Miranda Kerr: "Models Are Some of The Most Insecure People I've Met"
Girls want to be her; guys want to be with her. Miranda Kerr explains the secrets to becoming a worldwide obsession, just in case you want to get started on that.
By Katie Connor
"I like your outfit," Miranda Kerr tells me on the set of her Cosmo cover shoot. She's clad (barely) in Antonio Marras hot pants and a bra while an assistant rubs her knees with lotion. Frankie, her Yorkshire terrier, prances at her feet. Wait, come again? "I like your outfit. Is it Balenciaga?" Normally, I would dismiss the compliment as meaningless girl talk. But this is Miranda Kerr — as in, the second-highest-paid model in the world; wife of Orlando Bloom; mother to genetic-jackpot winner Flynn, almost 3; and oh yeah, the woman whose street style bankrolls swarms of paparazzi. That she genuinely likes my bargain-basement tank and tweed skirt is somehow hard to believe.
Kerr's personality is as lovely as her exterior, confirming the worst: Life really is that unfair. At 30, the veteran Victoria's Secret Angel has settled into her skin as a clean-living yogini who practices what she tweets. "My life is more balanced than ever," declares Kerr, fresh off the U.S. launch of her certified-organic skin-care line, Kora. "There was so much rejection in the beginning. Models are some of the most insecure people I've ever met. They're constantly being told that they're not good enough. You've really got to practice loving yourself."
Kerr's breed of supermodel is far from the cocaine-fueled, cell-phone-hurling supes of the past. Snaps of her pushing a stroller in flared jeans, a silk blouse, and messy bun are as blogged, Tumblred, and Pinned as her high-fashion photo shoots. Her chief complaints include Bloom's tendency to leave his used dental floss around the house. (And we're with her—that is kind of gross.) "You don't have to fit into a specific mold to be amazing," she says. Still, being a little more like Miranda isn't an awful place to start.
strong>1. Be Driven When It's Needed
"I'm a lot stronger than people think. I started my own company, invested my own money in it, and have been involved in every facet. I'm that person who says, no matter what the problem is, there's a solution. That's the way my brain is wired. If someone says to me, 'Well, that's not possible. It can't happen,' I say, 'Yes it is. I'm going to sit here and show you that it can.' I can take no for an answer and accept it — but if there's a solution and I can make it work, why wouldn't I?"
2. Be Girlie If You Want To Be
"Don't feel like you have to do and be everything. Let the man do some things for you, because if he cares for you, he will want to. When I get home, I'm not the boss like I am at work — I slip into a more feminine role. I take everything off and put on my Stella McCartney silk robe. I'll put on a red lip or red nails, and it lifts my mood. Sexy underwear also gives you a spark. I collect underwear from my travels. Lace, lingerie, bodysuits ... they're like souvenirs."
3. Don't Chase People
"The worst thing you can do is go looking for a partner. You have to embrace the time you have to yourself and do things that nurture your mind and soul. If the right partner is around, he'll come to you. I feel like men have a natural instinct to want to be the ones chasing. Don't be planning babies on the first date! Just relax into your own skin instead of getting too far into the future. Be present."
4. Choose A Guy You Respect
"Flynn says Mommy works and Daddy plays, because Daddy is in a play ... so that makes sense. When I saw Orlando on Broadway in Romeo and Juliet, I was blown away. For someone to be able to learn all that and hold the energy to do it every day, six days a week — I have so much respect for him. We don't run lines though. We keep that very separate. That would be like me asking him to teach me how to catwalk."
For more with Miranda Kerr, get the issue on Kindle, Nook, or the iPad.
Photo credit: Matt Jones
Katie Connor Katie Connor oversees all digital content for ELLE.
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