CRAIG BROWN: Halcyon days when models went to mow

By CRAIG BROWN, COLUMNIST

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Described by one newspaper as ‘the world’s most successful model agent’, Sarah Doukas, founder of agency Storm, is best known for spotting the 14-year-old Kate Moss.

Recently, she has been reflecting on nearly four decades in the business.

‘When I first started the agency in 1987, nobody knew who a model was – maybe the odd person like Jerry Hall and Marie Helvin. But other than that they didn’t get credits.’

In a newspaper interview she said that, back in those days, ‘models were just a blank canvas’, but they now needed ‘more strings to their bow’. She now tries to understand what her recruits are interested in, what their hobbies are – ‘something that would never have happened 30 years ago’.

‘I make the staff – if I’m not there – say, “Look, what are you interested in, oh, you play the violin”.'

The fashion world is addicted to the present. Its history is written in disappearing ink. Anything over six months old is described as last season, and fashionistas tend to wince and say ‘that’s SO last year!’ if ever they spot the wrong shade of green.

So it should come as no surprise that Sarah Doukas has convinced herself that, before Kate Moss, models were all anonymous and characterless.

But is she telling the truth? I’m happy to say that I have a paperback book, published in 1971, called Not Just a Pretty Face. It consists of recipes provided by 50 top models of the time, along with ‘some interesting details about themselves’.

Agency Storm founder and model agent Sarah Doukas, best known for spotting Kate Moss at 14

Agency Storm founder and model agent Sarah Doukas, best known for spotting Kate Moss at 14

Models were 'just a blank canvas¿ back then, but they now needed ¿more strings to their bow¿, says Ms Doukas (file photo)

Models were 'just a blank canvas’ back then, but they now needed ‘more strings to their bow’, says Ms Doukas (file photo)

‘If you’ve ever wondered “Which is Celia Hammond’s favourite restaurant?” “What food does Twiggy dislike most?” and “Where does Jean Shrimpton have her hair done?” – now you can find out!’ reads the breathless blurb.

This time-capsule of a book shows that, long before Sarah Doukas came along, plenty of models were household names, with fans keen to know their favourite colours, authors, magazines and composers.

After the Queen, Twiggy was probably the most recognisable woman in England. Many of the other contributors – Grace Coddington, Joanna Lumley, Pattie Boyd, Sandra Paul – remain prominent today.Even at the age of 14, I was aware of them and many others featured in the book: Edina Ronay, Paulene Stone, Vicki Hodge. 

Could today’s teenagers name more of the current generation of models? I doubt it.

Nor were the models of 1971 blank canvases, as Sarah Doukas suggests. Far from it.

Their tastes were, I suspect, more high-brow than those of the present generation. Their favourite composers included Bach, Elgar and Wagner, their favourite painters Leonardo da Vinci, Paul Klee and Rembrandt, and their favourite writers Iris Murdoch, Aldous Huxley, William Faulkner and Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Joanna Lumley picked Margaret Drabble as her favourite writer, Beethoven as her favourite composer and Private Eye as her favourite magazine. Her favourite sport was croquet. Among Jean Shrimpton’s favourites were Egon Schiele, Mozart, and Nabokov.

Twiggy’s favourite artist was Magritte, her favourite writer Daphne du Maurier. Touchingly, her favourite drink was ginger beer.

Joanna Lumley (pictured) picked Margaret Drabble as her favourite writer, Beethoven as her favourite composer, Private Eye as her favourite magazine and croquet as her favourite sport

Joanna Lumley (pictured) picked Margaret Drabble as her favourite writer, Beethoven as her favourite composer, Private Eye as her favourite magazine and croquet as her favourite sport

Though Twiggy was a working-class girl from Neasden, the majority of the others were from posh backgrounds, not least Grania Villiers-Stuart, who picked Nancy Mitford as her favourite author, La Petite Auberge in Paris as her favourite restaurant, and lawn mowing as her favourite sport. 

Her chosen recipe was Grouse Bourre aux Fines Herbes, which consisted of three grouse cooked in brandy and red wine.

I wonder if today’s top models – many of them just as well-connected – would be quite so openly elitist? In Not Just a Pretty Face, one model, Dorothy Bond, cites her favourite restaurant as Cochons, St Tropez, and another, Marla Landi, announces her favourite shop is Sothebys.

Over the course of half a century, many other aspects of the world of fashion have changed or disappeared, and I plan to write about them in my column on Thursday.

Joanna LumleyKate MossTwiggy

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