It is not everyday you get invited to a Lanvin grand opening and have conversation with well established models. But, not everyday was October 10th where my friend, Flo Ngala, and I meet Trinidadian born runway, print, and advertising model, Pat Tracey. In this exclusive interview, we talk everything from getting discovered, walking for Chanel and achieving the fashion dream as an Afro-Caribbean woman.
Me: “So, you said you got your start in the 80s, right? What was that like and who was your first show?”
Pat: “My first show, I think, was Chanel.”
Flo and I: “Your first show was Chanel?!
Pat: “Yes but, it was terrible! I didn’t know what I was doing. I was a disaster.”
Flo: “How did you get discovered?”
Pat: “Actually, I used to be a flight attendant. I was walking down the isle of the plane and an older lady said to me, “Honey you’re wasting your time you should be a model.” and I said, “Really? I would love to but I don’t know how can you help me and she said, Yes!”
Me: “Who happened to be the woman on the plane?”
Pat: “She was an older lady… her son was a photographer and she put me in touch with her son and he did my very first headshots.”
Me: “That’s something I have to google! Were you shy taking the pictures?”
Pat: “I didn’t know what I was doing, I was brand new I didn’t know anything and I was shy. I’m a little… typical, Caribbean girl used to climbing mango trees.”
Flo and I: “YES!”
Flo: “Omg that’s so cool!”
Pat: “It wasn’t like how it is now on the internet and you can get exposed and so on…”
Me: “It was just you and your coffee pot, making sure things were good, and here comes this woman offering you an opportunity to possibly change your whole life. A model down the isle!”
Flo: And Chanel?!
Me: The big Chanel!
Pat: Yes, yes. And Paris no less.
Me: From Delta to Chanel!
Pat: *laughs* American Airlines!
Us: *More laughter!*
Flo: “So being a woman of color, in the 80s modeling, I’m sure you have some real experiences good and bad in the industry, do you wanna share some of those experiences?”
Pat: “Well, I always said, all the beautiful Black women couldn’t work in America, they were all in Paris. So… It was like, where have all my sisters gone? They were all in Paris. Thank God for Europe, it gave them an opportunity. So yea, it was real.”
Up until the past decade, racial diversity in fashion, on and off the runway, has always been the least of some fashion houses’ concern. In a 2013 interview by Channel 4, Naomi Campbell describes brand’s failure to choose models of color as an act of racism — that they may or may not be cognizant of. According to the interview, 82% of the runway models were White, 6% were Black ,and 9% were Asian in 2012. Since 2016, the push for racial diversity on the runway has been a slow and steady fight for New York Fashion Week. In the fall of 2016, nearly 32% of models on the New York runways were women of color. This past September, nearly 46.8% of models were people of color, according to the diversity report by The Fashion Spot.
While the runway seems to be slowly embracing the new paradigm, many corporate offices are reported have trouble following suit. In June, a New York Times report released Adidas lack of diversity in their North American offices with only 4.5% of corporate employees identifying as African-American. Former employees spoke with the times and expressed, “an overall lack of racial diversity meant it was not uncommon for negative stereotypes to creep into work discussions or marketing pitches involving black athletes, sometimes creating backlash outside the company…”
Me: “Where there any issues you saw or had with models being that you are a Caribbean Black woman?”
Pat: “Do you want to see my scars?!”
Flo and I: “WHAAAAAAT?!”
Pat: “No, no, no *laughs* I’m just kidding, not those scars. But they were really catty. They had their claws, OUT.”
Me: “How did you navigate a catty work environment like that?”
Pat: “Omg, I left. I couldn’t deal. I didn’t want to be that person. I worked catalogue and came back to New York and started doing advertising and catalogue and that really solved the problem.”
Me: “So, it felt good to finally release that! And some people stay in these careers because they feel it’s once in a lifetime…”
Pat: “I would’ve been a monster. I would have to go with the best of them, toe to toe, if I was gonna win. I didn’t want to be that person.”
Flo: “Look at people like Naomi Campbell and how she evolved from the competitiveness…”
Pat: “Ah! Naomi is good though. Naomi, she’s the top of her game. She’s fabulous and if she gets short tempered, hey *shrugs* she’s tough.”
Me: “And she’s Jamaican! People forget, her mom is Jamaican.”
Pat: “She’s an island girl, I can relate… it’s a tiring business.”
Me: “Especially being of a darker skin complexion (in reference to other non black) models. There’s a sense you always have to prove yourself to be just as good, if not better than your white counterparts. And it’s really good knowing she’s a boss and really good at what she does.”
Pat: “She’s great!”
Flo and I: *in unison* “She is!”
Flo: “So I’m curious, being at places like this tonight — the store opening and having said you worked with the brand in the past, what does this mean to you, still having a connection to the industry? Is this another event or is there a connection you have with the brand because you’ve modeled for Lanvin…”
Pat: “I feel as though I have a connection with it, it’s like my old alma mater.”
Me: “Have you noticed any changes that may have happened from then and now, being that you’ve watched the brand evolve through out your career?”
Pat: “It’s definitely more modern but, it still has that classic edge to it, beautiful quality. And you know, back in the day, they were always associated with the equestrian and horse back riding. The quality is finessed, very fine.”
Me: “Any last words?”
Pat: “It’s modern, its fun, I love the event and I love the quality! What else is there?”
Me: “Thank you so much Pat!”
Pat: “You’re welcome!”
There is much to learn from women like Pat Tracey. One, you never know when your opportunity or big break will come. So always, do your best at whatever it is that you do and the opportunity may fall in your lap!
Two, do it scared! So often we get nervous about opportunities we pray for that we quit before we know how far we can truly go.
Three, go where you are celebrated and never change your integrity for work. Life is too short to remain in a place you are genuinely unhappy and make you someone you are not meant to be.
Four, always be good to people, you never know if you’ll get invited to walk Chanel or witness a historic grand opening with your alma mater!