- Coco Rocha
-
Coco Rocha 
Coco Rocha at Louis VuittonBorn September 10, 1988
Toronto, Ontario, CanadaHeight 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Hair color Black Eye color Blue Measurements 33-24-35 (US)
84-63.5-89 (EU)Dress size 2 (US) Agency ModelQuest (mother agency)
Wilhelmina Models
Storm Model Management
Elite Milan
Elite Toronto
Elite Copenhagen
UNO Barcelona
Marylin Agency
Model Management Hamburg
Specs Model ManagementSpouse James Conran Website http://www.cocorocha.com Coco Rocha (born Mikhaila Rocha on September 10, 1988) is a Canadian fashion model.[1]
Contents
Personal life
Rocha was born in Toronto, Ontario, and moved to Richmond and attended McRoberts secondary school, British Columbia at a very young age.[1] Her family is in the airline industry. Her mother, Juanita, is a flight attendant and her father, Trevor Haines,[2] is a ticket manager. She has one step sister named Lynsey and one step brother named David Morandin. She is of Irish, Russian, and Welsh descent.[3]
Rocha is one of the few models who has spoken out against the prevalence of eating disorders in the modeling industry. In an open letter to the New York Times, Coco spoke out on her blog about the pressure the fashion industry puts on young models "How can any person justify an aesthetic that reduces a woman or child to an emaciated skeleton? Is it art? Surely fashion’s aesthetic should enhance and beautify the human form, not destroy it." [1] In an email to the Associated Press, she gives an insight into the fashion world, saying: "I'll never forget the piece of advice I got from people in the industry when they saw my new body ... They said, 'You need to lose more weight. The look this year is anorexia. We don't want you to be anorexic but that's what we want you to look like[4].
Rocha married James Conran on June 9, 2010.[5] Her wedding dress was designed by Zac Posen.
Career
In 2002, agent Charles Stuart approached Rocha at an Irish dance competition and asked her if she would consider modeling for him. At that point, she had never thought of modeling before.[6] When she did begin to model, her knowledge of fashion was limited.[3] She eventually gained insight into the fashion world after her best friends crammed in fashion study sessions in between studying for exams.[3]
Rocha started her professional career in 2004, signing with SUPREME in New York City. Two years later, Rocha met fashion photographer Steven Meisel. Soon, she was featured in an editorial with Gemma Ward and Amanda Moore. The editorial kickstarted her career, landing her the cover of the February 2006 issue of Vogue Italia. The week after, she walked the Spring/Summer 2006 New York City runways for a handful of designers, most notably Anna Sui and Marc Jacobs. Backstage at the Anna Sui show, Rocha met model Naomi Campbell, who held her hands and told her she was "her new favorite model".[7] After the New York Fashion Week, she soon followed by taking part in the Paris Fashion Week as well. She walked for esteemed designers like Stella McCartney, Shiatzy Chen, Christian Lacroix, and Emanuel Ungaro, and was chosen by Marc Jacobs to open and close his Louis Vuitton show.[citation needed]
During Jean Paul Gaultier's Scottish Highlands-inspired Fall/Winter 2007 show in February 2007, Rocha opened the show by Irish-dancing down the runway; American Vogue dubbed this the "Coco Moment" and suggested it as a sign that the fashion industry misses the "supermodels".[8]
In the May 2007, issue of Vogue (US), she was featured on the cover with fellow models Doutzen Kroes, Caroline Trentini, Raquel Zimmermann, Sasha Pivovarova, Agyness Deyn, Jessica Stam, Hilary Rhoda, Chanel Iman, and Lily Donaldson as the new crop of supermodels.[9] In 2008 casting agent James Scully, who is responsible to pick which model is to score a spot on top runways, says in regards to Rocha:
“ I will be the first to admit I did not believe the hype, but within five seconds of meeting her, I was totally charmed and understood why everyone loves her. Some people feel her look is specific, but I find her to be the most chameleon-like of all the girls.[10] ” Rocha has been on the covers of many top fashion magazines including American, Mexican, Korean, Italian, Japanese, and Brazilian Vogue, Flare, Fashion, Numéro, French, W, Harper's Bazaar, Dazed & Confused, i-D, Time Style & Design, among others.[1]
Since her debut, Rocha has been the face of a variety of advertising campaigns including Versace, Americana Manhasset, Balenciaga, Chanel, D&G, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Lanvin, The Gap, Ports 1961, Tommy Hilfiger, Yves Saint Laurent, Esprit, Liz Claiborne, Calvin Klein, Nicole Farhi, DeBeers, Zac Posen, and Rimmel. She has appeared in editorials for American, Italian, Korean, French, Russian, Spanish, Brazilian, Japanese, Mexican, and British Vogue, British, Canadian, Czech, French, Quebec, and Italian Elle V,[disambiguation needed
] W, French, Korean, and Japanese Numéro, British and Japanese Dazed & Confused, i-D, Time Style & Design, and Ukrainian, Russian, Korean, and American Harpers Bazaar[1]Vogue Paris declared her one of the top 30 models of the 2000s.[11]
In July 2010, Rocha appeared on vogue.co.uk every day for the entire month in the feature Today I'm Wearing. She followed in the footsteps of Alexa Chung and Olivia Palermo to showcase her fashion and style choices each day. The following month, Rocha appeared on a billboard in Times Square for an ad campaign with Marie Claire magazine in partnership with Project Runway in which she modeled a contestant's winning design.
In October 2010, Coco Rocha was one of a handful of high fashion models mentioned on Kanye West's "Christian Dior Denim Flow." [2] Also in October 2010, Coco Rocha was given Marie Claire's Prix d’Excellence as their model of the year at a ceremony in Paris, France. [3]
In November 2010, Rocha was awarded the Seventeen Body Peace award by Seventeen magazine. Rocha contributed a number of articles to Seventeen magazine on the topic of girls body image and self esteem. [4][5]
Rocha hosted the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards white carpet.
In February 2011, it was announced that Rocha had written the forward to World-famous fashion guru Jeanne Beker's book "Struttin It!". The book offered a unique insider's look at the reality behind the glitz of the modeling profession. [6]
In March 2011, Coco announced the launch of her new website [cocorocha.com]. The site was said to contain almost 10,000 pictures covering her entire career as a model so far. On February 14th, 2011 Coco was awarded the Elle Style award for 'Model of the Year' by Boy George in London, England.[7]
In spring of 2011, it was announced that Rocha would again be the face of a limited edition Karl Lagerfeld designed Coco Cola light campaign. She previously collaborated with Lagerfeld and Coca-Cola in 2010. [8]
In June of 2011, Coco announced a partnership with Canadian fashion retailer Jacob for a photoshop free campaign. On her blog Rocha said she hoped the shoot could "balance the scales a little by pulling so far back from what has been the current trend of total digital model manipulation." [9]
On June 16th, 2011, Coco Rocha and husband James Conran both received awards for their philanthropic work at the Pay It Fashion Forward event in Manahattan, NY. [10]
In early July 2011, Coco Rocha revealed the trailer to her short documentary "Letter to Haiti" on her blog. The movie was set to premier in Toronto in October and New York in December of 2011. [11]
In July 2011, Coco Rocha became the first high fashion model to be photographed by the Lytro Camera, the camera takes what the company calls a “living picture,” meaning that it captures enough visual information in a single exposure so that the focus and zoom can be adjusted even after the picture is taken. Rocha said she reached out to the company after reading about them on the website Mashable. [12][13]
In August 2011, it was announced that Coco would be the face of an upcoming Karl Lagerfeld for Macy's collection. [14]
On October 11th, 2011 Coco Rocha appeared on Anderson Cooper's daytime television show "Anderson" where she said models are scouted too young and put under pressure to stay thin and behave in a way they wouldn't naturally while they're "still minors". [15]
On October 19, 2011 she appeared as a guest judge alongside Tyra Banks where she was frequently referred to as "The Queen of Posing" on "America's Next Top Model."On November 1st, 2011 Coco launched Coco Rocha for Senhoa, a collection produced together with Senhoa, an organization helping Cambodian survivors of human trafficking. The capsule collection contained 7 unique pieces designed by Rocha and hand crafted by the survivors of human trafficking. All proceeds go directly back into the Senhoa program. To help raise awareness for the cause, Rocha brought on some additional model power with the help of friends Iman, [16] Caroline Trentini[17] and Behati Prinsloo[18]. In the first of two campaigns, Iman, Trentini and Rocha were photographed by Nigel Barker[19][20]
References
- ^ a b c d Coco Rocha rocks the runway May 23, 2009.
- ^ Meet the Coco Pop.
- ^ a b c Models: Crazy for Coco August 13, 2008.
- ^ http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2008/06/cfdas_takes_on_the_tooskinny_m_1.html CFDA Panel on Skinny Models: Coco Rocha on Her Struggle, 6/11/2008.
- ^ Coco Rocha Ties The Knot June 10, 2010.
- ^ Coco Rocha Rocks the Runway May 23, 2009.
- ^ Biography at Coco Rocha official website August 13, 2008.
- ^ US Vogue May 2007 August 2, 2007.
- ^ Hit Girls - American Vogue, May 2007
- ^ Herbst, Kendall (9 May 2008). "Casting Agent James Scully's All-Time Favorite Models". New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2008/05/casting_agent_james_scullys_al.html. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ^ Les 30 Mannequins des Années 2000 Retrieved 2010-01-20
External links
Categories:- 1988 births
- Living people
- Canadian female models
- Canadian people of Irish descent
- Canadian people of Russian descent
- Canadian people of Welsh descent
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
