Even if you don’t know your Ghesquière from your Givenchy, your Tom Ford from Eileen Ford, you’re more than likely aware of the fashion world’s fondness for hyperbole. Words such as genius, fabulous and ahmaaazing are bandied about more often than is perhaps warranted. And, just as swiftly as someone is anointed a genius, darling, they can become old news. So, before watching model Coco ‘Queen of the Pose’ Rocha in action at Sunday Style’s cover shoot at Milk Studios in New York, I’m not sure what to expect.
What I discover feels closer to performance art than a fashion shoot. The lithe, pale Rocha moves quickly and rhythmically through a succession of poses for the photographer. Turns out Tyra Banks – who bestowed the regal title on Rocha when she was a guest judge on 2011’s America’s Next Top Model – was onto something.
Rocha’s ability to manipulate her body was fostered well before the modelling industry came knocking on her door. As a dance-loving 14-year-old (then going by her given name, Mikhaila), she was performing at an Irish dance competition in Vancouver, Canada (near where she grew up in Richmond), when she was scouted by the owner of a modelling agency. Not long after, she was off to model in Asia and learn the ropes.
She signed with a New York agency and, in 2006, got her big break when she was shot by renowned photographer Steven Meisel for the cover of Vogue Italia. High fashion favoured her long limbs and angular features. In 2007, Jean Paul Gaultier was casting his ready-to-wear runway show, a Celtic-themed collection, and caught wind of her Irish dancing background. He had her open and close the show dancing an Irish jig. This energetic deviation from the runway norm was dubbed the ‘Coco moment’ by American Vogue.
Now Rocha, 26, is in demand as much for her brand as her looks and contorting skills. She has walked for all the big names and featured in campaigns by Christian Dior, Chanel, YSL and Dolce & Gabbana.
One of the most tech-savvy models around, she has millions of followers worldwide across several platforms, including Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr. And not many high-fashion models can count being a columnist for PCMag on their resumes.
Her latest project is the book Study of Pose, which documents her adopting 1000 different poses. Gaultier, who wrote the foreword, says Rocha is a “model who breaks the stereotype, and here she is creating and pushing the boundaries in one thousand ways. I find that fabulous.” High praise from Gaultier. In what ways does she think she pushes boundaries?
“There are many ways, I hope,” she says. “From how I move to how I work, what I stand for in the industry and how goofy I am. Of course I take my job seriously, but I always say we’re not curing cancer, so we should have fun with it. That’s what this book is – it’s about having fun with what I do. I do stand for a lot of things [though]. I don’t do nudes. I don’t do semi-nudes. I really am specific about how I’m portrayed in photos. Gaultier knows all of that and he still works with me, and I love him for it. For someone like that, who’s so creative in what he does, to say something like that about me is quite an honour.”
Her husband, James Conran, also points to her mould-breaking ways. Rocha married Conran in 2010 in a lavish ceremony at a French chateau, wearing a custom Zac Posen fishtail gown. And, not one to keep her fans in the dark, she posted a beautifully edited short film of the wedding on her Tumblr blog, Oh So Coco, which has since been viewed more than 600,000 times on YouTube.
Over the years, Rocha has gained a reputation for being outspoken, fuelled by the unfiltered way in which she uses social media to get her views across. She fights for the rights of younger models through her involvement with the non-profit Model Alliance, and advised her protégées on last year’s series of reality-TV show The Face that staying true to their values was worth more than any job.
Far from the cliché of the mute model who acts as a blank canvas, Rocha enters the fray. When, in 2010, New York Daily News asked the question (albeit incredulously): “Is she too fat to be [a] runway model?”, Rocha responded by posting “My Uncensored Point of View” on her blog, expressing her concerns about the pressure for models to be rail thin. She sees her social-media presence as part of her job and advises young models to take ownership of their image. And it’s a great way to control it, too, I point out. “That’s the best part,” she says. “You control what you’re sharing with people. There isn’t this secret website finding all the information. It’s, in fact, you.”
Images by: Darren McDonald
Styled by: Kelly Hume
Hair by: Travis Balcke
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