Numéro:
– Maeva, how did you start your modeling career? How old were you?
Maeva:
– I was 22 years oldwhen I started my modeling career. My friends were models and one person
looked at me and asked “What’s your agency?”, but I wasn’t a model and he said “What? No way!”. The next morning I assigned the contract with the agency. It wasn’t my dream to be a model, I just thought that it’s cool to be a model. When I didn’t have my freckles, I was cute but nobody thought that I’m amazing. There were a lot of girls like me.
Numéro:
– What was your childhood like? Can you describe it in a nutshell?
Maeva:
– My childhood was super nice. I have a chance to travel a lot with my mom. I was born in the USA, in Miami. My mom was very young, she looked like my friend. My childhood was filled with activities and sport. I was a real troublemaker, but at the same time I was big-hearted. All the mistakes that I made, I did because I was nice.
Numéro:
– Looking back, can you say what moment in your career was a turning point for you?
Maeva:
– All of them, because I did a big job. But the first one was a show of Zadig & Voltaire. It was my first big show, there was TV, I didn’t know about it. This show was demonstrated on the big French channel TF1 and they talked about me, I’ve got accepted by everyone as soon as this TV show came out. Before this show a lot of people were saying that I’m ugly, and after that show people started to talk about me “OMG who is this girl?”. There were the same people.
Numéro:
– What is the most difficult thing for you in working as a model?
Maeva:
– The hardest part for me in modeling is to keep my body in the right shape. Even if we talk about body positive, I see that the fashion industry is really trying to make changes. If you are a model you need to have 24 or 26 size, but I’m a little bit older than some models, I’m 25 years old and my body is changing. It’s really hard for me to keep my shape, because food makes me happy and I want to eat the way I want. And it’s hard to combine this, training and my job. I find it very difficult to stick to a diet.
Numéro:
– What do you prefer to eat?
Maeva:
– Everything! Yes, I know that I have to keep my fit for the show but I can’t do anything with myself. I’ve been on diets for too long and most of all, I love those dishes that I shouldn’t eat. My favorite is pasta with cheese, it really makes me happy.
Numéro:
– What is your best and worst character trait? In general, what are you in life?
Maeva:
– I think that my best character is my desire to take care of people. First I think about people and
their feelings and only after that I can think about myself. I always want to make people happy and take care of them and the worst one is that I have some ego, I need a long time to recover. I’m touchy. If someone will trick me bad or betray my trust it will really hurt me.
Numéro:
– Your catwalk appearance at Zadig & Voltaire made a splash in the fashion industry. Do you think you influenced the formation of the trend for freckles, and in general, the interest in models, in whose appearance there is something unusual?
Maeva:
– I don't think that I was the first one who influenced people’s perception, but I truly think that I was the one of the persons who was the reason why now the audience began to perceive us differently. I’m not the only one. Many people have skin problems. And I know that for some people I introduced a trend for the freckles. One of the aesthetic beauty centers sent me a message to my Instagram that a lot of people ask them to do freckles and all of those
people show them my photo.
Numéro:
– How it is very important to have an active life position. Someone refuses meat, someone protects the environment, someone actively opposes racial discrimination, and someone advocates for women's rights. What do you think about it?
Maeva:
– I think that we still do not have enough people who have an active life position. Sometimes I’m crying when I’m watching videos and I see what’s going on in the woods for example. And I understand that so few people are involved in disaster recovery. As soon as I posted on my Instagram the same information, I lost a lot of followers. When I posted a photo with a
hashtag #blacklivesmatter, I lost followers too. And every time when I'd like to show my active life position, I lost followers. I don’t understand why people don’t care. If I was president, I would do everything to stop all this horror. I think that this is too much. The nature is already slick, badly damaged by the fire, bombs and a human relation. A lot of terrible things happen. Black people are discriminated, women are humiliated, animals are killed. We can’t stand aside
longer, we must do something!
Numéro:
– Your photo got on the cover of Numero Russia. What does it mean for a model to be on the cover of Numero?
Maeva:
– When I received a message from Benjamin, where he told me that we have a cover, I was in the shower. I ran out of the shower, read the message again and fell to the floor, I screamed because I couldn’t believe it! I was so happy! The cover of Numero for models it’s a huge achievement. It’s one of the most famous magazines ever, it’s classy. I dreamed of working with Numero.
Numéro:
– During your career there have been many different shootings. Tell me, is there any image in which you have never been filmed, but you would really like to try it on yourself? You know, actors are often asked, "What role would you like to play?" I am addressing approximately the same question to you.
Maeva:
– You know, I never looked like a woman. I mean a woman like a Versace woman. And this is the image that I dream to try on myself. Every time I am filmed, no one sees me as a woman. Everyone sees only my freckles, they ask not to cover them with makeup, they ask to make-up me as natural as possible.
Everyone sees me as a cutie. And I want to finally be sexy and fatal, feminine and spectacular. Even on shows, people always dress me like a cute girl. And I dream about something completely different.
Numéro:
– Have you heard about the emergence of virtual models? What do you think about it?
Maeva:
– I have a mixed feeling about it. It is very cool that there are such creative people who create a virtual person from scratch. But at the same time, I’m scared because it’s fake, and it will give a wrong image to the young people. These girls look real, but no one can ever achieve the same ideal image.
Numéro:
– What is the advantage of a virtual model over a living person?
Maeva:
– I see only one superiority of a virtual model over a real girl. Any dress will always fit perfectly on her. This is a gift for designers. But at the same time, I believe that the ideal shapes of a virtual model can never replace the personality of real models. Each model is primarily a person, each of us has our own story. You know, when a model comes to the shoot and meets the team, the whole concept of shooting can change when the photographer or stylist learns more about the personality of the model. The social part is really important for the designer and people
at all.
Numéro:
– What advice would you give to young models?
Maeva:
– The most important thing is to believe in yourself. Love yourself and your body the way it is and just rock it, girls.
Numéro:
– Maeva, do you have a dream? Tell me about it, if it’s not a secret.
Maeva:
– I have a lot of dreams. First, I want the world to be a better place. I have another big dream: to build a house for my grandmother. Now she is 74 years old, she lives in near Paris. I would like to build for her a house with a large garden. I hope that I will do it someday.