Kristin Clotilde Holby was born in Oslo, Norway and raised in Westchester County, New York. She graduated from HS at the Overseas School of Rome in Rome, Italy, and then went to the Philadelphia College of Art. During her second year at art school, she landed an internship with fabric designer Susan Nevelson in Florence, Italy. She worked in Florence for two years assisting in creating Nevelson’s gorgeous prints and foulard designs for Milan fashion designer Ken Scott. The experience in Florence won her a job offer as designer for Concord Fabrics when she returned home to New York.
Wanting to further a career in fashion, she applied to and was accepted at the Rhode Island School of Design, planning to study apparel design.
At the end of her first year there, she returned to her old job at Concord Fabrics in New York for the summer months.
However, feeling restless in the NYC design studio, she devised a plan. She told her boss she had a dentist appointment and instead, grabbed a cab to the nearest modeling agency. They signed her on the spot.
Her modeling career took off with unusual speed. Within two weeks she was working everyday. Her first big client that summer was Mademoiselle Magazine, the then popular Conde Nast publication, where she worked with young newcomer photographers Arthur Elgort, Albert Watson and Patrick Demarchelier.
By late August, her agency called, asking her to drop by the office for a meeting. A French model agent was in town offering her representation in Paris, which, in those days, was supposed to be a great boost to a new model’s career. Her agency advised her to head for Europe ASAP. Fashion week was about to start in Paris, France. But RISD was about to start in Providence, Rhode Island. She had to think fast. She surmised that missing a week of school might be worth it. Even excused.
“Tell you what . . .” she told the French agent, “You get me tickets to see the shows . . . and I’ll be on a plane tomorrow.”
The entire agency erupted in a roar of laughter, the French agent howling the loudest of all. And it went on for too long. “What’s so funny?” asked the new model.
“You’re not going to watch the shows, Clotilde . . . you’re going to DO the shows!” proclaimed the agent, still laughing.
“The instant I heard those words, the very instant, everything changed.” recalls Clotilde, “I remember, the instant I heard those words, I knew, I was to be off on an adventure that would be life-changing. The moment I heard those words, I realized I was about to embark on a career that I would absolutely adore.” And that turned out to be true.
Her first appointment in Paris, two days later, was with Mr. Yves Saint Laurent, and she was booked to model in the upcoming show. Over the next couple of days she would meet with Mr. Hubert de Givenchy, Karl Lagerfeld, Kenzo, Claude Montana, Thierry Mugler, Issey Miyake and during the days that followed, with the top photographers in Paris.
By the spring of 1976, when Paris fashion week opened, Clotilde was walking in every major show. “To be standing in the ateliers of such world renowned designers while they were busy putting the finishing touches on their historic collections, when, only a few months before, I had been nose down in the RISD sewing machines, well, there are no words to describe it.”
In the coming years, Clotilde would become the first fashion model in history be offered three exclusive modeling contracts with companies whose advertising campaigns were running concurrently. The first, with Yves Saint Laurent, exclusive for Europe; the second, with Shiseido Cosmetics, exclusive for Asia; and the third, with Ralph Lauren, exclusive for the Americas.
But the fondest memories of her career come from the decade she was known to all America as “The Face” of Ralph Lauren.
“It was the golden age of fashion-advertising,” says Clotilde, “And the groundbreaking creativity of Mr. Lauren and his team, was, at the time, unsurpassed in the world. The entire nation fell head over heels with the gorgeous new all-American image he was presenting, and the excitement of being an integral member of that iconic ad-team was nothing short of colossal. Overnight, an entire nation was in love with a whole new look.
When I look back at the many photos from my long career, I think, well, if they look kind of pretty good at all,” said Clotilde, “It’s because I loved what I was doing. I loved the travel, I loved inspiring style and I loved the process of creating a story within each picture, stories that encouraged readers to appreciate the true artistry of fashion. Most of all, I loved the brilliant people who made the shoots so much fun.
Fashion advertising in those days was created for the large-format glossy magazines for which, every month fashion fans the world over would RUN to get their hands on . . . it was an exciting era in fashion-advertising history.”
Clotilde retired from her modeling career after her twin girls were born. “After jumping all around the world, non-stop, for so many years . . . in the end, the greatest thrill of all, turned out to be staying home with my three wonderful kids.”
She has now penned and illustrated a series of storybooks for kids who LOVE FASHION! Created for her first granddaughter, the books are to share with children, what she considers, the pure JOY of FASHION.
