Where do you live these days?
Part-time in the city and part-time in the country. We have a place in Connecticut where Peter keeps an office and his horses. We also spend a lot of time in Florida. It's wonderufl - a short airplane ride, and you can spend a winter weekend in the sun! Otherwise, we have a large apartment in old building on Broadway in New York City, where my husband also has offices. Even though my roots are more country, and even though I like to live quietly, I couldn't do without the city for very long. One of my greatest pleasures is to go to Paris and browse in antique stores, go shopping, eat in good restaurants.What has changed in your life since you got married?
I think I am just happier. I'm more balanced. It's very difficult to express. There are many words to describe dramatic situations or unhappiness, but happiness, on the other hand, is quite simple. So simple, in fact, that once you've found it, you can't explain it. You live it, that's all.
What time do you get up?
If I don't have to work, I never wake up before 8:30 A.M. I like to sleep in. In fact, if my kids didn't wake me up, I think I could sleep until 10! A lot of sleep, that's one of my beauty secrets. Lack of sleep shows on your face. My kids get weepy when they're tired. I don't think adult are very different, even if they don't actually cry.
You certainly are the most maternal of models. With three children, you'll establish a professional record!
Yes, I love having a family. Peter has five children from his first marriage, including triplets. It's fabulous. They get along perfectly with mine. Soon we'll have a small tribe of eight children: a true American family! Right now, I have this baby who's kicking me growing in my tummy. I can only think about him. But I'm sure that as soon as he is born, I'll want to have more. I have a passion for children. My husband's children form his first marriage are teenagers now. That's my favorite age - the age of promise!
Is it possible to be a good mother and remain a top model?
Absolutely. As long as I don't try to do too much. Girls who want to go everywhere, do everything, burn out quickly. But if you are able to handle it and if you have the kind of looks that allow you to have a long career, it's up to you to make it happen. You have to take your time, make the right choices. Mature without panicking. This is the way to have lots of time for yourself, for your passions, for your family. In the long run, children and modeling are perfectly complementary activities. At least, it's an achievable balance.So your growing family does not spell the end of your career?
No, that would be totally out of the question! And for a very good reason: For me there's no line drawn between my professional and private lives. What's important to me is to be active. I model. I raise a family. I collect antique furniture and jewelry. I do a limited number of shows. I go to museums and art galleries. If I weren't a model I'd have some other job. But I would be exactly the same person: active, curious about the world, a go-getter.
That's trait you share with Peter, your husband, isn't it?
That's right. In my opinion, his greatest qualities are his enthusiasm and his taste for life. His passions to discover and share things. People like him are never bored. And it's wonderful to have someone with whom to share the experience of watching what we've sown grow up. Peter is interested in everything - fashion as much as sports, or the media, contemporary art, or photography...
Are you a jealous person?
No more than anyone else. But I'm sorry I am this way, because I think it's a negative feeling. I'm not interested in being negative. Jealousy is a waste of time, and so are regret and remorse.
What did your parents want you to be?
Even though she never said anything to me about it, I'm sure that my mother always wished I would be a model. She was a hairdresser, a very pretty woman, and she's still beautiful! My father, a businessman, didn't unterstand a thing about all that. When I won Elite's Look of the Year competition, my family was very proud. But I was just a gawky-looking 16-year-old, in spite of my long legs. No one around me thought I would become famous. It was an impossible dream for the country girl I was.
What's your favorite historical period?
No doubt the '50s and '60s. I collect dresses and jewelry from then. I love the gorgeous dresses that Christian Dior and Balenciaga designed. I own a few that I wear from time to time, when I'm alone at home. It's a feeling of luxury that I only find now in Azzedine Alaïa's creations. He did my wedding dress, and he remains my favorite designer because I simply feel more beautiful in his dresses.What is your most precious possession?
I don't have any! Owning doesn't interest me. I could give up everthing on the spur of the moment. Of course, I should tell your that my family is my most precious possession, the only thing that matters to me. But I never thought of my husband or children as possessions.
When you go on a short trip, what do you pack?
Some new stuff and some old stuff. It's good to have a mix. Probably one or two dresses by my old friend Alaïa, and some old Cartier bracelets from the '50s. And Manolo Blahnik pumps. Some I have never worn. They are like sculpture. I love to just look at them.
What's your lucky number?
Seven.
And your favorite color?
Green.
What's the best moment in your day?
When my kids, come to kiss me in the morning. I'm in haeven!
Give me a beauty secret...
If I had to have only one, it would be water. I drink a lot of it, and I swim a lot. It's good for the head as well as the body. Hydrotherapy, steam, massages, all water-based treatments at the spa, as well as thalassotherapy, all of that is fantastic! But for the skin, I know nothing better that plain yogurt massages. It spreads easily and promotes translucent skin.
Do you like to give interviews?
I don't mind them. Unfortunately, most of the time, what you end up reading the magazine has little resemblance to what you've said; your words are altered to the point where you don't even recognize them. It's a real drag! It's like being robbed. But you have to remain calm. And, there again, good balance has to be a top model's foremost quality.
Francois Baudot