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Anna Wintour's New Prince?
By Eri Kim
Apr 5, 2002/ FWD/ --- Valery Prince got her start in modeling the old-fashioned (as in 1980s) way: by winning a
contest at a mall.
But like other famous mall denizens Tiffany and Debbie Gibson, Prince's success didn't happen
overnight.
While she did local work in her hometown of Dallas, she was neither "getting the jobs"
nor "seeing the money" she hoped for. More than once she considered quitting, the 18-year-old
stunner remembers. And she might have, if it hadn't been for her mother.
"My mom would say, 'I don't understand the meaning of quitting. That word is not part of my
vocabulary,'" Prince recalls with a laugh. "So I hung in there." And it's a good thing she
did.
Prince's career took a big turn when her booker moved from Dallas to New York this year to
join T-Management, taking her with him.
In a matter of one season, she has walked the runway for everyone from Gucci and Yves Saint
Laurent to Jil Sander and Christian Dior and has shot an editorial with Steven Meisel for
Vogue's May issue.
Vogue's editor, Anna Wintour, was so taken by the almond-eyed, long-limbed beauty that she
requested Prince appear on the Today Show with her to showcase some spring looks.
"She was really friendly," says Prince of her encounter with the infamously frosty Wintour,
"and she also gave me some advice. She told me to always make sure that I'm enjoying my work."
Which she is - tremendously. And while she has heard all the horror stories of the industry,
so far her experience has been all positive.
"The first show I ever did I was told that as a black model you have one chance and you can't
mess up because it's harder for black models to get a break," she remembers.
And while she hasn't experienced such discrimination in her short career, Prince seems set
to take it all in stride. Not even that much-rumored side of the industry, she says, could
keep her from "being proud of who I am. I'll just have to see how it goes."
"I'm enjoying every minute of it," Prince, dressed head-to-toe in Tommy Hilfiger, stresses.
"Right now, I'm just trying to make a big impact."
As determined as Prince is to make it in the modeling world, her personal goals go beyond
striking a pose. She's saving money to send her younger sister to college, and she plans
on starting college correspondence courses in primary education come 2003 so that, after she's
done with modeling, she can become a kindergarten teacher - her dream job.
"I've always loved kids and kids are drawn to me," says Prince, whose father is a minister.
"You know kids, they call it like they see it. I love the honesty and I want to help them
keep that."
But before Prince calls it quits - and things have just started for this girl, after all -
there are a few things she'd like to achieve as a model: campaigns for Gucci, Dior and Tommy.
"I did the runway for Tom Ford and John Galliano and they were both so nice," she says with
a big smile. "I would love to work with them exclusively." As for Tommy, considering that
the majority of her wardrobe consists of the designer's label, it would only make sense,
she says.
"I actually went to see Tommy for an interview," Prince reveals, "and I didn't want to take
off my coat. Everything I wore was from Tommy and I was so embarrassed," she explains. "But
the people were very sweet - so if anyone from Tommy is reading this," she announces, "I would
really love to work with you!"
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