My First Glam Experience – Meeting Duran Duran as a Peer, Not a Fan
Watching the Oscars, I reminisced about my first glam experience in the business. I was a young model fresh on the scene, but I was still the teenage girl who had Duran Duran posters plastered all over her bedroom walls and ceiling. They were the most exciting group of guys I had ever seen at the time, and I was in major lust for them. I remember seeing them at Madison Square Garden when I was 12 years old, on their Seven and the Ragged Tiger album tour. Oh man, I just about died and went to heaven that night, along with all the other screaming and fainting teenage girls in the arena. Imagine then how I felt a couple of years later when my modeling agency sent me on an appointment to meet with three of the band members: John Taylor, Simon LeBon, and Nick Rhodes, to be in their upcoming music video. OMG. I’ll never forget, it was at The Power Station recording studio in midtown Manhattan. I could barely walk into the meeting since my legs were shaking so much. As I approached the three pop stars, I felt as if I was in a waking dream. I asked myself, “is this really happening?”
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The guys were so nice and couldn’t have helped make me feel more at ease. However, I was a shy teen, and could barely answer any of the questions they asked. The interview couldn’t have lasted that long due to my inability to walk and talk very well. As I said goodbye and made my way back out to the street, I pinched myself and thought about what a lucky girl I was to have had that experience. When I later heard that I didn’t get the job, I was a bit relieved as well as disappointed. I knew I couldn’t have pulled off the cool, sexy, young teen in their video, when I was unable to look at them without my stomach jumping up to my throat.
Little did I know, I would be friends with all three of them soon enough. As my stardom rose in the fashion industry, I befriended my icon, Yasmin LeBon, who is married to Simon. So Simon, Nick, and John were guests of mine at my 21st birthday party in Milano during the fashion show season. At that point it was a pleasure to realize that I could indeed walk, talk, and eat with them.