John Simon takes a stroll with Oscar de la Renta

JS: Forty years ago models in high fashion-Suzy Parker, Dorian Leigh, Barbara Goalen-were adults, women. Today’s models are girls. What does that tell us about fashion?

OR: Among other things that the career of a model in those times was much longer. They could work way past forty. Today-except for very successful faces-a model is almost at the end of her career at thirty. The money has changed too. When I started working back in 1965, I could book a model for something like $50 an hour. Today, if you pay $5,000 an hour, you will be lucky. Great models like Suzy Parker made peanuts in comparison to today. A model like Linda Evangelista can make $10 to 12 million a year.

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JS: Forty years ago models in high fashion-Suzy Parker, Dorian Leigh, Barbara Goalen-were adults, women. Today’s models are girls. What does that tell us about fashion?

OR: Among other things that the career of a model in those times was much longer. They could work way past forty. Today-except for very successful faces-a model is almost at the end of her career at thirty. The money has changed too. When I started working back in 1965, I could book a model for something like $50 an hour. Today, if you pay $5,000 an hour, you will be lucky. Great models like Suzy Parker made peanuts in comparison to today. A model like Linda Evangelista can make $10 to 12 million a year.