Anja Rubik

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♡ Karlie Kloss ♡

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^Here is the youtube link, yours isn't working for me

Behind the scenes w/ @anjarubikblog for http://Models.com @EstherLangham @models

♡ Karlie Kloss ♡

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Anja Rubik may have cheekbones that can cut glass and an incredible presence in front of the camera, but the game-changer from Rzeszów is an icon not just because of her countless covers and numerous campaigns: Anja is a perfect representative of the new breed of model. As anyone will tell you, the industry has changed, and where 20 years ago it would have sufficed to have a stunning face and incredible posing skills, today it takes more. Beauties are a dime a dozen, and the women who ascend to the highest levels of success go beyond the call of duty. Blessed with an unforgettable look and a tireless work ethic, Anja has distinguished herself across a variety of platforms, pushing her namesake brand into the pop cultural sphere. When you have Kanye West name-dropping you alongside Anna Wintour, and Karl Lagerfeld listing you among his favorites of all time, you’re in a class by yourself.
The Anja story starts with a globe-hopping childhood, complete with stints in Greece, Canada, and South Africa. Discovered on the streets of Paris whilst still in high school, Rubik worked weekends rather than giving up her studies. It was the first of many intelligent decisions that would come to define the way in which she approached the business. In her own words, “modeling is an incredible job for a girl if she approaches it with her head on her shoulders. You travel, you speak to people, and it opens your mind to different things.” The variety and breadth of Anja’s various outside projects has earned her a reputation for being one of the most enterprising faces around. In addition to modeling, she’s editor-and-chief of the boundary pushing publication 25 and is on occasion a designer herself. “Anja is an iconic woman, top model, and muse of many of the most important fashion houses,” says her friend and collaborator Giuseppe Zanotti.
Catching up with the engaging Ms. Rubik is always a pleasure and in this exclusive interview she gives insight into what it means to be iconic.
What has being a model AND an editor allowed you to explore?
AR: Being both a model and editor has really given me an amazing outlet to channel my creative energy, and set a stage for me to make all of my ideas come alive. Being on the other side of the camera to direct a shoot has been a way for me to employ my experience in the industry to create beautiful images within 25′s spirit and vision. It’s been amazing to meet our rotating cast of contributors and work together on all editorial activities.
25 is all about creating beautiful, irreverent, inspiring images…the magazine represents and supports strong, intelligent, beautiful women who are comfortable in their sensuality. In general I think the approach to sexuality nowadays is either quite vulgar or prude. I didn’t want to play it safe. There is a ’70s feeling to 25 – an era where people were more open and free with their sensuality. The images from that decade are natural and women were happy and comfortable in their skin…it was a celebration of their sexuality! The images are super strong and incredibly iconic. When a woman is in control, self-aware, and comfortable in her skin, it is a really powerful and positive beautiful thing and I hope this comes across in 25. Women need to support women and speak their minds. I am pushing the boundaries of what a female fashion magazine can be… with this has come some backlash from people that weren’t completely comfortable with the subject. This was unexpected and made me realize that our generation is more conservative than that of our parents. Don’t fear the nipple.
When did you realize you’d gone to the next level with your career?
AR: When I started to work with the best people in the industry.
Who are your icons?
AR: David Bowie, Debbie Harry, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington…and my amazing mother.
You’re one of fashion’s real multi-taskers – can you tell us a little about your many projects?
AR: 25 is really special to me. It’s a beautiful book full of inspiring images with an erotic twist. The spirit and vision of 25 represents the strength of a beautiful, intelligent woman. There is a lot of me in the project; I’ve collaborated with friends and icons of mine to make wild ideas come alive. We have been able to create something that I believe in and felt was missing in the industry. It’s been received incredibly and I’m really excited to continue pushing the boundaries with it…
I have also designed a special capsule collection of shoes and bags with my good friend Giuseppe Zanotti. The process was very organic and came to life from my ideas and sketches along with Giuseppe’s extensive technical guidance. The shoes are an extension of my aura: an erotic spirit with a chic punk twist. There is a sexy grunge feeling expressed in the details, like unique corseted-lacing and piercings. It’s a cool mix of refined chicness and a tough edge. This is something I have always wanted to do and I’m really pleased with how the collection turned out.
What does being iconic mean to you?
AR: It’s humbling and exciting to be able to inspire people; I am lucky to be in a position to put my time and heart into causes as well as projects that I really believe in – like 25.
How do you think your generation of models differs from the generations that have preceded it?
AR: By using our years of experience working with the top people in fashion, some of us have moved into the business side of the industry, expanding our brands into projects that are special to us.
What’s next for you?
AR: I am working on issue 03 of 25…and I have a few other tricks up my sleeve, stay tuned!
"Anja Rubik, is the ultimate model. She is one of the few models who manages to straddle the commercial and avant-garde with ease. She is a supermodel in the true sense. She has a beauty which can transform any character or tell any story. Anja has found her way through the fashion industry in a way which very few models can achieve, she is always leading by example. She has beauty, a vision and a brain for business.” – Edward Enninful
“Anja is completely unique as a model and as a person. From the moment she walked into our studio ten years ago she has been an endless inspiration .” – Inez and Vinoodh
“I first met Anja in her very early modelling days when Inez and Vinoodh shot her for V. That story remains one of my favorite ever and I felt like she was a star from the first moment I met her! She is also a gifted artist and is very visual. All that, plus her personality has led to her becoming as big as she is today.” – Stephen Gan
“She’s amazing, she’s an incredible model, she’s super beautiful. She really enjoys what she does, so it’s an absolute pleasure working with her.”- Mario Sorrenti
“It was always my dream and desire to work with Anja Rubik, I remember the first time I met Anja she captured my heart and imagination, Anja tried a dress and of course there were no need for alterations. I now can’t draw a collection without thinking of her. Anja’s cool, beautiful and warm presence inspires me; Anja has that quality, that something special that makes a difference, she is truly an Icon” – Anthony Vaccarello

♡ Karlie Kloss ♡

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♡ Karlie Kloss ♡

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Malkie

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inst/anja_rubik; sasha_knezevic; yadim1;

Malkie

Posts: 87

#3106

Giuseppe Zanotti FW13/14

ph Karim Sadli

wearing SL in Warsaw

_anja_rubik_en_saint_laurent_par_hedi_slimane_4297_north_545x.jpg

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Malkie

Posts: 87

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THE TOP SHELF/INTOTHEGLOSS

"Most of my projects, even in modeling, form organically. I did a line of shoes and bags with Giuseppe Zanotti recently, because I was in the campaigns for six or seven years and we would always talk about shoes, what we liked, what we didn't, so we decided to do a capsule. Or, for example, a friend in Vienna asked me to help him with a magazine, 25, and then we found an investor, kind of by accident. So, now I’m the Creative Director slash everything else—the team is really small. I started to think about magazines as turning more into collector’s items, like books, because you can’t compete with the Internet. I want 25 to exist as a portrait of a specific time, with an erotic twist. It’s about incredible people, and features smart content, great fashion coverage, and has a sense of humor, which is the biggest thing. It doesn’t have ads because we didn’t want any restrictions.
While preparing for the first issue, I fell in love with magazines from the late ‘60s/early ‘70s—one in particular, Viva, which was like a Penthouse publication for women. It featured very sensual photographs of women and men. After flipping through it, I realized that, today, our approach to nudity is either really prude or really vulgar. It’s so weird! I was even thrown off of Instagram recently for an “inappropriate posting.” It was a picture that Katja Rahlwes shot of me for Purple magazine. You could see aquarter of nipple and they shut my account down...I had like 30,000 followers. A nipple. Hello? You have one. I have one. I’m totally comfortable shooting topless. That being said, I don’t do that many nudes. I only do it with photographers I really trust.

But it seems like, now, it’s fine for men to be sexual, but it’s still not OK for women to be sexual or sensual. And women have so many issues with themselves—their beauty, their bodies. Your life shouldn’t be built around trying to be beautiful for others. Women are turning to all of these plastic surgeries and other things to try to fit into this idolized, weird creature with big lips, big boobs, and a big ass, like a doll. But that’s not what sensuality is about.

I appreciate that beauty is an individual thing. For me, the most beautiful thing in a woman is her charisma and her self-confidence. I mean, I also love beautiful skin. I think that’s the second most important thing. My skin is only good because I take care of it. I never go to sleep with makeup on. I use Bioderma Créaline to wash my makeup off, but you have to use something oily to remove your eye makeup, like La Roche-Posay Respectissime Waterproof Eye-Makeup Remover, and then use Créaline. I also like doing Kiehl’s Algae Masque at night.

After taking my makeup off, I apply rosewater, then Joëlle Ciocco Pure Concentrated Serum with Botanical Oils or Rodin Olio Lusso, which is amazing to use every second or third day. Isabelle Bellis told me about the Joëlle Ciocco serum. It just makes your face look and feel better, and it’s really great for dry skin. Joëlle Ciocco Lotion Lactée is great, too, to use like a toner. Then I apply a cream, though sometimes I’ll go straight from the rosewater to a cream.

I’m always moisturizing and I use a lot of different creams—I travel with at least six, because every cream supplies your skin with something different. I change mine from day to day so my skin won’t get resistant to what I’m giving it. My mother taught me this. I’ve always used a heavy cream during the day, and a light one for going to bed, so my skin doesn’t suffocate. Mene & Moy Stand By Cream C 5 is a dermatologist’s cream that I use every second day. La Prairie’s products are also good; I like the Emulsion Anti-Age SPF 30 Complex Cellular and, before bed, Skin Caviar. And I love the wholeDr. Hauschka line. If my skin gets very dry, I like Propolis Plus Skin Cream, which I found here at the farmer’s market in Union Square, because it has a little texture in it to stimulate circulation. It stinks slightly, so it’s only for nights when I’m staying in. For sun protection, Avène Hydrance Optimale Light Hydrating Cream SPF 20 is the best for my face. I store it in the fridge. Every single day I use something different. I don’t like anything with a lot of perfume, and too much essential oil can be bad for your skin. It dries mine out.

I wear eye cream every day, as well, like Environ Ionzyme C-Quence Eye Moisturizing Lotion and La Mer Eye Concentrate, to prevent wrinkles—I don’t want to encouragethem. When my eyes are really tired and irritated after fashion shows, Flos Lek Laboratorium Under-Eye Cream [from Poland] is the best to cool the irritation and calm them down. All of my skin can get irritated very easily, so after I get out of the shower, I put baby oil everywhere, then rinse it off with water. For body lotion, I likeEmbryolisse Lait-Crème Fluide. It's very basic.

Makeup-wise, before I put anything on, I smooth my skin with La Prairie Skin Cellular Treatment Gold Illusion Line Filler. It has a bit of gold in it, to get the skin glowing, and it’s so silky. I don’t really use foundation, but if I’m going out to an event, I will make my own tinted moisturizer by putting a few drops of MAC foundation into a cream. For me, it’s not about covering up so much as evening out the tone of my skin. I'll put a little Bobbi Brown concealer on top of the foundation, using my fingers to help it sit better. Nars Douceur is the best blush. For under-eye coverage, I like Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat. And if I’m looking really dead, I will apply some highlighter. The best one is RMS Living Luminizer, which I apply to the inner corners of my eyelids, my cheekbones, above my lip, and the tip of my nose. I use a little bronzer—mine isBurberry—across my nose to narrow down my face.

I like makeup, but the thing is, sometimes it comes out great, and sometimes it doesn’t. I don’t have a lot of patience.There are girls like Natasha [Poly] who love makeup, and if she’s going to an event and has to do her own makeup, she’ll spend two hours doing it. I can’t. It’s too much for me. She’ll do a perfect eyeliner and it’ll look beautiful. Ask her how long it took, and she’ll say, 'Oh, over an hour!' I can’t. I have fifteen, twenty minutes and that’s the max I can dedicate to my makeup. On a daily basis, the only makeup I wear is concealer and black eyeliner: MAC Eye Kohl in Smolder, smudged a little bit. I use it as shading to extend my eyes because they’re quite round. I also always curl my eyelashes.

If I put on mascara, I’ll use Chanel Inimitable Mascara or Armani Eyes to Kill Mascara. With the latter, you always have to rub a little of it off with a piece of toilet paper, or else it’s a little too much. I love, love, love Burberry’s Sheer Eye Shadow inAlmond 06, because it doesn’t have any shimmer, which I think can look cheap. The best brushes for applying shadow are from Sephora, like the Professional #13 and #57. And on my brows, Maybelline Define-A-Brow in Dark Blonde is very good. Otherwise, to keep my eyebrows in line, I just spray a brush with hairspray and comb them.

I don’t do much to my lips because they’re very tinted as is. I keep them hydrated withLucas Papaw Ointment or Nuxe Lip Balm. I never go anywhere withoutHomeoplasmine; it’s also great to put on pimples! I use Chanel Rouge Allure Mythic 69lipstick all the time because it’s sheer and it makes my lips a little shiny. If I do a red lip, I use a Nars Velvet Matte Pencil instead of a lipstick.

My hair tends to get very dry from using so many products on shoots. I keep a gigantic jug of Aestelance Protein Mask around, which even moisturizes the skin. It’s amazing for your hair, especially if it’s colored or over-treated, and it brushes out so smoothly, so your hair won’t get frizzy. After shampooing and conditioning, I put a few drops of Neil George Indian Gooseberry Treatment Oil on my wet hair before I brush it. Christiaan Houtenbos gave it to me. You don’t even feel it. I prefer it to Moroccan Oil, which can sometimes be too heavy...But the best thing is liquid panthenol. It normally comes in foam form for burns, but in liquid form, it stimulates hair growth. It’s actually used in hospitals for chemotherapy patients who lose their hair and have sensitive scalps. My friend recommended that I use it, and my hair grows so much faster now. I put mine in a little spray pump so I can just apply to the roots after I wash my hair and rub it in. I like to leave it in to give my hair a slight lift, which I like, because I have a small head."

—as told to ITG

Anja Rubik photographed by Emily Weiss in New York on February 12, 2013. Pick up the 2nd issue of 25 magazine here.