I met Rebecca Pearson a few weeks back on a shoot and she was so fun to work with. She just made modeling look easy. A good model is not just a pretty face - of course she will have a pretty face but a good model really makes the clothes live, and she knows how to work it!
How did you become a model?
I’m afraid there’s no fascinating or unique story here…..I was scouted outside Topshop in Oxford Circus at 16, a la every English model who wasn’t scouted at the Clothes Show!
What do you think is the biggest preconception that people have about the modeling industry?
Wow, there are so many! I’d say the biggest though, is that it’s a shallow, vacuous and bitchy world. Really, I’ve met some of the warmest, most creative and interesting people who passionately care about what they do.
I might also note that most models are usually studying or doing something on the side…..they’re often very independent and savvy, not braindead bimbos. I’m pretty sure a lot of my friends couldn’t cope with being thrown into a foreign city, with a list of 10 obscure places to find for castings as you figure out different public transport in a day, whilst being shouted at by your agency for being late/having another casting/having to make it to a job in ten minutes on the other side of town, as well as sharing a room with 5 new strangers you might not even like, and being presentable and friendly at all times…..probably starving hungry….and in high heels!
Is the industry different than you expected?
No, I didn’t have those preconceptions really, I went into it looking forward to an exciting and interesting, (though ultimately short-lived), experience! Now most people and family members tell me when I started that they were frightened I’d turn into a wanker. I’d like to think this hasn’t happened….
What is the most go sees / castings you’ve done in a day?
Ooooh, I think 12 in a day, in Paris. It is easier there though, as it’s so small and most places are a maximum ten minute walk from the Metro. Paris is beautiful.
Have you travelled a lot as a model? What cities have you lived in?
I’ve lived in Paris, Tokyo and Athens, but travelled on trips to some far flung places…..Cuba, India, The Caribbean, Switzerland and Italy, to name but a few….however, the BEST trip I ever did was 4 days in Wales, staying in a beach hut with 8 other people! It was for the book Freedom in Flashes, by Diane Scheunemann.
In 2008 you were the MC for the SuperSuper show. How have you been involved in the magazine?
I went out with a guy called Tom, from Trash Fashion (you may know their seminal hit ‘It’s a Rave Dave’!!! I met Namalee through him, and massively got on with her……she said she wanted me for the cover (where I was dressed as a monster chav!) and got me to write a column, Diary of a SuperSuperModel. I’ve got to admit - I was at uni and not doing many shoots, so it was mainly about going out to parties, doing revision and snogging boys! I got to do some interviews too thoough, like with my friend Anita Blay (Cocknbullkid), Lady Gaga and Daisy Lowe.
What type of music do you like? Any Favourites?
I don’t want to be cliche and say ‘eclectic’….but…..! Well, I love 60s music, like The Velvet Underground. I loooove Patti Smith, who I recently met on her book signing for Just Kids (read it!). My housemate Gwil is from the Golden SIlvers, so I rate them obviously, and I’ve been getting him to teach me more about hip hop. And lately I well love folk music - Matty Groves by Fairport Convention is a fave, because I remember my mum singing it to me. I sort of remember finding the song scary and a bit sexy? I was very young. It’s about Lord Donal walking in on his wife in bed with Matty and killing them.
Do you look more like your mum or your dad?
I’d say my mum for the eyes, chubby cheeks and colouring (she’s Anglo-Indian), but I’ve definitely got my dad’s strong nose and height! People get shy about having big noses but I think that’s silly! Us Pearsons are all tall, slim, shiny of face and big of nose.
What is your favourite coffee shop?
Spiral Cafe in Camden….I don’t like coffee but they do well yummy vegan food (though I am omnivore) and I like watching the variety of crusties/cyberpunks/Spanish tourists/Camden oddbods wander in. Actually Miss Dynamite was in there the other day! I like buying their cakes and pretending to myself they’re healthier.
To view Rebecca’s portolio at First Model Management click here.
I once worked with an editor who said if you can cast the right model 80% of your work is done. This is so true. So many people underestimate what the model can do for the brand, without the right girl - it’s just clothes on a rail.
We all think about walking in someone else’s shoes and we always think it would be easier. Of course models do this on a regular basis and they just make it look easy. Shoes can be one of the most challenging part of any catwalk show. Everyone thinks it’s so easy to be a model and so simple to walk down a catwalk.
Abbey Lee Kershaw fell at Rodarte’s spring 2009 show because of the shoes. She, Sasha Pivovarova, and Natasha Poly all declined to wear the McQueen’s spring 2010 Alien 10" heels - the ones that Lady Gaga wore in her video Bad Romance. The shoes are considered so unique that they are protected by copyright!
It was model casting day at Vauxhall Fashion Scout - it’s a 4-hour open casting where about 300 models come by at once, and very patiently wait to be seen by all the designers (and stylists) showing at Vauxhall Fashion Scout for a chance to be in their show.
Anyone who thinks models don’t work hard doesn’t understand that for every well-paying job there’s a lot of not-so-well-paying jobs, and for every job there can be 20 castings or more, for which you get paid nothing and it takes up your whole day! The models were all fresh and friendly, even after waiting for a long time - amazing!!
I’m styling several shows, so I had to pay close attention to a lot of models - after about a hundred models it kind of becomes a blur, but you also really get into the zone, really focused, where you can just tell right away whether a model’s right for the show. The problem is so many them are so nice you just want to cast them all!
Vauxhall Fashion Scout is getting more and more important each year - it’s something which shows up in all sorts of little ways - like this year one of the models who came by for casting was Georgia Frost - beautiful!
.jpg "Rebecca Pearson Model Interview")
I met Rebecca Pearson a few weeks back on a shoot and she was so fun to work with. She just made modeling look easy. A good model is not just a pretty face - of course she will have a pretty face but a good model really makes the clothes live, and she knows how to work it!
Do you look more like your mum or your dad? 
