Coco Rocha Has a Message for Young Models This Fashion Week

It’s hilarious how we bring three of their tote bags, like their massive bags, flat, nothing in them, and then when we come home, three of them are full and everyone has to carry one onto the plane.

Being a mom is just like: you try to be organized, you try to perfect how to travel, perfect how to be a mom. And then metaphorically and really, we go on a trip and I’m like, I got this together, [but] on the way home, it’s just like, somehow just get everyone home, get all the bags, get all the stuff, and return home.

What presentations are you excited to see during New York Fashion Week for spring/summer 2025?

Well, I’m good friends with Christian Siriano, so I always will be there representing either on the runway or watching—we’ll see.

Definitely, you know, just like showing up to beautiful dinners and events. New York, to me, is kind of one of those places where you for sure see shows, but there’s a lot of events… it has become a party scene.

Any new or rising trends that you’ll be leaning into as we transition into fall?

Oh, my goodness—just blowing my hair out, you know, now that my kids are going to school. I, finally can like, get myself together in the mornings.

We have a ritual, I have a ritual of getting the kids ready and getting myself ready…I love getting dressed up. My kids are so good at getting their clothes put together and they’re like, “What do you think? You like this?” And then I go into my room and I’m like, “I gotta show up too to drop those kids off!”

So not that I’m so much about trends, just like feeling fabulous. It doesn’t have any rhyme or reason. I don’t need to be at an event to look cute…I think most people have to recognize that we don’t need to buy all these things for a certain time or purpose. Just enjoy the purchases—it doesn’t have to be for one thing.

With this latest fashion week upon us, what words of advice would you give to young models coming up in the industry, be that ones who followed a more traditional path, or those who have found fame through social media?

My inspirational words for the traditional kind of model, meaning they didn’t come from social media or a celebrity kind of status is just—you do check around the room and be like, “Well, do I deserve this?”—And I always say, make a checklist of what you plan to accomplish. Is it a handshake? Is it a conversation? But don’t care if they judge you for your cheekbones and your strut. That’s not it. But what did you do? Did you solidly push yourself through in that room? Then high five—you did it.

When it comes to my social media models or celebrities that are coming into this, they have another angle where they’re so nervous because they’re scared to be judged for the sake of, “Well, this isn’t your space. This isn’t your platform.”…And for those individuals, I always say: Slow down, take a beat. When you’re doing the runway or anything, do not rush through it. Rushing usually makes us look eager or nervous, but just [be] casual. Even if you do the mistake, do it slowly and no one will know. So in the end, wherever we’re at in, you know, castings, or fittings, or options, or even being on the show, be so proud of that moment. Even if you don’t get the job, you still got in the room and that should be a really proud moment for you.

I always say you all have a checklist for—sure for the things ahead…but check that list behind you that you have accomplished. If it’s “I’m here in New York Fashion Week.” We did that. “I got my AirBnb.” We did that. Like even if it sounds so minute, it’s a big deal to get to this moment. It’s a solid for models to do that checklist as well.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Joel is the editorial and social media assistant for HarpersBAZAAR.com, where he covers all things celebrity news. When he steps away from the keyboard, you can likely find him singing off-key at concerts, scavenging thrift stores for loud wardrobe staples, or perusing bookstores for the next great gay romance novel.