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Top German model Julia Stegner is at New York Fashion Week as the Brand Ambassador for the week's sponsor, Mercedes Benz. And she's itching for a fight!
"I'm happy the supermodels are coming back," she told StyleList backstage at Mercedes' VIP Star Lounge. "I think we should take away the jobs that all the actresses are trying to take from us. Because you know what, being in an advertising campaign is not a job for an actress, it's a job for a model. Otherwise all the models are going to get together and steal all the acting jobs."
She reflects on that with a wry smile. "I don't know if we'll succeed, but ..."
Miss Stegner's sense of humor is rare in a high-gloss world where so many of her fellow mannequins can find it difficult even to talk about the clothes they're paid so much to wear. And at the tender age of 24, she's happy to declare: "I'm old! I'm a fashion grandmother!"
She tells me: "I was almost 15 years old when I was discovered at the Oktoberfest in Munich, where I'm from. I was with a couple of friends and an agent came by and said, 'do you want to be a model,' and the rest is history. But I did finish high school first, and started modeling full time when I was 18. But now when I do a show I'm ten years older than some of the girls--that's insane."
Also remarkable is the advice she would give to her younger self after a decade in the business.
"Don't say no to so many jobs!" she says with that wicked grin. "At the time my family was most important so I did say no to a lot of jobs that now I would never say no to! But you know, I'm still around and I'm still working, [editors note: the big fat money jobs ya all!] so I must have done something right."
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