Crystal Renn Talks Gisele, Taped Eyes Controversy
She's one of the most powerful women in the world, so is it any surprise that Gisele Bündchen played a role in steering Crystal Renn's modeling career? Um, no.
In a new interview with The Fashion Spot, the onetime plus-size model recalls how she was inspired to join the business after seeing a photo of the Brazilian stunner.
"Growing up, I thought that the goth girls at the mall were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen," she says. "I only got into fashion after I was scouted, and the scout showed me a picture of Gisele and I couldn’t believe she was real, that such a thing existed. I mean, how do you explain Gisele? I thought she just woke up like that, the way she was in Vogue. When little girls look at the pictures, they don’t know how much work goes into them. They think that it’s just the model and that’s it. But there’s a whole team, a crew that does the work to transform her. I must have thought that she’d brought her own dress to the shoot ... ”
Renn also opens up about dealing with criticism, specifically over the controversy stemming from her recent Vogue Japan shoot in which Anna Dello Russo taped her eyes in a way that some felt could be offensive to Asians.
"On the good days I brush it off, but on my bad days ... well, we all have bad days and let me just say, I’ve shed a tear," she says. "People pull these little things out of shots, whether it’s my weight or something else, and focus on that. They miss the point entirely … The eye-tape thing is a perfect example. They turned it into this big thing about race, and race hadn’t even crossed our minds.”
In fact, Renn sees the industry as being more open to embracing diversity these days.
"Now, there are models of all different sizes," says Renn, who confesses to a preference of flats over heels, which are "for fantasy."
"And fashion is really opening up in terms of diversity. What would be the next thing? Maybe age. Age would be amazing ... There are all of these different things that make people beautiful. And chic! And that’s been my message. That’s been the truth I need to speak."
Preach on!
Meanwhile, see what Anna Dello Russo told FashionEtc about the taped-eyes backlash.
