Fashion's new star tells all and keeps it real.
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Raised in suburban Richmond, B.C. - where her parents worked in the airline industry - Rocha was more interested in dancing than fashion when she started working with photographer Steven Meisel in 2005. “I didn't know who he was,” she says. “Only later did I realize that it was actually a really big deal.” She credits him with jump-starting her career; soon after wrapping a shoot with him in L.A., she took part in fashion weeks in New York, Milan and Paris, where she was pegged as the “new girl” to watch. Now, walking the runway has become routine. “It's funny that you get used to it,” she says. “At the last show, there was a new girl. It was [only] her third show this season, and she was nervous about how she should walk. And there's me, saying ‘Okay, let's do this!'”
Not that the fashion world has lost its lustre. Rocha is passionate about both up-and-coming labels, like Rag & Bone and Derek Lam, and the designers she calls the “great masters”: “I like Nicolas [Ghesquire] from Balenciaga - each collection is always better than the last - and Gaultier, because of his personality. He makes everyone so happy.” Other perks that come with being a fashion model - such as international travel - are appealing too. “We don't see Paris, Milan or London as tourists,” says Rocha. “What we get to see is almost like the underground [of a city]. We see how everything works, how the fashion industry is, and we go to dinners, functions and parties. No one would ever experience it the way we do.”
So how does Rocha stay grounded when she leads such a charmed life? She often travels with her mother or a close childhood friend -“It's really nice to havesomeone [with me] who isn't associated with fashion”- and keeps a low profile in her personal life.“I'm not a party girl. I'd rather be at home.” Still, it'shard to shake the supermodel aura when she spends time in B.C. “I can talk to my friends at home about my problems, but then they'll turn around and say‘Yeah, my day [working] at Starbucks wasn't so great, so stop complaining!'” It's that kind of reality check that helps keep the glamorous photo shoots and weekly first-class flights in perspective. “I haven't taken [this] for granted,” she says. “I'm really thankful for what I have right now, and I'll continue to do this as long as I can.”
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