Grace Jones on today’s models: ‘Size 0 is like the walking dead’
I have been fascinated with Grace Jones since I saw the video for her song “Demolition Man” back in the infancy of MTV. I also loved the arresting visuals of her “Slave to the Rhythm” video, but don’t get me started. Grace has also, well, graced the silver screen in such camp classics as Conan the Destroyer and Vamp, and got to play a Bond villainess in View to a Kill (a/k/a the Bond movie with the best theme song ever.)
Grace, with her unique, androgynous beauty, has done her share of modeling. At the age of 18, Grace signed with Wihelmina Modeling Agency and was one of the Paris fashion scenes most in-demand models, walking the runway for Yves St. Laurent and other prominent designers and appearing on many magazine covers, including Vogue and ELLE. When asked by The Guardian about the current state of the modeling industry, the always outspoken, 69-year-old icon said “I’m glad I’m not doing it now. I’d probably be dead. Everybody’s so skinny. Size 0 is like the walking dead. Not sexy at all.” She went on to add “When I modeled, I would normally be a model size 6, 8, though my shoulders are wide, it’s hard to make them fit into things. Now I can’t get into model sizes, because they’re really small.”
Actress and model Liv Tyler shared a similar sentiment back in 2015, noting, “If you look back at Helena Christensen or Christy Turlington, they were probably a 4 or a 6 — they had beautiful bodies, very lean, obviously, and gorgeous. They obviously took beautiful care of themselves — they weren’t malnourished. The girls walking the catwalk [now] are very, very thin and very tall.”
Grace is currently on the promotional tour for her upcoming documentary, Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami, directed by Sophie Fiennes (yes, sister to Joseph and Ralph). I can’t wait to see it myself, and I still need to read her wonderfully titled 2015 book, Grace Jones: I’ll Never Write My Memoirs. It’s too bad that she doesn’t model anymore, as she still looks amazing and we could use a little more excitement on the runway. Of course, I would make any excuse to see more of Grace anywhere.
Photos: Getty Images, WENN.com
