Five Questions With Stacey McKenzie

Newly crowned Queen of Reggae Island, Stacey McKenzie, is still savouring the honour that has been bestowed upon her. The internationally acclaimed supermodel, runway coach and philanthropist was crowned on Saturday, at the Queens of Reggae Island Honorary Ceremony (QORIHC) alongside 13 other worthy Jamaican women. McKenzie, who migrated to Canada close to three decades ago, soaked up the adulation of their subjects, but earlier in the evening, she almost moved them to tears as she recounted her harrowing five years of polite and borderline rude rejections on her quest to “supermodeldom”.

“If something is not for you, only Father God alone can close that door,” she said, hence her defiance in the face of denouncements over her looks. “Lips too big”, “too weird-looking”, and “no designer is going to want to dress you” were some of the criticisms she received.

Big dreams

But her journey, she believes, was divine, and as things played out, it became apparent. As a little nine-year-old girl growing up in Jamaica, she saw a picture of singer Madonna and designer Jean-Paul Gaultier and decided that she wanted to model his designs. When she migrated to Canada, neatly packed inside that suitcase was her dream of becoming a model. After a never-ending list of nos from agencies on both sides of the Atlantic, her day came. McKenzie made her own way to fashion capital Paris and, not knowing a soul or a word of French, finally, at the end of a long day of knocking on doors, stumbled upon an agency that liked her looks. “Jean-Paul Gaultier would be interested in you.” Incredible words. She was given an address and told the time to get there the following day for a casting call. “Don’t be late,” she was admonished. Address in hand, she set out early the following day, only to get lost. Unable to speak French, she ended up walking in circles and “bawling because the time gone”. Soon after, a woman appeared and asked her what was the matter. As it turned out, that woman was the assistant to Gaultier, and she had been looking down at Stacey from the company’s high-rise. “She said that as she saw me, she knew that Jean-Paul Gaultier would be interested, so she gave me a card and told me to come to the casting the following day. That was God working things out for me.”

And not only did she get to wear Gaultier’s designs, she also got to walk the runway with Madonna and has modelled for all the major fashion houses globally, including Calvin Klein, Alexander McQueen and Tommy Hilfiger. Five Questions With ... gets up-close with Stacey McKenzie.

What does this award mean to you?

This award means the world to me because it is from my country and from my people. I am a Jamaican; I was born here. I left when I was 13 years old, and I went off and I did well in whatever field I chose. I have received several awards over the years, but this is the first from my country.

How did you manage to retain your Jamaican accent?

My mom always instilled in me never to forget where mi come from. So even when you just start live in foreign and things rough and you cyaan come back home, we only talk Patois inna di house. She talk Patois to me, and mi talk back Patois to her. Mi talk Patois to mi frien’ dem, and when dem cyaan understand, mi switch to English. And is straight yardie food cook inna di house.

What made you so persistent in pursuing your dream even after five years of being told that you were too weird-looking to sell brands?

It’s simple. Me a yardie. If we want something, we a go look fi it.

What has been the highlight of your modelling career?

When I got my first booking from Jean Paul Gaultier.

You speak about the ‘Most High God’ quite a lot. Are you very spiritual, and what is your favourite Bible text?

Yeah man, the Most High God all the way. If it wasn’t for Him, we wouldn’t be here.

My favourite Bible text is Psalm 121: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”