Cara Delevingne Credits Kate Moss, Writing & Yoga With Saving Her From Self-Destruction
Cara Delevingne at the Women in the World conference wearing a sparkly tie. Photo: Reuters
There isn’t much that Cara Delevingne keeps to herself — in fact, she’s built an entire brand based on oversharing. And on Friday, speaking at the Women in the World conference in London, she shared her previous struggles with mental illness, current musings on modeling, and what the future has in store not just for her, but women and girls around the world.
Delevingne began her career when she was tapped by Burberry to work with the British brand, but before taking off and becoming the the fashion world’s favorite girl, she struggled with some demons. “At 15 I pushed myself so far that I had a bit of a break-down. I was one of those people who just did enough to get by, but because I have very bad learning difficulties it was tough. So I went a bit mad and became suicidal,” she admitted onstage to actor Rupert Everett. “I also knew how lucky I was with my family, but I wanted the world to swallow me up.” Eventually, she saw a therapist, started taking anti-depressants, and clawed her way back up.
But her battle with mental illness didn’t stop when she suddenly became famous. Anyone who’s followed Delevingne’s career knows she abused drugs and liked to party (maybe a little too much). At that point, she desperately wanted someone to tell her to look after herself but no one did because, as she puts it, she was the one who had it all and had what everyone wanted. “It was like the external life, I couldn’t be luckier or more blessed, but the internal battles that were going on … I also felt like I never deserved any of it, I was living someone else’s dream.” She continued, “And what happened is I eventually said no, and I eventually took a break, to the advice of Kate Moss who kind of picked me up off the floor.”
Not only did Moss, who Delevingne appeared in the Fall 2015 Mango campaign with, help, but the It-Brit also found other outlets to help. “I started writing. Writing is really something that saved my life,” she admitted to the audience (Kendall Jenner was in the crowd watching on). “And then after that I found yoga which was a huge thing for me. I didn’t cry a lot. I thought emotion as a kid was a weakness.”
Delevingne wore a suit with skinny trousers and strappy Louboutins but took them off during her talk. Funny enough, she ended the sit-down by leaving the audience with a quote that she made up: “Be comfortable in your own shoes ‘cause you’re going to be in them for a while.” Photo: Reuters
Now, as she’s successfully transitioned from model to actress, the 23-year-old’s focusing on speaking to her large platform of young and impressionable followers — 20.6 million on Instagram, to be exact. “When I was a kid I always wanted to change the world, because all kids think they’re going to be superheroes, but I have so many messages in terms of young girls and how mental illness and depression is not something to be ashamed of,” she said. “And I wish at that time I realized other people go through it, that I can talk to other people, that you’re not alone, you’re not an alien.” Her message to her fans, she asserted, has always been to accept yourself no matter what, to love yourself, and to embrace your flaws. “I think flaws are the things that makes us special. The cracks within us are the beautiful parts that need to have light shed on them otherwise they’re just left.”
But just because Delevingne, who’s going to be living in Paris for the next few months filming Luc Beeson’s Valerian, built a successful career modeling, she doesn’t necessarily encourage others to do so. “I’ve had so many girls come up to me and tell me they want to be models — which, is fine, it’s not a bad thing — I just think there’s so much to do,” she said. “I always say to girls, ‘Dream bigger. Go for President, just keep going up.’”
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