. I made myself a long coat in cashmere, in the style of a dressing gown, that I never take off.”
She wanted to be a pilot when she was young. Still today she loves airplanes. And that’s a good thing because she travels 250 times per year. “I take so often the flight SK903 Stockholm to New York that the hostesses know what I eat for breakfast.”
She never travels without a Moleskine notebook and her Polaroid camera [that she] bought in Tokyo. She fills her notebook with recipes, ideas, and small drawings. And she takes photos of the landscape that she keeps in a shoebox. “One day I would like to make a book.”
She dresses like a boy. Her uniform: black cigarette pants, an oversized white shirt, and men’s shoes from A.P.C. or Sebago (“I have them in every color!”). In the evening she wears the same, but accessorizes with Céline boots that have a silver heel and oversized jewelry. Frida collects Lanvin necklaces. “I give myself one every season.”
She is addicted to stickers. Her Blackberry and her Mac Book are covered [in them].
She swears by oils. Argan oil every morning and evening on her face, olive oil, one time per month, on her hair. “It’s necessary to let it sit all night long and then shampoo in the morning. It’s a ritual I inherited from my mother, who has amazing hair.” As for makeup, she is happy with a tinted concealer by Laura Mercier and a classic lipstick (or blush?) by Dior, the 452.
She loves music from the ‘70s. Pink Floyd, The Velvet Underground, Neil Young. “Everything that my dad listened to in the car.”
Translated by me
Frida Gustavsson dreamed of being a pilot and was a champion runner … today it’s on the world’s catwalks that she runs!
When she comes to New York for work, Frida Gustavsson always goes to the Maritime Hotel. “I feel at home here,” she says while showing off a sofa by the Swedish designer Josef Frank, whose print reminds her of her grandmother’s living room. This native of Stockholm is not yet 20 years-old and has already spent 4 years at her job – 4 years spent traveling the world. Discovered at 14 years-old in an H&M where she was shopping with a schoolmate, she found herself immediately overbooked [or booked a lot]. “The day after my 15th birthday, I left to work in Japan for the entire summer, accompanied by my father. Every day a car came to get me at dawn. I only had two days of vacation.” Then she moved on to London and Paris, where, at 16 years-old, she opened the Valentino Haute Couture runway show. If she could do it all again, she wouldn’t change anything: Frida lives a fairytale. What should one know about her?
She has two moon-shaped scars on her knees, reminders of a fall during a relay race. Since she was young, Frida ran fast, very fast. Noticed at 7 years-old by a sports trainer who was passing through her school, she signed up for a competition out of curiosity and ended up winning all the awards. A revelation. “Until then, I had never thought to excel in anything. That’s the problem of growing up with two brothers.” Over the years, she accumulated medals (more than 200) and injuries: two broken arms and one hand fracture. “I was awkward. When I stopped to become a model, my parents were relieved.”
She shot her first photographs for a Swedish magazine that was called “Frida” like her. “It was an editorial for Christmas, there was gold and glitter everywhere. I fell in love instantly with this job.”
Walking for Valentino launched her career. “The day of the casting, I saw all of my idols pass by. They kept me in the showroom for 5 days to do the fittings without telling me if I would do the show. The day before the show, my agent called me to tell me that I would open and close the show. That was huge. I had never walked in a show and I was terrified. But when I was pushed towards the lights of the catwalk, I felt euphoric.” The next season she walked 72 shows.
She earned a good mark on her final exams without setting foot in a high school. From the start, Frida did all her schoolwork by correspondence. “Because it was a track specializing in fashion, I had to bring my sewing machine everywhere.” She no longer travels with it, but she’s always sewing. “Certain clothes are difficult to find in my size. I made myself a long coat in cashmere, in the style of a dressing gown, that I never take off.”
She wanted to be a pilot when she was young. Still today she loves airplanes. And that’s a good thing because she travels 250 times per year. “I take so often the flight SK903 Stockholm to New York that the hostesses know what I eat for breakfast.”
She never travels without a Moleskine notebook and her Polaroid camera [that she] bought in Tokyo. She fills her notebook with recipes, ideas, and small drawings. And she takes photos of the landscape that she keeps in a shoebox. “One day I would like to make a book.”
She dresses like a boy. Her uniform: black cigarette pants, an oversized white shirt, and men’s shoes from A.P.C. or Sebago (“I have them in every color!”). In the evening she wears the same, but accessorizes with Céline boots that have a silver heel and oversized jewelry. Frida collects Lanvin necklaces. “I give myself one every season.”
She is addicted to stickers. Her Blackberry and her Mac Book are covered [in them].
She swears by oils. Argan oil every morning and evening on her face, olive oil, one time per month, on her hair. “It’s necessary to let it sit all night long and then shampoo in the morning. It’s a ritual I inherited from my mother, who has amazing hair.” As for makeup, she is happy with a tinted concealer by Laura Mercier and a classic lipstick (or blush?) by Dior, the 452.
She loves music from the ‘70s. Pink Floyd, The Velvet Underground, Neil Young. “Everything that my dad listened to in the car.”
Translated by me
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