Happy B'Day, Laetitia

(An article on Laetitia Casta)

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I don't believe in God, but when I see Laetitia, I might change my mind.

- Vivienne Westwood

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Like Bardot, laetitia Casta has an insolent beauty with just a hint of childishness, and a feline charm that involuntarily draws the eye. Her persona conveys no sense of a prefabricated image, or of a dressed-up doll. On the contrary, much of her appeal lies in the very real, indivisual personality that she is able to project on the page.

Meeting Laetitia for an interview requires focus: It would be easy to do nothing but look ar her. We wanted, however, to find out more about this young model, who compelled British designer Vivienne Westwood to comment: "I don't believe in God, but when I see Laetitia, I might change my mind". And the renowned French photographer Dominique Issermann - another woman who is used to looking at models, and who doesn't frequently express undue enthusiasm - has called her "the most beautiful girl in the world".

In the U.S., Laetitia is beginning to be spoken of as if she were a recent manifestation of the innovative French spirit that produced the high-speed TGV trains. Ever since she was featured in the now-famous Guess campaign, "the new Briggite Bardot" has been raching up covers and contracts on both sides of the Atlantic.

In the ballroom-size booking room of the Madison agency in Paris, Veronique Tuil, the booking director, and Valerie Sarfati, a booking agent, revealed some additional insights about their protegee's evident assets: "Her freshness, her sensuality, and her figure are in sharp contrast to current standards", remarks Valerie. "To find a successor to Stephanie Seymour for the Elseve campaign, L'oreal saw hundreds of girls. It took two years to find Laetitia!"

The two women describe Laetitia as "a pearl"; a variety of which had all but vanished from fashion magazines when she began to model. perhaps a reflection of economically gloomy times, magazine pages at that time were peopled with the pale, doleful-eyed waifs who had replaced the sexy stars of the 80's.

That state of affairs, however, couldn't - and didn't - last forever. Women tend to want to see models that they can identify with as well as admire - a factor that the androgynous, asexual look of the grunge era took into little account.

While Laetitia certainly fills these requirements, one of her strengths is that she doesn't fit fashion's standard physical categories. It's not customary in this profession too see five-foot-seven-inch top models, but, paradoxically, it's precisely the lack of a couple of inches that has helped Laetitia get ahead of her beautiful colleagues. This may seem strange, but it's not entirely surprising in a world where criteria for beauty are nororiously unstable. With her relatively small stature and feminine curves, Laetitia sometimes looks like a creature from another planet next to other tall, rake-thin models - but it's a look with enormous appeal.

When Laetitia suddenly appears in the booking room, sliding on the parquet, bestowing kisses upon the small team of Madison agents, the smile on her face is like an imitation of happiness for those about to cross her path: She radiates cheerfulness.

Before anything else, she first picks up her fan mail. Some overly insistant fans, she reports, propose immediate matrimony; others are more romantic and will suggest a glass of champagne; most often, the letters are purely curious, asking questions like "Do you make a lot of money?" or "Where do you live?"

This kind of public attention has been a factor for almost of four years now, so Laetitia knows how to insulate herself from the pressure. Her agency, Madison, also helps by acting as a second family who will take care of her and provide advice. Madison knows how important Laetitia's fame is for them, but they also know that the yound model needs to be protected from the stress, fighting, and dengers of sudden limelight that has often destroyed promising talents. (The film industry, for example, has been beckoning, but will have to wait a while.)

Laetitia has another gaurdian angel - her father - who watches over her, and his two other children, with the tenderness and concern typical of a Corsican parent. He is proud of her success but always on gaurd on her behalf.

"My father came with me to my first meeting at Madison", Laetitia explains, looking delicious in her black 501 jeans, a white prada ribbon in her hair. "He trusted me, but, as he often tells me, he doesn't want anyone to hurt me. I always remember a beautiful thing he once said to me: There isn't a minute in the day that I don't think of you, that I don't fear for you. I want you to be strong, because I won't always be there".

An interview of 18-year old Casta

Q: How does it feel to be so beautiful?

A: I've never asked myself that question. It's a plus, of course, to be thought beautiful. But it didn't occur to me when I first started. I had never imagined being a model. My parents never told me that I was more beautiful than anyone else, and I could or should do this job. In any case, beauty is not really important, it's charm that counts. What's inside of you has to show through.


Q: So, on top of everything else, you like to charm people?

A: At school, I was always the one who made my friends laugh - and I was the one who got into trouble! At that time, when I was twelve or thirteen, I has a real hang-up about my nose, and I only wore jeans and shirts.


Q: You were a bit of a tomboy?

A: Yes, and it's only when I started modelling and posing for photographers that I became more reserved in my behaviour, and more feminine. That was when I started to really appreciate beautiful things. I loved changing clothes all the time!


Q: Are you crazy about clothes now?

A: Yes, changing outfits puts me in a good mood! It's like a new day. I love to shop. Not necessarily for expensive stuff: It's fun to go to sales and flea markets, and to bring back bits and pieces from different places. It creates memories.


Q: Do you travel a lot?

A: Yes, and that's the reason why I always take a few favourite items of clothing with me whereever I go. I have a pair of striped knee-length pants that I love, they're so comfortable. I'm not myself in the clothes I have to wear for photographs. I'm playing a role. But, when I get back into my own things, it's like being back at home.


Q: Is beauty care important to you?

A: My mother taught me to pay attention to all that, and to look after myself. When I travel, I always take specific products along. I like to have my things with me.


Q: So, what's in your makeup bag?

A: The products I use are not necessarily the same brand. They happen to suit my hair, or my face, and they are generally very ordinary. To remove makeup, I use a baby bath lotion, which I buy at the pharmacy. I apply it on my face with a very pure, soft cotton wool - the usual cotton pads for removing makeup literally scratch my face! My skin tends to get dry, so I apply a very light cream, by Avene. For my lips, I use a cream which contains vitamin A. Also, I always carry a spray bottle of Evian spring water.


Q: You don't use a body lotion?

A: Yes, I use one by Neutrogena. They have excellent products that are specially adapted for sensitive skin. I also always have shower gel with me wherever I go.


Q: And for your hair?

A: I prefer baby shampoo, but I change shampoos often, because I believe that you shouldn't get your hair accustomed to the same product. I mix the shampoo in my hand with a little water, and wash the roots only so that the tips don't get dry.


Q: How often do you wash your hair?

A: Every two or three days. Then I apply a conditioner, rinse it off, amd leave it to dry naturally: To avoid damaging my hair, I don't ever use a hair dryer. When my hair looks really tired, I buy shea butter and give it a "mask". I leave it on for a while, with my head wrapped in a towel, then rinse it out.


Q: You cut your hair recently. Did that take courage?

A: Well, I still can't believe that I did it! I was asked to cut it for an Elseve campaign, a very well-paid contract, which not many girls get the chance to do. So I told myself that it didn't matter, and that it would grow back. When I got home afterwards, though, I wasn't happy at all; it felt so strange not to be able to run my fingers through the hair. And the next day, when I woke up and remembered, my heart gave a little squeeze. It felt as if a part of me had been cut away. But the hair is growing back, and it's a change.


Q: Are you disciplined about what you eat?

A: Yes, in that I believe in sitting at the table and eating everything, like everybody else! I enjoy eating for the sake of eating. I travel all the time, and it's obvious that how you eat is important: It gives you energy and strength, and helps to prevent you from getting sick! The girls who don't eat are always tired. I eat whenever I'm hungry or whenever I feel like it.


Q: Do you eat specific kinds of food?

A: No, I live with my parents, and have a younger sister and a twenty-one-year-old brother. We're all at the table together, so I can't help but eat like them. Mealtimes are occasions to relax and be with family.


Q: What's your favourite dish?

A: I like everything - vegetables, fish, meat - although I'm not crazy about red meat. I love cake and cookies. I adore rice pudding with custard, which my mother makes. She also makes caramel custard - delicious!


Q: Cakes and cookies aren't a usual diet for a top model.

A: I'm only eighteen. Why should I make myself miserable? Little by little I'll pay more attention. But I have a round body anyway - I've always been curvy. We'll see later...


Q: Do you exercise?

A: I jog from time to time, and I walk a lot, which gives me energy for travelling. I also sleep a lot. But, actually, I'm quite hardworking. I can sleep until noon, but when I'm on a shot, I can get up at 4 A.M. and stay up long past midnight.


Q: I'm sure that there are lot of girls who want to look like you. What about you? Did you ever identify with someone famous?

A: Real beauty is to be true to oneself. That's what makes me feel good. There are lots of women, though, whom I adore - like Brigitte Bardot in her early years. What I admire is that when she first started, she truly created an image of her own - what she did in her time was really daring! I haven't ever seen her in "And God Created Woman", but I've seen the photographs, and they are gorgeous! I also like Frida Kahlo for her personality and her courage. Both those women have real style, and lots of temperament!


Q: Like Brigitte Bardot, you're very sexy. You have a fantastic bust!

A: I tell people that my breasts are "Made in Normandy", from butter and creme fraiche! [laughs]


Q: How do you feel like showing them in photographs?

A: It doesn't bother me. Nudity is a natural state. it's when you hide your body that the whole issue becomes vulgar. We should be free with our bodies and be responsible. It sounds easy for me to say that, but I have flaws, like everyone else.


Q: What flaws?

A: I have lots. My teeth, for example, aren't perfect. And my feet look like little sausages! But I can live with that! [laughs]


Q: How do you feel about cosmetic surgery?

A: I'm not in favour of it at all. I would think that it's like a foreign body in your own. The best thing is to remain how you are. Nothing is more beautiful that what is natural. And beauty never belongs to anyone anyway, it passes.


Q: That's a nice way of putting it.

A: It's true though. Beauty comes and goes. Sometimes, you're in love, and after you've made love, you are very beautiful. But those are only transient moments. That's life.


Q: Would you stop everything you're going to have a baby?

A: Yes. If having a child meant leaving it with a nanny while I travelled, I wouldn't want to have one. A child isn't a toy!


Q: So there will be little Laetitias?

A: Yes, and little Napoleons! [laughs] I'd like to have a first child while I'm yound, and my last one somewhat later. Like my mother: She had my sister when she was thirty-six. And I'd like to have three or four kids, because I adore them. 've always known that I was made to have children. To be able to have a child is a great piece of luck. It's so beautiful - a child with a person you love.