27. Sibyl Buck, Supermodel "The Queen of Grunge" | Topanga
Sibyl Buck is the American supermodel who brought punk to Paris runways in the 90s.
At the height of her success, she left for New York to become an artist and a musician.
Sibyl built The Doghouse, an artists’ commune in New York City and toured for years as a musician with lots of different people including Chris Traynor. She and Chris parent their daughter, Puma Rose.
Along the way, Sibyl has been an MTV host, an actress, in the Fifth Element for instance; she spent 10 years working as a therapeutic yoga instructor and now she’s a permaculture designer (who does some modeling on the side of course. Book her!)
Sibyl’s called a “Grunge Icon”.
Her scarlet hair and piercings inspired Jean Paul Gaultier to cast her in 1993. She stuck out her pierced tongue at the end of the runway and the result was her first picture in Vogue.
Soon Sibyl was learning how to breathe into corset fittings at Vivienne Westwood and Thierry Mugler.
And before she knew it, even the most traditional houses wanted to capture some of her frank freshness to burnish their brands. She even posed with Yves Saint Laurent for a famous portrait.
I had fun watching all of that unfold back then. Sibyl always made a fashion show more interesting and I liked checking in with her for chats here and there - she was never boring!
So it meant a lot to me to track Sibyl down in Topanga, California where she tends her garden, walks her dog, mothers her daughter, builds just about anything - and works on a wide variety of projects aimed at healing people - and the land.
Sibyl's info:
NextLA//MarilynNY//OuiParis
Instagram: @sibbyfresh
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Original music for this podcast is by Ashley Rivera, Myla Carlos and Chloe Hsu.