I startedmodelingandyouknow, Chicagodoingcatalogbeltmodelingoncewheremyfacewasn't eveninthepicture.
And, um, youknow, when I finallygottoNewYork, I didn't knowanythingaboutanything.
I justcametoNewYork.
I didn't knowhowtocatch a cab.
I didn't knowthelighthadtobeon.
I wonderedwhysomecabstoppedandsomedidn't.
Andthen I waslike, Oh, thelighthastobeon.
Butnoonetoldmethatmymotherdidn't wearanymakeup.
I justdidn't knowanythingaboutin a pointofreference.
Yeah, buttalkabout a pointofreference.
Yeah.
I mean, ifanyonehad a pointofreference, I think I definitelydid.
Soforme, itwasn't a foreignworldtogointo.
I definitelyfeltlike I understoodit.
I knewwhat I waskindofgettinginto.
I hadbeenaroundit a lot.
I definitelythinktherearesomethingsthatnomatterhowmuchsomebodycantellyouabout, youknow, theindustry, therewere a lotofthingsyoudohavetolearnfirsthand.
Soforme, itwasitwasdefinitelylessscarytogointo, Um I havesomuchappreciationforwomenlikemymomandtheothergirlswhocome, youknow, theydon't knowanything.
A lotofthetimesthey'renotevenEnglishisn't eventheirfirstlanguage.
Soforme, I definitelyhad a uniqueexperiencegoingintotheindustry.
And I thinkoneofthethingsthatthat I didandKayacertainlyhasdoneithasmoreexcessislikewhenyougotoworkwith a photographer.
A designerislike, doyourhomeworkandunder, sothatbecause I wanttohave a languagelike I knowthisphotographershootsthiswaywhen I gettoset, I kindofalreadyknowwhatlanguagewemightbespeakingthatday, asopposedtojustwalkinginandnotknowinganythingabouttheeditororthedesignerorthephotographer.
And I thinkyouknow, it's benefitedmodelsandtheindustryasithas a holein a lotofways, I feellikewe'vebecome a lotmoreaccessible.
Um, youknow, Butwhen I seeimagesofmymomfromwhenshewasmodeling, itwasveryselective.
Youknow, you'reseeingheronthecoverofVogue, andthat's it.
Andso I thinkitallowedforpeopletoehavethiskindoffantasyorfascinationwithmodelsatthetimebecauseyouweren't seeingthemeverysingledayyouwereseeingthemshotbytheseincrediblephotographersofthewholeteamofpeople.
And, youknow, now, asmodels, youseeusfromthesecondwewakeupuntilwegotosleepandyou'renotjustseeingusalldoneupwhich I thinkisreallynicetorealize.
Youknow, you'renotalwayslookinglikeyoulookonthecoverofVogue, butitalsotakesaway a bitofthatkindofmagicandalmostsuspenseforwhat's gonnacomeoutnext.
I don't thinkmygenerationgrewupwantingtobemodelslikeyoudidn't evenreallythinkthatitwas a realjob.
Andthenitwaslikethesupermodelmoment.
Andthen I reallythinklikewhen I lookbackon, itwaslikeAmerica's nexttopmodel, likeTyraBanksmadeeveryonebelieve, likeallof a sudden, youtoo, canbe a model.
Andthenandthensocialmediahappenedrightafterthat, anditwaslikeeveryonenotonlycouldbe a model, theywere a modelintheireverydaylife.
I mean, thereisn't a 12 yearoldthatdoesn't knowhowtotake a greatselfieandhowtoretouchitperfectly.
There's andretouchthey'llberetouchinginfrontofyouand I thinkokay, but I thinkyouknow, it's it's cooltohavethatimmediatelikeyoucanseeitandyou'redoingitand, um, youcanbuildoffofthat.
Butyeah, I definitelydo.
Youthinkthatfilmtherewas, like, a morepersonalconnection?
Anditis a performancethatyou'reputtingontosomeaspectsowell, andwhat I'venoticedissometimes, likewhenthey'relike, Okay, wegotitbecausetheyseeitbig.
I thinkthatwhenyouknowVoguehasadoptedthe 18 yearoldpolicy, whichisvery, veryimportant.
I mean, I didstartwhen I was 15.
Youstartedwhenyouwereyoung, but I had a very, veryprotectivemotherwhowasreallylookingaftermeandwasmakingit.
Andalsodidyourmodelshavetopursueit?
Still, youhadthesamething.
It's a way I think, tostart a conversationwiththefashionindustrywhentheserulescameintoplay, youknow, I betweenmyfirstandsecondseasondoingshowswaswhentherulesfullycameintoeffect.
I rememberthefirsttime I reallynoticedsomeoneaskedmeonset.
Oh, can I tuckyourshirtin?
Andformeas a model?
I neverthoughtaboutthat, butsuddenly, whentheyaskedme, I waslike, Youknowwhat?
Thatmakessense, right?
Likeitisappropriatetoask, Can I tuckyourshirtin?
Andthatdefinitelykindofsomethingclickedinmyheadwhere I realizedthatnoweveryonewasreallymakinganefforttomakesureeveryonefeltcomfortable.
Wedefinitelyfeltmoreencouragedtospeakup.
Itjustfeltmorelike a collaborativeprocess.
Um, butagain, I thinkbottomlineisthesearen't issuesthatjustweasmodelswerefacingand, um, andit's alsowhetheryou're 17 or 25 or 40.
Sometimesit's likeeven, youknow, I'vehadtimeswheretheywantedmetohold a gunand I waslike, Yeah, I don't reallyfeelgoodaboutthisorsomeonewantedtotakemyfaceonceAnd I waslike, Don't feelgoodaboutthis, youknow?
Andsometimestheydon't likethat.
Yousayno, ButButtoyourpointnow, I thinkmodelsGilmoreinpowertosayno.
Yeah, And I thinkififanything, that's definitely a positivechanges.
But, youknow, whateverdecisionismadethatday, I wanttoknowthatyouknow, I'm fallingasleepconfidentwithmydecisions, becauseitis, youknow, yourfigureinyourbodyandyourlife.
Youknow, youneverpushedmeintotheindustry.
Um, anditwas a decisionthatyouletmemakeonmyown.
Andobviouslywe'resosupportiveandhopedsomuch, but I alsodidn't wanttostartuntil I feltselfconfidentenough.
Umand, youknow, like, I knewmyselfenoughtoprotectmyself, butyeah, itisthemostamazingindustry.
I'veneveryouknow.
Whereelsecanyougetsomanycreativemindsinoneroom, likeeventoday, sittingherewitheveryoneand, um, andbeingabletotraveltoalloftheseamazingplaces I can't imagineeverfor a secondtakinganyofitforgranted.
Modelingislike a hardjobforkidstounderstand.
I remembermysontellinghispreschoolthat I didn't workbecause I guess I didn't have, like, a normaljobthatheunderstood.
Plus, I didn't workeverysingleday.
Soand I thinkyoutalkaboutthisinyourvotepiecethatyouwroteisthat, youknow, I wouldwashmyhairandandmakeupoffthesecond I camehome.
I defertoheronanysortoflearningthingsfromeachexactly.
Butit's it's a funjourneyforustobeon.
And I justwenttoParistoowellforthePeterLindberghMemorial.
Butalso I got I wenttothesaunaRonShow.
Andwhenwewenttothepartyafterwards, anditwasincredibleformeas a momtoseeKayalike, totallyfeelingcomfortableinthisworldinherelementlikethatwas a reallygreattrip.
I thinkforbothofus, itwas.
And I thinkwhen I firststarted, I wasso, youknow, carefultoetobelike, I don't knowifyoushouldcometothis.
Andyouknow, I definitelywantedittobemyownthing.
But, youknow, now I'm sohappythatshe's aroundand I'm like, Oh, comestayfortheshow.
Likeshewasn't goingtosay I waslike, Pleasecomeandstayanditwillbefun.
Umandyeah, I knowit's definitelybroughtussomuchcloser.