Model behavior
A Day In The Life: Julia Stegner
July 2, 2009
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When Julia Stegner replaced local lovely Eva Padberg as the face of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin, she catapulted the showcase for German fashion from an insular national event to one with global appeal. The Munich-born supermodel’s coltish good looks have landed her on Victoria’s Secret runways as well as on the covers of many international editions of
Vogue. Here, we catch up with Stegner during her afternoon on the clock.
1 p.m.
After a day and a half spent getting to know her best friend’s newborn, hunting for an investment-worthy Berlin apartment, and shopping in Mitte, Stegner begins to greet journalists in her room at the Hotel de Rome, next to the Bebelplatz main show tent.
1:30 p.m.
Stegner selects a pair of black Margiela wedges that she acquired over a year ago, misplaced, relocated, and is wearing for the first time for her upcoming roster of television interviews.
1:32 p.m.
While prepping, Stegner discusses her role as Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. “I always had a good life. I have great parents and a great family. Then I started at this job when I was 15 and I have been so fortunate to be really successful. I realized that I really want to help people less fortunate. Whatever my problems might be, they are nothing compared to those of people out there.”
2 p.m.
Stegner fields questions about the German economy, the career prospects for the winner of the country’s
Next Topmodel contest, and Berlin’s viability as a fashion capital. “Everyone is looking to Berlin now,” she says. “I love Munich, because it is my home. It is very clean and people are very straight. But they are a little, well, I guess people elsewhere would think that people from Munich are a bit snobbish. Berlin, however, has a very open and hopeful energy.”
4 p.m.
Stegner attends a catwalk show by Argentine designer Pablo Ramírez. A preening television star in see-through stacked stilettos and pinup shorts becomes petulant when Stegner enters the room and the photographers immediately reposition themselves. “Well, she is taller,” the starlet mutters to console herself.
4:45 p.m.
Stegner sits front-row at South Africa’s Black Coffee show, in which each model meets the preceding one midway up the catwalk to tie the final bow of her draped and beaded silk cape or dress. “It was like modern dance or theater,” said Stegner. “At first, I was confused, but then I loved it. Berlin is such a creative city. These things happen here.”
And with that, she’s on a plane back to New York for another photo shoot in the morning. —Ana Finel Honigman
style.com