The Aesthete

Beauty and the Beast

Supermodel Jessica Stam on going from farm girl to the millennial face of CoverGirl

by George Wayne

MY LIFE AT HOME IS ALL ABOUT...My work takes me all over the world.  In a few days I leave for Beijing, my favorite city in all of Asia, to go walk in a Hugo Boss fashion show. When I am home in New York City, I am up very early because I have to walk my boyfriend's Rhodesian Ridgeback and my little Maltipoos, Buck and Karl. I grab an iced coffee from the deli downstairs and I take them to a dog park. After an hour walking the dogs I take some time for me and I often go for a long run. I like to run along the path on the West Side Highway in Manhattan. It's just the most exhilarating experience running along that path and I do that as often as I can. I get so carried away [sometimes] I realize I have jogged for four miles. That is always part of my routine when I'm home in New York City. I live in the East Village with my boyfriend, Charlie Wiggens, and if he is around we usually go for lunch at my favorite lunch spot, ABC Kitchen, where I often have the house club sandwich. And of course I am constantly on the phone with the people who run my life: my agents at IMG, Marsha and Valentina. If we have no events to go to that night, Charlie and I will go to the Sunshine Theater to go watch a flick.

...because after all, mine is a business where appearance is everything.

My life is different every single day. I am always traveling, and it is never more than a couple of days that I am around. So a lot of that is time is for my maintenance. One day I might go get a manicure, the next I could spend at the spa. My facialist is all the way on Park Avenue and 55th Street. On another day I could be getting my hair colored at my hairdresser. I have colored my hair this goth-like dark color and the roots have to be touched up every three weeks by Christopher at the Garren salon. I am a natural blonde. Fashion stylist Katie Grand had me go with this dark color, and I just did what she told me to. It was for the specially commissioned Schiaparelli/Prada coffee table book in which I am greatly featured. So my life at home in Manhattan is basically about maintaining and staying fine tuned because after all, mine is a business where appearance is everything.

Of course, I love catching up with my friends when I'm in the city, so meeting for dinner is always a must. I love a fun, loud place but with good food like Nobu57.  I love it there, and I always meet a bunch of my close friends for dinner.  And there are a lot of evenings too when Charlie and I are at home with the dogs ordering in.

...and yes I know how to milk a cow. I guess that is the most eccentric thing about me.

LET'S GET A LITTLE PERSONAL...Why do you ask where I met my boyfriend?  That is very personal, let us just say he was introduced to me by mutual friends.  We fake it and tell every body that we met at a sports bar, but we met through mutual friends.  I can't believe you just asked me if he has a big penis. Look at him, can't you just tell? Look at that jaw? What do you think? That is all I am going to say.

IF THERE IS ONE THING ECCENTRIC ABOUT ME IT WOULD BE...I can't figure anything that is eccentric about me. I grew up on a farm on Lake Huron, the only girl amongst six brothers, so you can imagine what that must have been like. The most memorable times were the summers, which we would spend on the beaches of the lake. I love my brothers very much, and yes I know how to milk a cow. I guess that is the most eccentric thing about me.

WHEN IN DOUBT...Have a margarita; it always seems to get the job done. I am a very spontaneous girl by nature and like to surround myself with people likewise. I am very happy with my life right now. I think back to that day in Canada when I was at a coffeeshop with my Mum and Dad and this woman came over and gave me her business card. I didn't believe her, and was embarrassed. I was with my whole family that day; I guess I was just naive. My Mum ended up calling her and that's how this all began. Of all the fashion designers I have ever met or worked with, my favorite of all time is Azzedine Alaia. Even though I can't communicate with him without a translator because he truly doesn't speak English, I feel connected to Azzedine on a very spiritual level and he knows it. He never fails to amaze on an artistic level also. I am in complete awe of him.