Nikki Vassell…Profile in Glamour
Nicola Vassell is on time for her 2 o’clock interview. Heads turn as she steps on to the Terrace at Devon House. She’s dressed in black, and appears much taller than her 5′ 9″ frame, and leaner, possibly because of the huge black vintage Byblos belt which sits perfectly to the side of her Parisien vintage pants, and over her Club Monaco tank top. Her hair has grown (and is all hers), her face has the distinctive glow and sheen of regular facials and is totally devoid of make-up. Her pink Fendi handbag makes a statement all of its own.
It’s difficult not to be drawn to this slip of a 22 year-old. Her smile is wide and reveals black gums which frame amazingly white teeth. This is undoubtedly the Nikki of the many magazine covers, our most successful Caribbean model who can still be called ‘Our Nikki’.
Those who know Nicola Vassell will tell you that she really is the same person, for from an early age, her sights were set on a glamorous career. As a child her mother Jenny relates how she would “pose, dress up and walk the stage from her bedroom”.
Vassell tells All Woman of her first huge local break when she participated at age 12 in a fund-raising fashion show staged by the Big Sister’s Movement. Elaine Witter- Layne who is today still Jamaica’s best designer was let’s just say somewhat concerned about this child’s ability to show her lines. Vassell was made to walk by Layne prior to participating in the show, and smiles as she relates this incident, which perhaps placed her in good stead for her many future castings. Castings which you attend “for the designers, bookers, or creative directors to determine if yours is the correct profile” .
This fashion show served to further pique her desire to become one of the many women she often saw around her “with their inimitable sense of style and pizzaz. Cathy Levy was my idol at this time, my first influence.”
Studies however, soon became the reality, and at Campion College she maintained academic excellence. It would appear, however, that the world of glamour was always hovering in the background, for Vassell was again forced to confront it, this time during the intermission of the movie Boomerang Kingsley Cooper, founder and CEO of Pulse International, spotted her and suggested that a career in modelling was hers for the taking. Nicola Vassell was 13 years-old.
Elated by the news she shared the happening with her parents Clive and Genevieve who underscored their total support for any decision taken by their daughter, but who advised that her education would have to take priority.
Eight CXC passes later and with a graduation certificate from Campion College, she signed up for The Pulse Jamaica Fashion Model Competition in 1994, where not only was she declared the winner but immediately taken under the wing of booker for l’Agence Nadia Sharik. A first in Jamaica’s modelling history. Campion College held her sixth form spot.
“Culture shock” is how she describes her foray into the glamorous world of modelling, “totally scary”. The confident Vassell was told in Miami that she needed a haircut, and a complete makeover. A couple of days later she was in New York which proved to be another shock. “Where was the glitter, where was the glamour?”
Little surprise that she found herself back home, back in the safety net of her supportive family. Campion did after all have her space! Education took over once again, and she started to learn French, did her SAT (which she passed with high scores).
There was, however, no escaping her destiny – Nadia called her again and with the strong support of her parents, as well as, perhaps a better understaanding of the industry she took the plane back to the Big Apple. Click, her agency had her living this time in a model’s apartment. This is however, where the pampering ended, for the map of the subway was her next ‘present’ as well as a list of ‘go sees’.
Vassell, was however, better able to deal with the realities this time around and soon found work. She recalls her photo shoots at Seventeen Magazine and for the magazine Swing owned by Ralph Lauren’s son; Guess, which was in fact her first campaign- Kenneth Cole, Ann Taylor, and Pepe Jeans.
Calvin Wilson at that time a booker (and who is now in his own business) played a pivotal role in the transformation of her career. “It’s important to have someone looking out for you… He showed me how to look, the dress, the attitude for the respective clients.”
Without much prompting, Vassell took All Woman back to the hour and a half-long Esquire shoot with Wesley Snipes. Wesley, she recalls was a gentleman, and was really nice to work with. However, Vassell is not as comfortable speaking to the real money behind modelling. “The possibilities are endless and I’m doing well” is all she’ll commit to.
And Indeed she is doing well, her own pad in the city, she sits totally refreshed from a three-and-a-half- week vacation in Italy, with stops in Florence, Sienna and Chianti. Her favourite designers roll effortlessly off her tongue – Balenciaga, Gucci and Chloe. Her hair is done by hair stylist to the stars, Lisa Mitchell, stylist to Oprah, Tyra, and Demi Moore to name a few.
When in Jamaica (still her favourite location) she chills out in Negril at The Rock House. She’s done the glamour trips: Italian Vogue, Marie Claire with shoot locations in Kenya, Paris, London, Milan, Rome, Germany, Switzerland, The Caribbean and of course North America.
Nicola Vassell is, however, at age 22 unspoilt by it all and wise beyond her years and speaks knowledgeably about the business. “I have been out there since age 17. Modelling is about making as much money as possible, catalogue, etc, or focusing on editorials and making it all the way to the top. But, the girls making the most money aren’t necessarily those who are the most visible.”
She speaks of “watching the trends and of figuring out your place… what aspect of it you fit into. It’s not up to you (getting that job) so it’s important that you build a defence mechanism, rejection happens daily. The world of fashion is all about business and as such is to be treated this way… what’s your gamble, money or image?”
Vassell seems to have rolled her own dice in both directions and would still like to make the cover of a big magazine, the one thing which has to date eluded her. Currently enrolled at the Manhatten Community College, she is pursuing a liberal arts degree and also contemplating a business venture with a friend.
Work is very much what she does. Listening to her one gets the impression that it is an obsession. “I seldom take time off and will work seven days a week.” Her job is taken seriously, her looks, her weight and a perfectly toned body. Her make-up is removed carefully every night, and she drinks lots of water calling it “the healer of skin”. Facials are done every three months and she swears by ‘Origins’. “Black women need to stay away from chemical products.” Sunscreen is a daily must. And indeed Vassell does have a say in how her make-up is applied, her hair done and there will be no nudity, for fashion says this classy model, “it’s about clothes, not about the naked body.”
She has taken up cycling and speaks of just how scary cycling can be in New York. Her confidence is that of the new millenium generation with that firm resolve of just what is needed and a clear path down which they plan to travel.
As we peruse the magazines and listen to her anecdotes, a waiter hands me a note. I’m told to tell the fabulous model that she’s stunning. There’s no doubt about this, and as she speaks of her favourite perfume Carolina Herrera’s 212, the question about Mr Right pops up. There’s a moment of hesitation and a blush, followed by laughter. She has perhaps already tasted the bitter and sweet and has just ended a relationship.
Her thinking at the moment is that her soul mate has to totally “electrify” her. She has been influenced by her father Clive, who has been married for 26 years and whom both she and her mother describe as a true gentleman. It is the love of her close knit family which has taken her thus far – the focus on education, the social graces, the love, that attention to detail.
Mr Right would have a hard act to follow. The interview has come to an end. As we bid farewell to, in our mind, an amazing woman, our guess is that Nikki Vassell’s star will continue to shine for a long time.
She returns to Jamaica in November for Pulse’s Caribbean Fashion Week.