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| Left. Jacket, Lanvin; hat Stephen Jones; Leg Covers, Ter et Bantine. Jacket and hood, Yves Saint Laurent; headpiece Donna Karan Collection; earrings Gripoix |
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| Coat, Max Mara; skirt, Limi Feu. Headband, Karl Lagerfeld; cape, Jhon Galliano; belt Yohji Yamamoto; gloves Cornelia James |
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| Jacket, Gianfranco Ferré. Hat angels the costumiers; veil VV Rouleaux; gloves, Ines Gloves |
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| Hood, Viktor & Rolf; jacket and skirt; Trussardi 1911. Socks, Calzedonia; shoes Richard Nicoll. Next page. Coat and hat, Donna Karan Collection. Leg covers, Ter et Bantine. Bijoux Gripoix |
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| Coat, Iceberg; tailleur, Louis Vuitton. Brooch Gripoix. Next page. Jacket and skirt, Fendi. Headband Karl Lagerfeld; micro-gloves Ines Gloves |
make-up Sally Branka: @ Julian Watson agency. Manicure Elsa Deslandes @ majeure & événements. Fashion editor Jacob K
Discovered at the age of thirteen, now at seventeen she is one
of the new faces of the fashion world. And yet, with that beauty of
an "alien Laplander", she considers herself a normal teenager...
with a suitcase
Two months have passed since that cover (May's Vogue
Italia), but the excitement has still not died down in the
fashion world.
With Kirsi Pyrhönen the expression "a star is born" is something more than a convenient cliché. Kirsi is a star born seventeen years ago, and that's that. As for the interplanetary aspect, that air of the alien Laplander who has just fallen to Earth. Finnish, from near Helsinki, an older brother and sister, two working parents - "my father is an engineer; my mother works at a gas company" - her dog Akusti, a Swedish Vallhund, Kirsi is a student with a suitcase. "I'm here at school for just one more week, then the holidays begin: I still have three years to go to finish high school".
Considering she is a teenager catapulted to the top of the profession in just a few weeks and one of the new faces to which the world will soon become accustomed, she displays noteworthy realism. "I'm just a student who sometimes takes a plane and goes to work, and has a great job".
A great job that she'll endeavour to keep doing. "It's what I've always wanted to do. Becoming a model was never a plan, even if I did want to do it when I was a child". She has not found the fashion world to be very different from how she imagined it. "Tougher and more tiring than I expected, that IS true". And it is still too soon to talk about a life "after": "I could remain in this world, but I also like design and furnishing. I'll certainly do something creative. Only time will tell me what".
Otherwise, her world is like that of any other teenager, with the same pastimes - "I don't have a favourite band or DJ: I like certain songs by Lady Gaga, MGMT, Lil Wayne, Kanye West..." - and the same concerns of someone who will inherit an ecologically semi-destroyed planet when she grows up. "We can truly change things for the environment if we all do something, even if it's small. And then I would like to help those who are in desperate need".
These photos by Paolo Roversi place her in a timeless classicity: it is no coincidence that she likes Audrey Hepburn films and has Coco Chanel as a reference. She loves vintage, "above all in summer. Here in the north, in winter you need to cover up in something more modern and effective".
Among today's names, she likes Christopher Kane and Alexander Wang
, designers for whom she has paraded. "They're both young and their collections are amazing. They have a style that's very close to my own tastes". For now, the whirlwind of events that has made her teenage life so crazy allows her little time, and the little there is she devotes entirely "to friends, to family... and to food".
Ending up on that cover designed by Steven Meisel - "there was a splendid atmosphere on the set; it was a very beautiful shoot" - was perhaps predestined, ever since she was discovered one day, at thirteen, shopping at Ikea together with her mother. "I don't remember what we were buying", she says, smiling, "probably nothing important". Perhaps she is right. The "discovery" would have happened anyway, maybe in a lift or at a bar. It is unlikely that such an "alien" beauty would have gone unnoticed for long.
Yet that shopping session offered the opportunity for a career that has a good chance of characterising the decades to come. Who knows, maybe the Swedish colossus will ask her to be the face for an ad campaign, to give her the opportunity to pay them back.
Leonardo Clausi, tratto da Vogue Italia, Luglio 2010 (n. 719), p. 160 - 173
With Kirsi Pyrhönen the expression "a star is born" is something more than a convenient cliché. Kirsi is a star born seventeen years ago, and that's that. As for the interplanetary aspect, that air of the alien Laplander who has just fallen to Earth. Finnish, from near Helsinki, an older brother and sister, two working parents - "my father is an engineer; my mother works at a gas company" - her dog Akusti, a Swedish Vallhund, Kirsi is a student with a suitcase. "I'm here at school for just one more week, then the holidays begin: I still have three years to go to finish high school".
Considering she is a teenager catapulted to the top of the profession in just a few weeks and one of the new faces to which the world will soon become accustomed, she displays noteworthy realism. "I'm just a student who sometimes takes a plane and goes to work, and has a great job".
A great job that she'll endeavour to keep doing. "It's what I've always wanted to do. Becoming a model was never a plan, even if I did want to do it when I was a child". She has not found the fashion world to be very different from how she imagined it. "Tougher and more tiring than I expected, that IS true". And it is still too soon to talk about a life "after": "I could remain in this world, but I also like design and furnishing. I'll certainly do something creative. Only time will tell me what".
Otherwise, her world is like that of any other teenager, with the same pastimes - "I don't have a favourite band or DJ: I like certain songs by Lady Gaga, MGMT, Lil Wayne, Kanye West..." - and the same concerns of someone who will inherit an ecologically semi-destroyed planet when she grows up. "We can truly change things for the environment if we all do something, even if it's small. And then I would like to help those who are in desperate need".
These photos by Paolo Roversi place her in a timeless classicity: it is no coincidence that she likes Audrey Hepburn films and has Coco Chanel as a reference. She loves vintage, "above all in summer. Here in the north, in winter you need to cover up in something more modern and effective".
Among today's names, she likes Christopher Kane and Alexander Wang
, designers for whom she has paraded. "They're both young and their collections are amazing. They have a style that's very close to my own tastes". For now, the whirlwind of events that has made her teenage life so crazy allows her little time, and the little there is she devotes entirely "to friends, to family... and to food".
Ending up on that cover designed by Steven Meisel - "there was a splendid atmosphere on the set; it was a very beautiful shoot" - was perhaps predestined, ever since she was discovered one day, at thirteen, shopping at Ikea together with her mother. "I don't remember what we were buying", she says, smiling, "probably nothing important". Perhaps she is right. The "discovery" would have happened anyway, maybe in a lift or at a bar. It is unlikely that such an "alien" beauty would have gone unnoticed for long.
Yet that shopping session offered the opportunity for a career that has a good chance of characterising the decades to come. Who knows, maybe the Swedish colossus will ask her to be the face for an ad campaign, to give her the opportunity to pay them back.
Leonardo Clausi, tratto da Vogue Italia, Luglio 2010 (n. 719), p. 160 - 173
