LOVE INTERVIEW: NIKI TAYLOR
Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:30:00
On a flying visit to London which included a shoot for LOVE, American supermodel Niki Taylor popped over to see me in East London for a chat about life, her experiences as a model in the Eighties and Nineties and her career comeback. By Christina Lindsay
How did your modelling career begin?
I started my career in Miami when I was fourteen. My first cover was Seventeen magazine in 1989. I started getting a lot of catalogue work. My agent brought me to New York and I won a modeling contest in New York called Fresh Faces when I was fifteen. At sixteen I got the Cover Girl cosmetic contract and started doing lots of shows and campaigns for all sorts of brands; Calvin Klein, Lee Jeans, Gap, L’Oreal, Pantene, Liz Claiborne, Nokia… there are loads more.
How did you find it having a career so young?
Well, my parents kept me in school because they wanted me to get my high school diploma. After I graduated and I married my boyfriend straight away. I was married at eighteen, babies at nineteen (twin boys) and divorced by twenty-one. So I was a single mother for the next twelve years.
So your experience would have been quite different from the other Supermodels of the time?
Yes very! I would do the job or the show and go straight back to the hotel where my parents were staying. Then later I would go back to look after my boys. The other girls went out and partied so I missed a lot of that.
People don’t realise you were the youngest one of that group by about five years
Yes I was, so my parents travelled with me at first and a little bit later I had the children to look after.
I remember you very well, you had that all-American, fresh faced, girl-next-door look
Oh, I like that description! I had boobs and hips which was right for that time, then that skinny look came in and I wasn’t right for it.
What size were you then?
I was a size four. Before I was pregnant the last time in 2009 I was a twelve. I’ve really worked hard to get in shape and I’m back to a size four now. It’s been a while. I love it! I love to be able to put on sample sizes again. Running about after a baby makes you lose weight.
You hold quite a few modeling records, can you tell me about them?
I was the youngest person to be on the cover of Vogue at sixteen, the first person to win an exclusive cosmetic contract (Cover Girl) at eighteen and the youngest model to sign a six figure deal.
Wow! that’s pretty amazing. You’ve appeared on over three hundred magazine covers and an unprecedented six in one month haven’t you?
Yes! The six covers became known as the ‘Niki Six’. They were Vogue, Allure, Elle, Self Shape and Marie Claire.
Who magazines put on the cover is so different now with the celebrity culture, isn’t it?
Yes, it’s all about celebrity now, you’ll see actresses with a movie out or something to promote on the covers. Back then it was all about the models. Maybe it’ll come full circle? That would be great!
The industry has changed so much since the Nineties, especially the budgets! what have you noticed the most?
Oh yes, the budgets were completely different then. It was much more jet set in those days. We used to go to amazing locations, get flown all over the world, sometimes on Concorde, we took it for granted I suppose, we didn’t know any different. I’ve done so many fantastic shoots. One really one memorable one where they flew us all to Iceland first class, the locations were absolutely stunning I got to experience a lot of things the models don’t get to so much now.
What have been your favourite modeling jobs?
I have to say all of them because all of them were a blessing. I’ve had such great opportunities. I love travelling. I love working with great photographers and stylists and hair and make-up people.
One job I had where I swam with dolphins in Florida Keys, that was really amazing. I did the Ticker Tape parade when all the troops came home from Desert Storm and the parade went down Broadway in Manhattan, that was for Vogue.
Which really big shows did you do?
My first show was Thierry Mugler!
Oh how brilliant! Mugler was my favourite, him and Galliano.
Yes I was sixteen and suddenly brought into this world full of transvestites and top models. It was fantastic! I loved working for Thierry. I think there’s a youtube somewhere of me in the motorcycle dress. Galliano was amazing. There was a Galliano show in a castle and another where we had to run down the catwalk, as if we were being chased, we were supposed to be running away from something. And one where I played a prostitute! His shows are like theatre aren’t they?
What advice would you give to other models?
All the places I’ve travelled to, I was just in and out. I wish I’d had an extra day or so to experience a bit more. I’d love to see the countryside in England, there’s so much history here. I never got to see it. I know to appreciate it this time around. When I was in my twenties it was just like “I need to get home, I need to call my boyfriend This time it’s different, I’m looking at it through different eyes. That and drink more water! I never drank enough water!
I watched you on The Jay Leno Show from 1991 with David Bowie and Keanu Reeves, you were so young!
I was SO beyond nervous! David Bowie was super nice and absolutely beautiful… even more beautiful in person. And I had a huge crush on Keanu Reeves, he was my biggest crush of the Nineties. I was really nervous and he and I had to sit next to each other! It was really funny.
Have you had any other famous crushes?
[Laughs} Not now, I’m too in love with my husband Burney Lamar who’s a NASCAR driver.
What are you doing now?
I moved to Tennessee in the Nineties and I’m remarried and now we have a one year old daughter. It sounds like the last place you’d move to but Nashville is such central location and a wonderful place to raise kids. It’s two hours to New York, two hours to Miami, four hours to LA. I love it, it’s a really great place to live.
So this is your comeback?
Yes! I’m letting people know I’m back. I have a great agent Cory Bautista at New York Models. I had my daughter a year ago and I’m really back in shape. I’m in the best shape I’ve been in for years.
What have you worked on recently?
I’ve just shot for Saks and Nordstrum and I’m off to shoot for LOVE this afternoon. I do a lot of charity work, I’ve just done something for the Red Cross and another charity that does cross country motorcycling.
Who are your favourite photographers
I love working with Patrick Demarchelier, Mario Testino, Gilles Bensimmon, Arthur Elgort, Regan Cameron, there are so many…
You were part of the Supermodel era, do you stay in touch with any of them?
Tyra Banks is my friend. We did Cover Girl together and Susan Holmes. I didn’t hang out with the Supermodels really as we all had a life outside of the industry. If we run into each other it’s always great to see them though.
You worked on some TV shows Make Me A Supermodel and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, how was that?
I loved it! Supermodel started here with Rachel Hunter then they brought it to New York which is the one I did. Tyson Beckford and I co-hosted. I’d love to do more TV.
What job would you like to have done had you not been a model.
I wish I was more book smart but I’m more visual. I love all those CSI forensic things so to be a DNA specialist or someone who does autopsies would be my thing. I think the human body is an amazing instrument.
How would you describe your style?
I would call it functional glamour.
Who are your style icons?
Ooh! Kate (Moss), Cameron Diaz, Jenna Lyons who designs for J Crew and I just love rock ‘n’ roll. I like to throw pieces together like Kate does. I like to wear an old piece with something new.
Who are your favourite designers?
Jenna Lyons at J Crew, Calvin Klein, I love Stella McCartney, all the English designers are amazing.
What are your favourite high street shops?
It has to be Top Shop. I do a lot of online shopping.
Who are your favourite models?
My favourite model ever is Christy Turlington, it always has been and still is.
Do you have any health tips?
Definitely to make cardio a priority. You have to make cardio a staple and 80% of it is what you eat. When I got pregnant the last time I was a size 12 so afterwards I really had to get into shape. I cut out flour and sugar, tried to do more wholewheat and I went to the gym. And now I really miss it if I don’t do it. I don’t like running or jogging but you have to sweat to bring up your heart rate to burn calories and you must go past half an hour. If you can do forty minutes you know you’re doing something. I don’t smoke or drink at all anymore. I used to in my twenties though.
What products do you use?
I use Kanebo. Creamy soap, the powder peel is really good and then the luminous lotion. I don’t really wear much make-up. Nashville is all jeans and t-shirts and no make-up. The natural look.
What’s your philosophy?
You have to be able to laugh at yourself and have a good sense of humour. I’ve been so blessed with a healthy family, a great marriage and amazing friends. Every day I get so many blessings. I know how short life can be, my sister Krissy passed away at a very young age so I know you have to enjoy every moment as it can be taken away from you.
Who would you have at your dream dinner party (living or dead)?
Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton (because my husband and I listen to them all the time), My husband would say Dwight Yoakum, all these country stars! Oh and Temple Grandin who’s book I’ve been reading. She’s autistic but beyond smart. And Clare Danes. Clare Danes just did an HBO movie about Temple Grandin’s life. She redesigned the way cattle are slaughtered. She thinks in pictures so she can see how the animal sees shadows and follow each other. Ultimately that’s why cows were put on the earth to be eaten. So she designed a system so they could be killed in the kindest possible way. She’s a spokesperson for autism. I love the way her mind works.
What’s been your proudest moment?
Raising good kids. I have two amazing boys and my daughter is so cute and has such a great sense of humour at the age of one. She’s kooky like me and clumsy, she’s lovely.
What ambition would you like to achieve?
I had my own store in Nashville for three years, bringing LA fashion to Tennessee. I’ve been in this industry for twenty-one years so it would be a natural next step for me to do my own brand of clothes, accessories and cosmetics. It’s something I’m working on. We’re looking for a manufacturer. I have all the designs, I’d love a major department store to do something. I want to do a limited collection. I think a small collection is much more personal. I’d love to get some more campaigns and another cosmetic contract. I’m getting back into the fashion industry; selling product is what I’m good at.
If you had one wish what would it be?
To see my kids grow up healthy and happy is my wish.
. Photo Source:Retna
