MY FASHIONABLE LIFE: LIYA KEBEDE
My fashionable life LIYA KEBEDE
The model, WHO ambassador and founder of LemLem explains how fashion helped her to find her sense of self
I WASN’T STYLISH BEFORE MODELLING. I didn’t understand fashion. I was very awkward with clothes, very tomboyish, always wearing trousers. I was naturally very, very, very thin, and not comfortable with my thinness at all, so I felt gawky. I WAS SEDUCED BY THE IDEA OF THE PERFECT JEANS. I grew up wearing a lot of jeans, but all I wanted were Levi’s 501s with the perfect pair of Dr. Martens. They took me years to get, because they weren’t easy to get hold of in Ethiopia. I watched a lot of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, so it was probably my homage to that style of show. MY COUSIN’S FREEDOM INSPIRED ME. For a place like Ethiopia, she was so out there, so free. She was fashionobsessed, and looked exactly the way she wanted to. I envied her for styling her hair all over the place, wearing off-theshoulder dresses that she cut up – it was very Cyndi Lauper. CUTTING MY HAIR CHANGED A LOT. When I was 12 or 13, I saw Boomerang, starring Halle Berry when she had really short hair. I thought, ‘Wow, that’s it.’ I went to the salon and said, ‘Go for it. Cut it off.’ It was so funny, I went from invisible to, ‘Oh, who’s that?’ I suddenly appeared on the scene as a person. Hair is so hard, especially for young Black girls. I’m still trying to figure it out. But that looked good. I LEARNT A LOT ABOUT STYLE THROUGH MODELLING. My first major job was walking for Gucci – I was 21, I think – and it was the epitome of high fashion, working with everyone who was at the top of their game: Tom Ford, Carine Roitfeld, Pat McGrath. Seeing how incredible designers and stylists put things together – how they thought about fit, how pieces worked together – I learnt that style can be taught. I’M NOT LOOKING FOR A SPLASH. I’m very low-key. My most treasured piece is an old sweater I’ve had since I was a teenager. My father brought it back from a trip to the US, from Brooks Brothers. It’s just a random woolly, greyish, very masculine sweater. When I left Ethiopia, I stole it from him. It reminds me of simpler times, modelling for catalogues in Chicago, when I would wear it almost every day. It’s some kind of connection to my dad, who isn’t here anymore. I MAKE MORE OF AN EFFORT WHEN I’M IN EUROPE. I definitely notice a different approach in different cities. I feel between cities with my style. New York is all about comfort – you can walk around in a hoody and sweatpants, no problem. But in Paris, everyone is so dressed up. FASHION HAS TAUGHT ME ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. As a girl in Ethiopia, I looked at posters of Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford with stars in my eyes. I never thought that could be me, or that I’d have a brand like Lemlem, changing the idea of what African fashion looks like. I’M TRYING TO LEARN TO TREAT MYSELF. I find it hard, so I don’t really do or spend money on self-care. But if I could give advice to young Liya, I’d say that discomfort is OK. It takes the time it takes to feel comfortable; we shouldn’t stress about it. You’ll find yourself. Everybody does in the end.