Harper’s Bazaar
Lara Stone is one of the most in demand and highly paid models in the fashion industry today. Lara was scouted on the Paris Metro at 14 but didn’t get her big break until she was 22 when Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci cast her in his 2006 haute couture show.
Now 30, Lara’s life has changed drastically since then. The model has been on countless magazine covers and campaigns ans has an impressive portfolio of work done for big names including Clavin Klein, Prada, L’Oreal and Versace.
So what is it about this Dutch-born Stone that has all our heads in a spin. Tisci calls her a “Gothic Brigette Bardot”. Others however have focused on her other predominant features, teeth, boobs and body to be more precise. When asked what she thought Lara told Harper’s Bazaar : “I think it’s strange for people to talk endlessly about this stuff. I’ve seen bigger gaps than mine, for the record. And bigger boobs.”
Its not been an easy ride for Stone. She was expelled from school at 16 whilst experiencing a rebellious stage in her adolescent life. “I wore crop tops and miniskirts, and all I would do is put on makeup,” she says. “They threatened to kick me out every week, and in the end my mother got sick of them calling her and said if they threatened one more time, they’d better do it. So they did.”
The world of modelling brought its own troubles for Stone and in 2009 she checked herself into an ocean-front rehab facility in South Africa after finding herself rarely without a drink in hand. Stone recalls keeping a bottle of vodka in her handbag during fashion week and admitted becoming aggressive after one too many. “I’ve picked a lot of fights in my day.” It was then she realised she needed to take a break from the fast paced world of modelling.
“In my head I wasn’t going to rehab,” she says. “I was going there to not drink for a month—and then I’d come back and start drinking again. I thought it’d be a holiday, and I’d sit on the beach and chill. But once I got there it was a bit different. I had to talk about my feelings and play the bongos.” Since then Stone has also quit smoking.
Stone talks about her life in London with her husband, the British comedian David Walliams. Since their marriage in 2010 at Claridges Hotel the couple have received a lot of attention from the paparazzi. “I don’t enjoy being photographed walking down the street,” Stone says.
She admits however that she herself enjoys reading the tabloids: “I’m obsessed with the Daily Mail’s Web site…David and I have been on it a few times, and I will read things about us that are completely bullshit. But, I’m convinced that everything about everyone else is true!”
Stone talks about the comment section and adds: “once, there was only one comment: ‘Looks like a duck,’ “ she says. “That was it. To take the time out of your life to say I look like a duck? That’s brilliant.”
Lara remembers her first date with David: “On our very first date, I was so nervous,” she says. “I was in the cab home afterward and thought, I should text him and thank him for dinner. When I did, he texted back, ‘Who’s this?’ ” The couple seem to share what Stone calls a “mean” sense of humour and describes how “just one look and he (David) can put me and Alfred (their son) in hysterics.”
The model recently turned 30 reflects on her turbulent past years and her successful career: “When I stop and think about it—which I don’t do very often—I think, This doesn’t make any sense.” She seems to have it all. “I have a house, a husband, a good job, a beautiful baby—at the moment I don’t have anything else to wish for.” “Yuck,” she adds. “How soppy is that?” We cant wait to see what the future has in store for Stone.
