Vogue Values 2021: Paloma Elsesser
Vogue Magazine has selected 4 cover stars for their “Vogue Values 2021” January edition of the magazine based on the 4 stars’ individuality, creativity, inclusivity, independence of spirit, and leadership. The stars that Vogue chose for this series suggest some “thrilling changes” that they expect to be brought in as we zoom into the coming new year. They started with Frances McDormand and Naomi Osaka, and then interviewed Paloma Elsesser, a 28 year old Swiss-American plus-size model known for taking the fashion industry by a storm and appearing in numerous top international magazines over the past few years. Her interview was written by Vogue Senior Fashion News Writer, Janelle Okwodu.Paloma Kai Shockley Elsesser was born in London to an African-American mother and a Chilean-Swiss father on April 12th, 1992. Elsesser is the eldest amongst three siblings, Sage (23) and Ama (20), all of whom are mixed-race dark-skinned models signed to the IMG Models agency. While she was born in London, Elsesser was raised in Los Angeles and New York City (2010-onwards) where she studied Psychology and Literature at The New School.
Paloma was first discovered in 2015 via Instagram while still studying by the world’s most influential makeup artist, British MBE Pat McGrath. Since then, she put her education on pause and has modeled with Nike, Inc., Fenty Beauty, Proenza Schouler and Mercedes-Benz. She has appeared in fashion editorials in GQ, Self Service, American Vogue, Vogue España, Teen Vogue, Elle, W, Wonderland Magazine and Glamour. She has been on the cover of over a dozen magazines including Vogue Arabia, Homme Girls, i-D Magazine, More & Less, Display Copy, Vogue Italia, i-D Special Edition, British Vogue, Vogue México y Latinoamérica, The Sunday Times, S Moda, Unconditional, Lovewant, Telegraph Luxury, American Vogue, and Express. Besides modeling, Elsesser has also acted in her screen debut in the Safdie Brothers’ film “Uncut Gems” (2019) with Adam Sandler, Idina Menzel and others. Since her rise to fame, she has gathered over 349,000 followers on Instagram.
At the time when this interview was taken in October of this year, Paloma Elsesser was out on a local farmland pumpkin patch in Dutchess County, NY for Nigerian-American writer and art historian Camille Okhio’s birthday celebrations. Interview writer Janelle Okwudu describes the scene as a “motley crew of personalities and stories” where Elsesser roams the patch as “den mother” in a leather set of a cutout blazer by Lourdes and custom pants by Khaite that despite holding the potential to be pretentious merely looks like a quickly put together weekender outfit on the model. Okwudu writes about Elsesser as a person whose career may be in modeling but whose passion remains in a community of designers, influencers, and filmmakers amongst anyone willing to join in. Elsesser identifies as a Black multiracial woman but is much more than just that and knows and understands that if she, as a plus size model at size 14, does not participate in a show, a certain piece or sample of clothing will not be able to end up in the catalogue. Okwudu celebrates the model as an Everywoman who is capable of representing multitudes and introduces a new, unique aesthetic to the American fashion scene.
When Elsesser was signed on by IMG, their director Mina White knew that everything about her would have to be designed from scratch – Paloma had to create a new category of “cool” when she came in due to the fact that 10 years ago, a model was solely a “rail-thin Caucasian” with a “cold and emotionless, blank-stare” as described by Stuart Vevers, Executive Creative Director of Coach. Now, models are preferred to be charismatic with a personality that exudes warmth and character that would make you want to stop scrolling and actually look.
Elsesser grew up in the Black neighborhood of Mid-City, LA, laughingly identified herself and her family as “hippie poor” with musician parents and a teacher/writer mother, and was educated at a private school amongst children of the industry’s biggest names. She and her family lived with her grandparents in a single house. Meanwhile, she faced her own body issues and battled against the inability to find clothes that fit her before the stretch material pants appeared in the fashion industry. Shopping for clothes and actually styling herself in an aesthetic sense was a struggle she faced growing up, despite the fact that friends like stylist Stevie Dance encouraged her to mimic curvy models. Walking into the offices of modeling agencies used to be a constant cycle of rejection because she didn’t know how to present herself, move, or style herself. Over time, she battled with drug and alcohol addictions and while she has been sober over 9 years as of November 11th, she has mental battles against overthinking, loneliness, and money.
It wasn’t until Pat McGrath was going through faces for her namesake cosmetics line that Elsesser was finally picked, and for everything that the agencies had been rejecting. That campaign brought the young Black curvy woman to realise her own beauty and potential, carving the path towards dozens of international level modeling gigs and fashion editorials. You can find the full article here to continue reading about Elsesser’s path to success and eventually ending up on the Vogue Values 2021 cover for the special January issue. Let us know who else you would like to read about here or in the comments.
Credit: Annie Leibovitz/Vogue Jan 2021
