happycanadian
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2005
- Messages
- 8,209
- Reaction score
- 273
yeah, she's spectacular. i don't understand why she isn't getting more work!
Announcing... The 2nd Annual theFashionSpot Awards. Vote NOW via the links below:
Designer of the YearThank you for participating!
VOTING WILL CLOSE 27/12/2024 EOD!
July 9, 2009 / modelinia.comOf course we love looking at all of the campaigns and covers that models grace, but sometimes in life it’s the little things…
So today’s tidbits come from Ubah Hassan. She was the face of Ralph Lauren for Spring ‘09, was scouted in Vancouver at 17, and recently chatted with Iman about black models on the runway.
That’s not all.
She loves her height:
“Being 5′ 11½” is wonderful because when I walk into a club, I’m so tall that no men want to talk to me. I love that. I think, just don’t come near me. And I can’t dance if I’m not wearing heels.”
She’s another model who credits Steven Meisel for beginning her career:
“A pivotal moment in my career was being shot by Steven Meisel for the Black issue of Italian Vogue. The repercussions of that issue have been huge. It sold out everywhere and there were waiting-lists in lots of shops. I had no idea that people weren’t hiring black models. I thought the reason I wasn’t working so much was because I was new in New York, and maybe I needed to dress differently or smile more. It’s sad that in 2009, after so many years of prejudice and war, some people are still seeing color.”
Random people recognize her:
“I get recognized by the oddest people. I was working in a studio recently and the food delivery guy stopped me and said, ‘Wait a minute, aren’t you the Ralph Lauren girl?’ Then the old Indian guy who I buy my coffee from every morning was really overexcited to see me one day. He’d collected all these newspaper cuttings of me. I was so shocked that they knew anything about fashion or Ralph Lauren.”
She’ll stick up for what she believes in:
“I refuse to work for designers who treat models badly. That’s happened a few times. They think they can pick you apart at castings, but I don’t respect people like that. I don’t have an ego about what I do or don’t do, but I have to believe in a brand before I work for them.”
And her life still feels like a dream to her:
“I have to pinch myself every day because life is unbelievable right now. Every time I have a bad day, I just stop and remember what my family and I have been through.”
“Being 5′ 11½” is wonderful because when I walk into a club, I’m so tall that no men want to talk to me. I love that. I think, just don’t come near me. And I can’t dance if I’m not wearing heels.”
"It’s sad that in 2009, after so many years of prejudice and war, some people are still seeing color.”
“I refuse to work for designers who treat models badly. That’s happened a few times. They think they can pick you apart at castings, but I don’t respect people like that."