Ever wonder how Twiggy devised her iconic eye makeup? The exaggerated lashes—three pairs of falsies on top and a bottom row drawn on in eyeliner—came from an unexpected source. “I got the idea from a ragdoll that I had in my bedroom,” Twiggy tells Vogue.
“That first year of modeling after I was discovered in February ’66 was like a whirlwind,” she says. Indeed, after she chopped her hair into a life-altering crop, Twiggy caught the attention of photographer Bert Stern and journalist Deirdre McSharry of the Daily Express, who deemed her “Twiggy: The Face of ’66.”
“On that day in February, my life changed forever,” Twiggy says.
The model reunited with Stern for her first cover of American Vogue in April 1967. “Whatever Diana Vreeland said was it,” she recalls of the then-editor, “and she brought me over from the UK to America.” Coming to the States in the post-Beatles era was no small endeavor. As part of the British Invasion, even landing at the airport was an event. “I mean, I was overwhelmed by it all!” Twiggy admits of the throngs of fans and press conference that awaited her on the tarmac. “I’d gone in to do a fashion shoot and I had all this press coverage.”
An early career highlight came not in the form of a photoshoot or runway, but a shoutout in the David Bowie song “Drive-In Saturday.” Twiggy recalls first hearing the lyrics “She’d sigh like Twig the Wonder Kid” for the first time. “I was like, ‘oh my god, David Bowie just said my name in a song!’” So mere months later, when British Vogue asked if she would be game to appear on the cover with the popstar himself, they were met with a resounding yes. While the photo—where Twiggy is leaning her head on Bowie’s shoulder—didn’t end up on the final cover, he did feel so inclined to make it the cover of his album, Pinups.
Here, Twiggy takes us through her life in looks, from her hand-sketched bohemian teal dress for the 1983 Tony Awards to the Stella McCartney suit she chose to receive her Damehood at Buckingham Palace in 2019.
Director: Emily McDonald
Director Of Photography: Henry Gill
Editor: Lika Kumoi
Producer: Rashida Josiah
Creative Production Coordinator: Anisa Kennar
Production Coordinator: Ericka Gourgues-Lutran
Camera Operator: Laura Aguilera
Assistant Camera: Gordon Wong
Gaffer: Maria Kalecinska
Spark: Dylan Schultz-Soo
Audio: Jermaine Monero
Runner: Luke Demetri
Production Coordinators: Ava Kashar, Tania Jones, Ericka Gourgues-Lutran
Production Manager: David Alvarez Paz
Senior Production Manager: Alexandra Dawson Herren
Line Producer: Natasha Soto-Albors
Senior Director, Production Management: Jessica Schier
Assistant Editor: Andy Morell
Post Production Coordinator: Holly Frew
Supervising Editor: Kameron Key
Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch
Director, Post Production: Nicholas Ascanio
Associate Talent Manager: Phoebe Dishner
Director, Content Production: Rahel Gebreyes
Senior Director, Digital Video: Romy van den Broeke
Senior Director, Programming : Linda Gittleson
VP, Video Programming: Thespena Guatieri
Filmed on Location: The Langham
Florist: Blooming Haus
