More from Lara Stone (& don’t miss the last bit!)

Were you interested in fashion before you got “discovered” by the model agent’s wife in the Paris metro? Um, no. I thought modeling was a big joke because I was just a funny-looking teenager.

You moved to Paris when you were sixteen. Were you ever homesick? I wasn’t homesick too much. My family used to travel a lot when I was little and I always wanted to be on my own. We would be on holiday somewhere and I would just tell my parents, “I’ll meet you back at this church in two hours.” And they would let me wander off on my own. I just wanted to figure it out by myself.

No! What qualifies as a hobby, anyway? I don’t collect stamps. I want to learn how to cook. I got all these cookbooks the other day. But I don’t have any patience. I had a barbecue at my house for my friends, and I figured I could do a barbecue, but all these flames kept coming out and then inside [the meat] was all raw. It was gross.

You’re curvier than many other models. Did you ever feel pressured to change the way you look? I guess so. When I first lived in Paris I was a lot skinnier, and also a lot younger. It’s still like that, [the girls] are skinnier and younger. I mean, it’s not so great for me. It is a bit of pressure. I’m still working enough as it is—but I don’t want to be the only fat one. If you know what I mean.

The irony, of course, is that you aren’t fat at all. I never really know what to say about the whole body thing. I try not to obsess, really. Most things fit, and then sometimes things really don’t fit, and they have a seamstress fix it. I went through kind of a big change a few months ago, and I decided I really want to be healthy, not just skinnier but healthier.

Do you talk about the pressure to look a certain way with other models? Never very seriously. Usually, their reaction is that they wish they had tits like mine.

Photos: WWD Staff