Crista Cober - Canadienne - 1m76 - 85/62/90
Agence
Next
Numéro France N°165
Août 2015
Txema Yeste
Vogue Paris
Août 2015
David Bellemère
Over the course of her 11-year career, Crista Cober has nabbed campaigns for Topshop, Gap, H&M, Armani Exchange and more, but she ranked getting booked for Balmain’s recent campaign among her favorite modeling moments to date. As one of the stars of the house’s spring ads, the Next-repped model can be seen playing Nintendo and chowing down on burgers and fries with a pretty solid crew: Adriana Lima, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Joan Smalls and Isabeli Fontana. At 29, Cober radiates the kind of cool confidence that comes with being in the business for more than a decade, and thus it’s no surprise the natural beauty held her own alongside Olivier Rousteing’s “army” of supermodels. The Wellesley, Ontario, native — who can be seen on the current cover of Glamour France — recently bought herself property in Toronto but keeps a place on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where she frequently finds herself in town for work. She stopped by WWD’s office last week to talk about shooting for Balmain, her singular runway experience and her dreams of becoming a midwife. WWD: Growing up, had you ever wanted to be a model? Crista Cober: I didn’t know it was a possibility. I was scouted just after I finished high school; I was 18. I was in a shopping center. The guy who scouted me went to my high school 10 years prior — he was a dancer at Juilliard but always kind of wanted to get into scouting — so he saw my photo in a yearbook and tracked me down. There were certain people back then who would say to me, “You should be a model,” but I didn’t really know what it was about. I had my first job in Toronto, then three weeks later, I came to New York, and within a month, I was in Paris. WWD: Well, let’s talk about Balmain. That was a pretty major shoot. C.C.: Everyone there just wanted to have fun and do something cool. The shoot started in the afternoon and went until midnight, which made it feel more like a hangout vibe. A lot of work, energy and detail went into the set. Everyone knew what they were doing. The music was amazing, Mario [Sorrenti] was great. And you don’t need anything other than those clothes. The clothes made it come to life. WWD: In an interview with WWD, Olivier Rousteing said he wanted to have power women in the campaign. C.C.: It’s so sweet of him to say that. But Olivier already has the power in his designs. In a sense, he gave us the power by letting us do it. He’s the one giving the power with his clothes. WWD: Did you actually eat that hamburger? (Or maybe it was a cheeseburger; unclear.) C.C.: No. At that point, it was midnight, and I’m pretty sure the set guy bought the hamburger at 1 p.m. that day. It was like a cold piece of cardboard. But the set guy was so enthusiastic. At one point, there was a huge plate of spaghetti and all of us had forks, and another table had a huge Thanksgiving spread. WWD: You’ve been modeling for over a decade. Did you ever think you’d be doing it this long? C.C.: My first agency in Toronto told me that it’s a great career, a great job, but to be careful not to make it my life. Everyone used to ask me, “What are you gonna do when you stop?” But I always wanted to do other things while modeling...the possibilities were endless. I’ve started and stopped four times. You’re self-employed, and you kind of hold all the cards, so you can stop and restart. I did that a bunch of times. WWD: What were you doing each time you stopped? C.C.: I went to South America for eight months; went back to Canada for a bit; moved to Paris a second time. I didn’t really take [modeling] seriously until I came to New York. I came, I needed a visa, and it’s a bit more serious here. Agencies here are more focused on giving you a career as opposed to just giving you something to do every once in a while. WWD: Do you have other long-term goals? C.C.: What I still want to do, but 10 years down the road, is [to study] nursing, get a midwife degree and work abroad doing midwifing. WWD: When in New York, what do you do in your spare time? C.C.: I love finding small French cafés that have good coffee, skateboarding in Central Park, biking, walking. I like taking the subway to areas that I haven’t been, getting off and exploring. I love hiking upstate. WWD: Where do you see yourself living ultimately? C.C.: I just bought some property in Toronto — all of my family is in Canada and I like the vibe of it more. But I like coming to New York for work, so I’ll probably always have a place here. I love South America. I think I’ll always travel. WWD: Has your family always been supportive of your career? C.C.: Yeah, though I don’t know if they fully understand it. In Canada, there’s not as much fashion stuff that comes out. My first job, going back 12 years ago, was a Macy’s flier — my family might still think that’s the kind of stuff that I do. But I got my dad an iPad last year for Christmas, so I sent him the Balmain photos. WWD: When reflecting on your career, do any moments in particular stand out? C.C.: My favorite moment, funny enough, was when my booker called to let me know about Balmain. I was shooting on a beach in L.A. when she called and she was, like, “Hey, did you check your e-mail? Check it, I’ll stay on the phone.” Which I thought was a bit weird. But it was so nice for her to want to share that moment with me. I was so happy to have the opportunity. Everyone was congratulating me, but I was like, “Wait a minute, guys. I still have to shoot it, and it still has to look good. When it actually comes out, then we can all be okay, this is awesome.” WWD: Weirdest thing you’ve ever done on a photo shoot? C.C.: I had someone want me to get on a camel and I didn’t have any clothes on. I was like, “I’m not sitting on a camel naked. You’ve taken it too far” [she laughed]. I also had an albino python around my neck. They’re incredibly strong; the snake wants to go its own way. I’ve also shot with giraffes, elephants — so much weird stuff. And you never know when you show up what you’re going to be doing. You show up and it’s like, “Oh, I’m at a circus.” WWD: How about runway? C.C.: In 12 years, I’ve done one show, which is amazing to me. WWD: Why do you think that is? C.C.: I was a competitive swimmer in high school. My family is barrel-chested — they’ve been farming for 300 years, they were among the first settlers in Canada — and I’ve always had a strong build with broad shoulders. Probably for the first 10 years, agents would be like, “You have to be smaller.” The size of your hands, your wrists, your bone structure — for shows, all of that is important. WWD: What show did you end up walking? C.C.: Anthony Vaccarello [fall 2013], which was amazing. I was shooting for Self Service magazine that day, so I showed up 30 minutes before the show started. They whipped me together, and it was like being in a locker room for a sporting event. All these girls knew exactly what they were doing — they had probably done six shows that day. I was like, “Wait a minute, is it gonna be slippery?” And then it was over within five minutes. I was like, “Oh. That wasn’t bad at all.”
She was originally told she was too ‘athletic’ for fashion, but model CRISTA COBER’s career is stronger now than ever. She talks to EVE CLAXTON about happiness and staying true to herself. At the age of 30, model Crista Cober is having a moment – an unusual circumstance for a woman in an industry where the latest It girl is usually just entering their twenties. “It was one of those instances of feeling like the total kid bouncing around in the room,” says Cober. She is describing her experience of starring in the recent SS15 Balmain campaign shot by Mario Sorrenti, alongside some of the biggest names in the business including Joan Smalls, Isabeli Fontana, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Adriana Lima. The plum role was followed by photographer Steven Meisel hand-picking her for a Vogue Italia editorial featuring Edie Campbell and Gigi Hadid – Cober’s fellow ‘models of the moment’ – and industry legend Stella Tennant. Not that Cober is letting the attention get to her. Over lunch at a bistro on New York’s Upper West Side, not far from the apartment she keeps nearby, it is easy to see why both Meisel and Balmain Creative Director Olivier Rousteing are enamored by the Canadian model. In the late afternoon light, she positively glows. Her bright eyes are intensely blue, there is a healthy dose of freckles across her makeup-free features, and her extraordinary bone structure brings Christy Turlington to mind. Despite her evident beauty, it has taken a little while for Cober to reach the international success she deserves. When she first started modeling in the early 2000s, after being scouted at a shopping center in Wellesley, Ontario, there were naysayers. She can still remember the trip to Paris when she was 18, where agents told her: “Your face is great, but your body is too strong and too big. We don’t really know what to do with you.” “At the time I was incredibly strong from swimming,” says Cober, who had attended boarding school on a swimming scholarship. She returned from Paris, wisely realizing that her body shape and size was a matter of genetics, not choice. “I just thought: it’s my body and I love it,” she says. Cober continued to model, working mainly in Canada before returning to Paris in 2009, at which point her international career finally clicked into place – just as the world was catching up with the not-so-revolutionary concept of strength over skinniness. Since then, she has worked continuously, starring in campaigns for Topshop, H&M, Armani Exchange and Gap among others. It’s an impressive feat for a model who, until recently, had almost never appeared in a runway show. “I did a show for Anthony Vaccarello a couple of years ago,” she explains, “and I loved it. But for shows, the size of your hands, your wrists, your shoulders – all of that is important.” Cober recalls an incident when a sleeve was too small for her hand. Now, thankfully, she is at a point in her career where “people collaborate to make it work. I mean, it’s my hand! I can’t change that.” Much of Cober’s simple matter-of-factness, it seems, stems from her upbringing in a rural area of Ontario, better known for its farms than its fashion scene. “My family has been in Canada for over 300 years. They were settlers who traveled in covered wagons and started farming,” she says of her pioneering roots. When it comes to fashion, it is the opportunity to roam and see new places, along with playing a part in a creative field, that drives her: “From as early as my mom can remember, I couldn’t sit still. I want to constantly be exploring. One of the bonuses of this career is that you’re always going. I still love it. If you like watching people, and if you enjoy seeing how things are put together in different ways, fashion is never boring.” Cober exudes the kind of easy confidence that comes from being content with her work and in her skin. Last year, she married an old friend from Canada, a landscaper who builds custom motorbikes. The pair recently bought a home together – a loft in an up-and-coming neighborhood in Toronto – although Cober is now so busy with work, she is rarely able to be there for more than a few days. When it comes to style, Cober is a true minimalist, favoring everyday staples like men’s dress shirts and blazers borrowed from her husband. “I’m very masculine and un-put-together,” Cober says. “Fortunately, one of my favorite things is being styled by people who are passionate about fashion and know what they’re doing!” Today, she is dressed in a vintage Dior sweater (something she found in Amsterdam), high-waisted Acne Studios jeans and R.M. Williams boots, a typical off-duty outfit that is perfect for getting around on her newly adopted mode of transport – a longboard: “I love it! It came really naturally to me.” So what does the future hold for Cober? “I’m excited to take a bit of time in a couple years and start a family – then to travel with them,” she says. She does admit, however, to musing on going back to school and getting a nursing degree, to become a midwife: “It’s something I’ve wanted to do ever since I was young.” Not that Cober is planning on giving up modeling anytime soon. Like the longboard she rides around town, for now, she is happy to go with the flow.