People hide behind the word aesthetic. They say, ‘Well, it’s just that designer’s aesthetic.’ But when you see 18 seasons in a row and not one single model outside a certain skin color…? There are people in the industry who are advocates, who support diversity. And there are people who do not. I don’t get it. Beauty is universal. These doors have to open.

Joan Smalls

Categorized in : People Doors Skin Color

I just want to continue to break barriers and to show the industry and the world that beauty is diverse, and you don't have to be a certain stereotype to be beautiful.

Joan Smalls

want beautiful world

Fashion is part of our culture, and it's about more than just a pretty dress.

Joan Smalls

fashion dresses culture

People don’t realize that when you’re Latin, you’re so diverse. I am black. I am Latin. I am Spanish. You know? It’s a little bit of everything, and that’s beautiful. So, everybody, claim me. I’m fine with that!

Joan Smalls

latin beautiful people

I need someone who always wants more out of life. Like me - I'm just that way.

Joan Smalls

I'm Puerto Rican! You can never take my rice, pork, and beans away. Plus, I love to cook. I'm one of those people who stay in the kitchen standing while everything is cooking, checking on everything.

Joan Smalls

kitchen cooking people

I'm a little bit of everything. Sometimes people think I'm not Puerto Rican, because my name doesn't sound Spanish.

Joan Smalls

names people thinking

I would like to pick Rihanna's brain. I love her style and what she does.

Joan Smalls

style doe brain

When you want something so bad and when something great happens, I think it's instinct that you say, 'This is gonna be the moment that's gonna change everything. Everybody is gonna see me a different way.'

Joan Smalls

want-something different thinking

When you look at the world, the world isn't just one palette. It's a beautiful rainbow, and why not have someone to represent that rainbow?

Joan Smalls

rainbow beautiful looks

My bikini, a pair of black high heels and a pair of comfortable jeans.

Joan Smalls

jeans black high-heels

I'd like to see more beauty campaigns for girls who are mixed Latina and black. And if I'm in them, that's great, but overall there's a scarcity there. Companies need to be more mindful of the world we live in and who their consumer is.

Joan Smalls

black girl world

Back home I had always been comfortable around people. I was the troublemaker, always being funny - that's just who I am. I'm Latina; I've always had that extra little flavor. But when I got to New York, it became about being comfortable with myself in a place where I didn't know many people, and that was the big challenge. Ultimately my personality helped me build relationships with the people I was working with, and I was able to stand out.

Joan Smalls

personality home people

I think its nice to know that people in the industry are paying attention to all of the hard work youve done throughout the years and rewarding you for it. It reminds you to keep doing it, to keep pushing yourself, and to always remain that way.

Joan Smalls

nice hard-work thinking

I felt most beautiful on the red carpet in Givenchys sheer lace dress at a dinner hosted by Givenchy in honor of Marina Abramovich at the closing of her Museum of Modern Art retrospective, The Artist is Present, in 2010. It was the first time I had been dressed for an event, and everybody just fell in love with the dress.

Joan Smalls

beautiful museums art

A career high was when I did a cover for W Magazines July issue with Steven Meisel. So few girls shoot with Meisel in their career, and a lot of people had told me I would never achieve that, so it was a dream come true.

Joan Smalls

july girl dream

I would always hunch over, I was always taller than the boys. I had the extremely skinny legs... I would double up my socks, those ones from Footlocker, to make my legs look thicker.

Joan Smalls

legs boys looks

I was always very, very insecure about my height. Even as a 15-year-old I was a foot and a half taller than everyone.

Joan Smalls

insecure feet years

I try not to go to sleep with makeup, because I think it clogs your pores. I always wash my face with something that contains salicylic acid.

Joan Smalls

makeup sleep thinking

I also work out because I have scoliosis. I have to maintain certain strength in my core.

Joan Smalls

scoliosis work-out certain

I adore my two older sisters, Erika and Betsy.

Joan Smalls

older-sister adore two