Chasing The Stars

Revelling in the limelight that celeb-agent Saif Mahdhi often finds himself in, he opens up about life, work and, Next.

How did you become one of the most influential model agents in the world? There is no fixed path. It all began with a misunderstanding. I was 18 years old and I was looking for a part-time job with an advertising agency. When I arrived for the interview, the person there began to talk to me about bookings and about ‘Mick and Jerry’. That’s when I realised that I had reached the wrong floor. I ended up working at this modelling agency called You for a year. I then moved on to Marilyn’s where I was handling young Carla Bruni, Kate Moss and Helena Christensen for three years. They were my age and I was the only boy around. I became their little pet. I then spent 13 years as the booking head at Viva, before arriving at Next, as the Europe president.

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What made you accept this new role at Next, four years ago?

I have always been a loyal employee and I never responded to any job offers in the past. But when Faith Kates called me, I thought that the time was right. Of course, there’s no doubt about Next’s portfolio with names like Arizona Muse, Abbey Lee, Ana Beatriz Barros... But the main reason for my decision was a desire to represent a bunch of models who are not necessarily ‘good-looking’ in the traditional sense. What do you mean?

Here, we have a chance to represent people from very diverse backgrounds. I have to handle singers like M.I.A and Lana Del Rey, as well as the Twins, Beyoncé’s dancers, journalists like Caroline Issa and actors like Jérémie Elkaïm. Today, most people I work with have a global presence. When did you realise that creating celebrities was your speciality? When I met Audrey Marnay. She was 15 years old and was ahead of her time. She almost reminded me of a baby version of Kate Moss. People thought that she wouldn’t make it, but I was convinced that she would. I introduced her to Alexander McQueen, who was presenting his first couture collection for Givenchy. He loved her. Then Miuccia Prada made her walk for Miu Miu. Steven Meisel noticed her and then it snowballed. Nothing was stopping her. It was the first time that I witnessed a model being created from A to Z. Today, do you have any secret recipes to repeat such a success story?

I need to work differently with each person. But the first thing I do is to make them into thorough professionals by opening them

saif mahdhi THE CONCEPT OF NEXT We manage the international career of our clients. Next was the first agency to offer a complete service in that respect. OUR SPECIALITY We want to be leaders in the search for new faces. This is the ultimate objective of our business and our agency.

OUR MOTTO To give our best, be always trendy, modern and to never compromise on integrity. IMPRESSIVE NUMBERS 6 offices in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, London and Milan.

300 clients represented by us across the globe. More than 100 magazine covers in the last year. THE BIGGEST NAMES Lisa Taylor, Beverly Johnson, Yasmeen Ghauri, Milla Jovovich, Rebecca Romijn, Arizona Muse, Kendra Spears… OUR FORTE We are not only a modelling agency. We work with hairstylists, makeup artists, stylists, actors, musicians and top chefs.

WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE My dear friend Liz Tilberis put an actress on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar, much before this trend began. I knew that she was making the right move. At that time, the only cover girls were Cindy, Claudia, Christy, Naomi and Linda. I told brands who could not afford these girls, to use celebrities. The first to do this were Faith Hill and Gary Oldman. We were pioneers in this domain.

WHAT’S NEW We now represent top chefs—they are the new rock stars and are important personalities in the media and social circles.

MATTER OF PRIDE That Next has completed 25 years and has an impeccable reputation.

to the world. When Raquel Zimmermann used to come to Paris, I would take her to the Centre Pompidou Museum of Modern Art. I would make her buy the books of Guy Bourdin or Richard Avedon. I would lend her DVDs of classic movies. When a stylist or designer makes cultural references, the model really needs to know what they are talking about. This applies, in particular, to very young girls who have sometimes never gone out of their village. Are you talking about Natalia Vodianova, whom you handled?

Yes, that’s true. Natalia used to sell fruits in her hometown. When she came to me, I found her to be way ahead of her time. She had known such difficulties in her life that trivial modelling issues did not bother her at all. I cannot forget her. Are you able to tell instantly when a young girl is going to become a star? With experience, I can tell quickly. Karolina Kurkova, even when she was 15, gave out a fabulous aura when she walked in Paris. I even know what kind of girls each designer likes. When I met Lily McMenamy, I knew that she was for Hedi Slimane. He ended up photographing her for over an hour. At the end, he told her, “You remind me of Kristen McMenamy.” She promptly responded, “It is possible—she’s my mother.”

You get very close to some of your talents. Caroline de Maigret, for example… Caroline and I have been working together for 18 years. We began our careers together. It is hard to resist the charm of this talented, elegant woman who lives life on her own terms.

It is often said that you are a celebrity among modelling agents. What do you have to say about this?

I am a celebrity agent but not a celebrity of agents. When I am at a fashion show, I always give up my seat to a talent that I believe in. I do agree that my job lets me travel a lot and gives me access to some of the best events. It is a good perk of a job that otherwise takes up every single day of my life.

What has been your most memorable meeting?

Interacting with Karl Lagerfeld has been a unique experience. I have been speaking to him directly only since the past few years, but I have been working with his team for many years. I had never dared to approach him directly. The day I was introduced to him was when I realised I had arrived.