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Stephanie Seymour Cover Story - In Fashion May 1988


STEPPING OFF THE FAST TRACK 

At the age of 19, when most teenagers are still dreaming of what they're going to do when they grow up, model Stephanie Seymour is ready to put the brakes on her first career and start a new one - as well as a new way of life. After three years of the high pressure, fast pace and fragile egos of the modeling business, Seymour is ready for a number of changes. She has stepped away from Manhattan's fast lane to mellow out in a California beach house, not far from her parents' home in San Diego. She's limiting her modeling schedule to allow time to read, walk the beach and resume dancing. She has a new boyfriend. And she's accepting a new challenge and opening the door to a new career by taking acting classes.

Seymour had been going through life with her foot on the accelerator. When she was just 14, she entered Elite model agency's "Look of the Year" contest. She didn't win, but she caught the eye of Elite's owner, John Casablancas, then 43 and married. By the time Seymour was 16, she was living with Casablancas in New York and modeling around the world, in all the top magazines. It was a classic case of too much too soon.

"I wouldn't suggest anyone star as young as I did," says the soft-spoken teenager. "You lose your childhood, a precious time you can't get back, a time of being completely irresponsible before you have to be responsible." Seymour may have spent her 16th birthday modeling the collections in Rome, but has missed out on pleasures that others take to grantes. "I've never been to a prom, or double-dated," she says with a real regret. "I was worrying about taxes instead."

A drastic change was in order. "I was home from New York for a visit," Seymour explains, "and my father saw what was happening to me. 'You look different and act different,' he told me." And he was right. She was drinking a lot, and it was taking its toll. "I'm an addictive person. I'm extreme or I'm nothing." Aware of the problem, she joined Alcoholics Anonymous, and now states unequivocally, "I'm proud of it. It took a lot of strength."

One of the good things to come out of AA was a total surprice: romance. "That's where I met my boyfriend," Seymour says, her deep blue eyes sparkling. "I fell completely in love the first moment I saw him." The new man in her life, Richard Kenvin, 26, is a world-class surfer and painter of neo-psychedelic canvases. Seymour pulls a picture of him out of her tote bag; he looks like a cross between Alexander Godunov and don Johnson. "I never liked blondes before," she says, "but, he's different."

Seymour's new home is a two-story beach cottage, right on the water in San Diego. "I take long walks on the beach and sit on the terrace and read an hour a day, overlooking the sea," she says. It's a perfect change for a top model who admits, "I really don't like clothes - not designer clothes. I like my jeans and hippie wear - big peasant skirts and cotton dresses."

Seymour now has time to enjoy life's simpler pleasures. "I like going to the movies, playing pool and hanging out with friends," she says. Another favorite pastime is cooking. She loves making pasta, but says she switches to Japanese food when she wants to feel healthy. Seymour's approach to keeping her 5'10" frame at 130 pounds is easy: "I stay away from sugar and butter, then eat anything else I want."

Her beauty regimen is also simple. "When I'm not working, I don't wear any makeup," she says. "When I go out, I put on a wine-colored lipstick and black mascare. Nothing else." Skin care is nofuss, too: "I just wash with natural cleansers - seaweed and herbs. Then I rub essential oils into my skin while it's still damp after bathing." As for maintaining her shoulder-length, sun-streaked brown hair, Seymour grins, "It's a rare occasion if I so much as brush my hair. But when I go out in the sun, I put gobs of coconut oil in it. It takes forever to wash out, but it's a good conditioner."

The move to California will allow the former sports fiend to have her fill once again. "I love a lot of sports - tennis, swimming, horses," she says, "but I haven't had time to enjoy them. Now I will." She's also planning to resume jazz dancing. "I used to dance a lot. That's probably how I got my shape," she says. If dancing really was responsible for her knockout 34-22-35 figure, classes should be filling up around the country. "I love dancing so much, it gives me the chills," she adds. "It's a way for me to lose myself. It stimulates me and makes me feel sexy. I haven't danced for two years, but now I'll start up again."

Seymour's life is full of fresh starts. One of the most important is acting. Althrough she'll continue modeling on a limited basis, she's taking acting classes in Los Angeles with the renowned Lee Strasberg Institute. "I've always wanted to study acting," she admits, "but modeling came so easily. I got wrapped up in it and fell into a hole."

There was, admittedly, a lot to gain from her days in front of the camera. "I traveled, met creative people who taught me a lot and made good money at a young age," says Seymour. "But I felt I'd gotten everything out of modeling I could. I had the desire for a new challenge. Now was the time to do what my heart was aching to do."

Characteristically, Seymour isn't wasting any time. And maybe with this second career, there will be less heartache in the bargain.