If you’re a freak, be a freak:’ words of wisdom from supermodel Irina Lazareanu
Wednesday, June 17 at 9:00 AM ET
Sheri Block, CTV.ca
“If you’re a freak, be a freak.”
You wouldn’t think this is the advice one of the top supermodels in the world would be giving out to young hopefuls, but that’s exactly what Irina Lazareanu told the seven remaining finalists on CNTM.
“In the beginning of my career everybody just told me, ‘No, no, no, you’re too weird, too short, too this, too that’ so my favourite sentence is always ‘I did ok for a short model.’”
Now one of the most sought after supermodels in the world and muse to the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Nicolas Ghesquiere, Irina says she can definitely relate to what the finalists on Canada’s Next Top Model are going through.
“Oh my God totally … It was so hard for me because I was like I know how they feel and they’re probably terrified,” she said.
In one of her early shows for Marc Jacobs, Irina told the girls she was looking down the whole time and mumbling to herself, “Don’t be weird, don’t be weird.” Everyone was yelling at her and she didn’t realize until later they just wanted her to look up.
She said she proved everyone wrong – by breaking a record for the most shows as a rookie model – and wanted to let the CNTM finalists know it’s ok to be different.
“I really wanted to pass on a way for them to not be afraid to be themselves and even if they’re kooky, or different – being a freak is not such a bad thing,” said Irina, following the challenge.
It’s a message that hit home for the girls, in particular for Nikita.
“She basically told me to always be myself. She’s a self-proclaimed freak and she’s like, ‘If you’re a freak, be a freak.’ I like that she said that and will always remember that line from her,” said Nikita.
Conquering the runways and the radio airwaves?
Born in Romania and raised in the Montreal suburb of St-Hubert from the age of five, Irina moved to the UK when she was 15 years old to study ballet.
Irina soon met and briefly dated rocker Pete Doherty and toured with his band Babyshambles. The pair broke up but remained friends; Irina later became friends with model Kate Moss, whom Doherty had begun to date at the time.
At the age of 17, Irina signed with Montreal’s Giovanni modeling agency and was featured in French Vogue, after Moss was guest editing for the magazine and suggested her. Her career quickly skyrocketed from there.
Irina says she can relate to girls growing up in Canada who are starting out and looking for opportunities in the business. She says being in Europe did bode well for her.
“The first person to actually discover me, even before Kate, was Karl (Lagerfeld), so he’s obviously French, but maybe being in Europe and being around people that really were in the business already I learned a lot about style, about the way things work, so absolutely it gave me a bit of a push.”
Even still, she says there’s always a way to break into the business – no matter where you’re from – and encourages model hopefuls to learn as much about the industry as they can.
“I’ve always been very interested in fashion, even when I was younger I would read books about Mr. St. Laurent or the beginning of Mr. Dior’s couture career … It gives you a step forward. When you go into a casting maybe it just helps you start some conversations or some relationships with people that’s going to set you apart from everybody else.”
Irina is not only in demand in the modeling world, she has also been working on an album with Sean Lennon, son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Irina says Lennon is a very close friend of hers and considers him a “musical genius.”
“The way he composes things, really, it’s at a speed that is amazing. In like 10 minutes, he’ll have written a symphony and so we were a very good match and stuff and he’s a great producer and somebody that can really help me.”
An avid fan of greats such as Oscar Wilde and Leonard Cohen, Irina’s always enjoyed expressing her thoughts in poetry and lyrics.
“Sean makes me believe in myself musically, which is something kind of new because I was always writing things or participating with people but never really stood in front and say, ‘Oh no, I could do this.’ For the first time he gave me that kind of hope and strength and faith in myself, which is very rare.”
The album is currently being mixed and Irina says she hopes to release it by the end of the summer.
“It’s definitely my priority right now,” said Irina, who took some time off to finish the album. It also gave her a chance to come home.
“I had a month to come back to Canada, see my family, spend time with my dog, get my feet back on the ground, get healthy, because it’s a crazy world and I’ve been working just so hard at my modeling career and just going from place to place I really didn’t have time to develop my other projects,” she said.
Irina is also currently reading a movie script but is not sure whether she’ll actually pursue it any further.
“I swore to myself I was not going to be the model turned singer turned actress,” she said with a laugh. “But it’s an amazing opportunity with amazing actors and an amazing director so I’m definitely considering that.”
that annoys me too, when they're asked on these modelling shows who their favourite fashion designer is and they can't even name one designer, what the hell?
And poor Irina, certainly
One of the girls even coudn't read "Lazareanu"
Dior is soo easy to say, but somebody still can't...And this "chanel" moment
I would have sold my soul of a possibility like this
