“I can’t believe I’ve managed to sneak in a mini break,” laughs Georgia May Jagger, who is speaking to me from a garden in the South of France, where she is currently staying with her mother. She is make-up free, wearing a pretty floral dress and enjoying the last of the summer sun. “I’m heading to New York tomorrow for fashion month, and I was in Venice for the film festival this weekend – it’s been a lot of back and forth, so I decided to stop in and see her on the way.”
Finding balance in her hectic schedule is key to keeping her feet on the ground, she says – and despite her parents’ fame (she is the daughter of Rolling Stone Mick Jagger and supermodel Jerry Hall), it is because of them that she is able to live such a normal, stable life. “Being in the public eye is all I have ever known – it’s what I was born into. I think because of that, I have never looked to find fame at all. I went into modelling as a teenager not really expecting it to become a proper career for me, it was just something I was interested in doing when I was young.”
“There's also a big part of me that doesn't really like the fame side of it, and so I think that keeps me grounded,” she adds. “I have always just wanted to keep my life as normal as possible, I still have a lot of the same friends from when I was a kid, and I always try to make sure I have a lot of personal time which is nothing to do with this world. I think that really helps to keep my life balanced.”
Jagger was first signed in 2008, and quickly became a name to watch as she was snapped up by some of the biggest fashion and beauty brands in the world, walking for Chanel, fronting Thierry Mugler’s Angel fragrance and landing a contract with Rimmel. Her star power rose quickly, and her interest in modelling does not appear to have waned over the past 15 years. In fact, she seems spurred on by some of the positive changes that have taken place in the industry recently.
“There is a lot more interest now in who models actually are, in their personalities,” she comments. “That just didn't really exist when I started out. It was so much more about what people look like, that was all it was about actually. Now, they want to speak to you, they want to hear about you, they want to follow you on social media and see what your life is all about. It's nice that you feel valued more as a whole person, you have a bit more of a voice.”
Jagger says that she has also felt other positive shifts take place. “There is obviously still a huge way to go in terms of diversity in all its forms, we're definitely nowhere near there yet, but I do feel like there has been a shift. I used to be the only short model in the line-up, and when I did a show recently, I didn't feel like the odd one out. Just looking around me, there were so many different types of girls there, and I thought that was quite inspiring. There does seem to be more acceptance than there once was.”
As her career has blossomed, she’s also had the opportunity to try plenty of new things, from fashion design and co-owning a business to tackling some of her biggest fears. She says that she used to blackout on the catwalk, and once found the red carpet really daunting, but her biggest challenge came earlier this year, when she stepped on stage at the Brit Awards.
“I am trying to get better at doing the things that scare me – I have always been terrified of public speaking, I've had huge anxiety around it but I had this opportunity to give out an award at the Brits this year and I thought, ‘I am just going to do it’. My mum always says 'Make hay while the sun shines' – I don't want to feel regret about saying no to great opportunities just because I feel nervous. And there is nothing better than that feeling afterwards when you do something you are afraid of.”
Her latest project is slightly less daunting, and a perfect fit for her, she says. Jagger is the new face of the Los Angeles-based denim brand 7 For All Mankind – she has been brought in for her a campaign titled ‘The London Edition’ which champions the easy-going off-duty style that Jagger is synonymous with. Described as “bold, confident and effortlessly chic” by the brand’s CEO, Francesca Toninato, Jagger’s quintessential London style does seem to be a perfect match.
“I only ever work with brands that I really love, but this particularly felt like a great fit for my style,” Jagger says. “I am all about jeans, it is the clothing I wear the most, they are what I always come back to – and I have so many pairs for 7 For All Mankind, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity.”
The campaign was shot on the streets of London, posing alongside red telephone boxes, black cabs and London buses: “It was quite nerve-racking to be watched by people on the streets, but it was so nice to actually spend a day just walking around the city,” she says. In the shots, Jagger wears plenty of denim, leather, Seventies’ shades and pussybow blouses. Is this how she would define classic London style?
“I get asked this question a lot – I think it’s all about the mix. On the streets of London, you see people putting this eclectic mix of everything together. It’s never about one designer look, and it’s never about one era. You see people wearing vintage and high street mixed with designer pieces, and then always bringing in lots of different bits of history. It’s always a real melting pot of style from all over the place. That’s what I would consider London style.”
In that sense, Jagger certainly fits her own description. She says that when it comes to personal style, people might find her wardrobe confusing, her boyfriend certainly does. “It’s either jeans and T-shirts or loads of sequins,” she laughs. “I love to be casual most of the time but I also live for those moments when you really get to dress up and be super glamorous. I like to go between the two.”
Lately, she says that instead of buying new clothes, she has been getting pieces from her mother’s wardrobe tailored to fit her instead. “I am really fortunate,” she says of getting to dip into her supermodel mother’s incredible wardrobe, but she’s also found her way in fashion herself, defining what she loves and sticking to it.
“Coming into my thirties, I have figured out how to hone in my style a bit more – I've done lots of experimenting and of course, I am definitely not over getting things wrong, especially as far as events go – mistakes still happen, but I feel I am learning what I like to wear a lot more.”
7 For All Mankind's 'London Edition' collection is available now.
