Famously discovered by none other than Pat McGrath, in just a decade Paloma Elsesser has become one of the most visible and iconic working models, walking for Coperni, Ferragamo, Fendi, and Marni, and featuring in campaigns for the likes of Balenciaga and Willy Chavarria. Though image is her art form, it’s a book—or Kindle—that’s always at arm’s reach.
She reads to punctuate a day’s casual cadence or to ease the marathon travel that comes with bookings across the world’s fashion capitals. At home in Brooklyn, her bookshelf is as eclectic as her CV, with everything from bell hooks’s Talking Back to Miranda July’s All Fours, and tomes like A Wrinkle in Time or The Year of Magical Thinking adding a touch of the melancholy Elsesser admits she’s drawn to. Also on the shelf is TREASURE, the vulnerable surgery documentation project Elsesser wrote, paired with photography by Zora Sicher, in 2023.
Ahead of what promises to be another busy fashion month, she shares the literary discoveries that will keep her going from the airport to backstage, and fittings to flashing lights.
Where is your favorite place and time to read?
I love to read at night in bed or on a plane, but a book or my Kindle is always in arm’s reach. It comes with me on a visit to the doctor’s office, a pedicure, or a quiet Sunday afternoon when I’m stretched out and lazy. I read wherever there’s time to fill, or time to savor.
Describe the type of reader you are in three words.
Voracious, tolerant, curious.
How do you find your next great read?
Word of mouth, frequenting big bookstores and niche ones, or doing research.
Name one public figure you feel deserves a biography, but doesn’t have one yet.
Björk. All of the existing ones are too focused on the production, mixing, et cetera, and not on the extensive details of her life. I’d love for her to write a memoir.
Which book has taught you something new about your industry?
The Chiffon Trenches by André Leon Talley.
Was there a particular work that your childhood self loved?
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle.
What book has helped you understand the world we live in right now?
The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing.
Which book has made you want to live your life in a certain way?
Talking Back by bell hooks.
Which book ruined you, in the best possible way?
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion.
Where do you turn when you’re starved for inspiration?
Beloved by Toni Morrison.
Can you share one trashy book to wedge in your vacation bag?
All Fours by Miranda July. Not trashy but quite naughty, and a fast read.
If your bookshelf could wake up and talk to you, what would it say?
“Don’t be so sad.”
Paloma Elsesser’s Required Reading:
The Industry Bible: The Chiffon Trenches by André Leon Talley, 2020
(Barnes & Noble, Amazon)
The Comfort Classic: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, 1962
(Barnes & Noble, Amazon)
The Ecological Treatise: The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, 2015
(Barnes & Noble, Amazon)
The Non-Self-Help Book Self-Help Book: Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black by bell hooks, 1989
(Barnes & Noble, Amazon)
The Cerebral Reflection: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion, 2005
(Barnes & Noble, Amazon)
The Canonical Read: Beloved by Toni Morrison, 1987
(Barnes & Noble, Amazon)
The One That’s Worth the Buzz: All Fours by Miranda July, 2024
(Barnes & Noble, Amazon)
All books featured on CULTURED are independently selected by our editors, contributors, and interview subjects. We may earn affiliate revenue when you buy something.
in your life?
