Paulina Porizkova recently shared her experiences, tracing her complex childhood with a challenging mother to her initial years as a model. She reflected on how she felt compelled to comply with others’ demands, even if it meant taking off her clothes.
“Starting modeling at 15 felt like a repetitive cycle,” the ex-supermodel expressed, relating this to her need to seek approval from her inattentive single mother during her youth. She noted, “The easiest way to escape such situations was simply to follow instructions.” On the podcast “Twenty Good Summers,” hosted by her fiancé Jeff Greenstein, she explained that if following orders entailed exposing herself, she would do it to please others.
Porizkova admitted that she spent years feeling unlovable for simply being herself, a realization that didn’t come until she turned 58. She recounted her childhood, revealing that her parents seemed to only value her when she performed. One vivid memory involved her father pushing her to perform at a community theater when she was just three years old.
“I remember the bright lights; I couldn’t see my parents or anything else,” she recalled, confessing to feelings of fear. “I figured the fastest way to solve that was to sing a song. Doing that seemed to make everything better.” And indeed, the audience’s approval brought her a sense of validation.
“It felt like my parents valued me more when I did something special,” she noted, suggesting that when she wasn’t performing, she seemed to fade into the background.
She learned quickly that “no one cares about what I truly want or feel. It was all about entertaining.” This realization pushed her to always present her best self.
In her 20s, like many, she grappled with her identity and the pursuit of approval. “The beauty of aging is that we begin to understand ourselves better, recognizing our strengths and weaknesses.” She remarked that once women hit their 50s, they often become less noticeable but increasingly dismiss societal expectations, leading them to become closer to their true selves.
This past year, Porizkova shared insights about the sexual harassment she faced in the fashion industry, starting her career at just 15. She described some of the men she encountered, noting that some were well-dressed yet lived in squalid conditions and had dubious intentions.
“I’ve lost count of how many men in bathrobes approached me in hotel rooms,” Porizkova recounted.
Making history as the first Central European woman to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit in 1984, she acknowledged that not all situations were as grim. She noted that well-dressed older men frequently invited her to extravagant parties and lavish locales. For quite some time, supermodels accepted these interactions as part of the job.
“I took everything for granted,” she admitted candidly. “I was tasked with figuring out how to navigate undress and deal with eager men while maintaining decorum to keep my job.”
