Elizabeth Scarlett Jagger is, as her pictures suggest, a delicate wisp of a thing, with pale, pale skin and long, naturally dark-brown hair, curled at the ends, just like Jerry’s. She arrives quietly, ushered in by a lady with a clipboard, and, as far as her hotly contested body weight is concerned, I can report that she doesn’t look at all anorexic to me: she looks like the daughter of two naturally skinny people who happens to be a model. And models, no matter what they say to the contrary, do
not eat like normal people.
Her lips are definitely not anorexic; they are outrageous — round, fleshy, nubile, mobile and, well, big, like Mick’s. Even so, they barely contain the crowded bustle of her chunky, pearl-white teeth, especially when she laughs. Her giggle, a geeky, infectious crescendo of sound, explodes every minute or so — when she says hello, when there’s a gap in the conversation, or for no reason at all.
This rather unsophisticated giggle is something of a revelation. This is certainly the Jagger we have seen grow up in the tabloids and glossy mags (she made her modelling debut aged 17 months in Harper’s Bazaar, for goodness’ sake). But can this be the same girl who dates male supermodels, rock heirs and men old enough to be her father? Is this the girl who slagged off Stella McCartney’s clothes and insisted, much to her father’s chagrin, at 13, that she wanted a career in modelling rather than an education?
I have always been surprised at Jagger’s success as a model. I thought she would get a few jobs by trading on her name and her family’s caricatured attributes, then disappear off the radar, much in the same way as other rock offspring have done. I was wrong. Hers may not be the sort of beauty that stops you in your tracks, but there is no denying that her broad brows, porcelain skin, dewy blue eyes and striking lips come together in an extraordinary way. Couple that with her famous name and lifelong celebrity — this girl has been paparazzi fodder since she was born — and it’s a no-brainer.
Lancôme saw it straightaway, hiring her in 2001 when she was just 17, for a six-year contract reputed to be worth a hefty £2m a year. “That figure is wildly exaggerated,” says Jagger softly, puffing on a Spanish cigarette, “but it is very well paid.” Cue manic giggle. “I am very lucky.” In fact, already, just a few days shy of her 21st birthday on March 2, Jagger could probably live quite happily for the rest of her life on her earnings to date. Her catwalk outings can bring her £20,000 a time, and advertising jobs pay double that amount.
I ask her why she wanted to model in the first place: surely it wasn’t for the money? “Mum is friends with Vivienne Westwood, and Vivienne asked if I could model for her Red Label for younger girls. That was my first job, when I was 13. I got to play a giant tuba and had fire exploding all around me. It was so much fun, and seemed like proper hard work, so I made my mind up there and then,” she says. “I was pretty disappointed after that. Nothing else seemed quite so dangerous!” Her giggle goes into overdrive.
Her father was famously upset about her becoming a model so young. He doubtless hoped his pots of money would provide her with a proper education and a rounded intellect rather than a taste for the high life. Or perhaps he didn’t want to see his daughter corrupted. Either way, he lost the battle, but he didn’t lose his daughter. There is nothing corrupted about Lizzy — she has just enough GCSEs to get a job as a shop assistant or office junior. You can’t talk to her about history, politics or philosophy, but mascara, lip gloss and clothes she is well versed in, and she obediently brings up the Spanish fashion chain Mango (whose spring/summer campaign she is fronting), pointing out her favourite pieces from the collection (a hippie skirt and beaded belt, if you really want to know).
Jagger says she is aware that she has only had the most basic of educations. “I loved English, English lit, art and drama lessons at school, and I was really good at religious studies,” she says, earnest as a 14-year-old. “For our RS GCSE, part of the coursework was meditation: we spent an hour a week with our eyes closed! It was great. I’m keeping my options open. I read a lot; I have an open mind. I would like to do an Open University course. And I would also like to try my hand at acting,” she says. "I would love to do period dramas or comedies. I do classes. It’s great pretending to be someone else while tapping into your own emotions.”
Does she have a favourite film? “I can’t think of one, but I can’t wait to see Meet the Fockers. Now, if we’re talking funny, nothing beats Ben Stiller in Zoolander. I’m always shouting at him on the screen, saying, ‘No! No! Don’t do that!’ But, for now, I love my modelling work. And I prefer shooting to doing the shows. Shows are way too stressy. Too rushy.”
This might have something to do with the fact that every time Jagger appears on the catwalk, there is a tabloid story about her. A few weeks ago they criticised her for wearing a baby-fox pelt. Her weight, her smoking and her teeth also come under regular scrutiny. She says it doesn’t bother her. “Water off a duck’s back,” she shrugs. “I’m used to the press. I don’t mind the paparazzi because they don’t hound me. I live in Richmond in a little cottage down the road from Mum, and I socialise there. I also sit by the phone to see if I’ve got the jobs I’m up for.” She does? “Oh yeah, but I never ask who else is up for it. You don’t want to get para.”
Jagger doesn’t do every job that comes her way. “I’m quite picky,” she says. “I get offered the strangest things, like endorsing some weird Mexican deodorant. And I’ve done lots of very suspect pictures with dolls and Hello Kitty for these crazy Japanese high-street shops that are like sooo bad.” She has even advertised skin-lightener for Lancôme in Japan.
It’s an extraordinary life. Does she know how extraordinary? “Erm, well, I knew from the beginning that not everyone’s parents were in the papers all the time. But, you know, to me my upbringing is totally normal. What’s normal, anyway? The only downside was getting teased at school. Kids always shouted, ‘Your dad’s rich, you’re a ponce’ — that kind of thing. But that’s about it.”
Aside from the regular drubbings in the tabloids, her love life has been picked over mercilessly. She says they get it all wrong, so I ask her to set the record straight. Did you go out with Damien van Zyl, the South African model? “He was true,” she says. Sean Lennon? “We briefly dated, but we’re just mates now.” What about Michael Wincott, the 47-year-old actor? “Not true! Not true! Not true!” She is jumping up and down. “I have never even met him. I have no idea where that one came from.” Is she dating now? “I’m single and happy about it.” How old is too old for a boyfriend? “For me, the limit is late twenties.”
And with that, the clipboard lady appears. “Time’s up,” she says. Unlike for Lizzy. This girl is only just getting started.
