Teach them well and let them lead the way.
Show them all the beauty they possess inside.
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier.
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be.
Everybodys searching for a hero.
Teri Toye, ph: Steven Meisel for Lei
Wayne Sterling of The Imagist opened my eyes to an amazing interview in the new V Magazine:
In 1984, Teri Toye, a striking transgendered fashion student and fixture of the New York nightlife scene, became an instant modeling sensation when she opened her friend Stephen Sprouse’s runway show. Soon she was walking for Gaultier, Comme des Garçons, and Chanel, and posing on the pages of German Vogue; Steven Meisel, Nan Goldin, and David Armstrong all considered her a muse. But as quickly as she became a star, she disappeared from the fashion world, returning home to Des Moines, Iowa, where she still lives and works in historic preservation and real estate. Here, the equally illustrious fashion designer and stylist André Walker (along with friends Carlos Taylor and Pierre Francillon) talk to their old pal about the glory days.
ANDRÉ WALKER Hi, Teri Toye. How are you?
TERI TOYE Well, I’m good. How are you?
AW I was thinking, My God, I have to confess. I really feel like there are so many other people who could have done this interview.
TT I was shocked that they wanted to have me as a Hero in the magazine. They sent me some issues and everyone is so famous. But obviously, I’m honored to be considered someone’s hero, so of course I had to do it.
AW That’s the whole excitement behind this, Teri. When you look back on the things that you did, and your story, it serves as a template. Nobody knew exactly how the transgendered operation would work itself out in society. Now we have it, we know that it’s a look. People are human. You did a lot of things in your time. Basically, how did you feel about yourself before you actually started modeling? What was your goal when you left the house and walked down the street?
TT I just wanted to enjoy my life. I moved to New York to study at Parsons and hopefully to work in the fashion business. Of course, then I transitioned. I did work in the fashion business as a model, which was an amazing kind of gift and just an incredible validation. It means more to me now than it did then. I was just happy to travel and meet and work with people whose work I enjoyed. I worked with all the designers I loved. I was more interested in personal relationships than business.
AW I can totally understand that, because at the time, things weren’t as strategic as they are now. Basically, you would go out to a nightclub and end up making a connection and getting a job, which would lead to another. How did you feel about the nightclub scene?
TT I immediately found the nightclubs and Studio 54 much more fun than class at Parsons.
AW You went to Studio 54? I am destroyed! That’s an era I missed out on. I had to live Studio 54 through WWD. Luckily my mom had a subscription. What was Studio 54 like? Were you doing drugs? What was up?
TT I was dancing.
AW You were dancing! Were you floating? Did you have a model agency?
TT I had Click in New York and City in Paris.
AW How chic! How did you see yourself? Was it just a fun thing for you to do, or did you think to yourself, Oh my God, I’m going to take this and really milk it?
TT I never thought that. It was never a goal of mine to become a model. I was asked to do it, and of course I did, and I was enjoying it, and that’s it. But at the time, I liked everything else about modeling—the traveling, the parties, the social life, my friends—but the modeling I wasn’t that interested in. It was very intimidating to do those shows, and I was never crazy about the pictures. If I knew then how good I looked, I would have been a bigger bitch.
AW What were some of the high and low points of this modeling career-slash-muse-slash-icon deal?
TT Well, I can’t think of any low points, but there were plenty of high points. Obviously, the Stephen Sprouse show at the Ritz, which was my first fashion show, was exciting.
AW So cool, I was there too! I think I was sitting in Polly Mellen’s lap. She cradled me… Was the first outfit that Day-Glo green? Was it green? Yellow-green? Lime-green? I can’t remember.
TT I think it was a black fur coat and hat. Fake fur.
AW That kind of Dr. Seuss hat! So cool…
TT Another high point: I walked with Jean-Michel [Basquiat] in Comme des Garçons when they did a show in New York. He’s been dead twenty years this year. I walked with Veruschka in a Thierry Mugler show in Paris. That was a high. I did a lot of shows for Thierry Mugler.
AW We’ll get on our little search engines now. That’s hot.
TT Obviously, doing the Chanel show was a high.
AW Yes, I remember the Chanel show. It was all glamour. You have to do something for my new magazine.
TT You have a new magazine?
AW Yeah, totally—it’s sick. When and why did you leave New York City?
TT I left in 1987, because the city was changing and my personal relationships were changing. A lot of people were dying, and I just wasn’t happy anymore.
AW What relationships are you referring to?
TT With dear friends like Way Bandy dying…the list goes on and on.
AW In 1986, after no one paid attention to my collection, I fled to Barcelona and hid out in London for two years, and came back in 1988. I guess a lot of people were leaving New York at the time.
TT It was heartbreaking, you know, and people would call me and would give me anxiety. I felt like I was missing everything. And then for a while, people called periodically to tell me about someone who’d just died. Eventually then I just lost touch with most of the people I know who still live there. I still have a couple of close friends I keep in touch with.
AW What about Jean-Paul Gaultier? What was your relationship like with him? I mean as far as I can see, Jean-Paul was responding to something that was already taking place when he chose you to model in his show. You’d already done Stephen Sprouse and had been on the scene in New York, so it was only normal for Jean-Paul to ask you to participate.
TT Well, I love Jean-Paul. I first did his show when he came to New York and did a show there, and then I would always do his shows in Paris. We would also get together socially when I was in town. I think he was just being supportive, and he liked what was happening everywhere in fashion.
AW What about Stephen Sprouse? In my mind, Teri Toye and Stephen Sprouse are like synonymous. What was your relationship with him?
TT We were friends and had been for years before he launched his first collection. You probably associate the Teri Toye look with him because everyone wore Teri Toye wigs in the show.
AW Exactly! What about Steven Meisel?
TT We also had a personal relationship. We had been friends for years before Steven became a photographer, when he was a fashion illustrator. Actually, one of the first times I ever modeled was for Steven in a fashion illustration class he taught at Parsons.
AW Stop, that is so sweet. So you were like a life-drawing model?
TT Only a couple of times. Once for Steven’s class, and then for Antonio [Lopez]. AW At the time, were you androgynous or were you a boy?
TT No, I was Teri Toye.
AW Oh, you were Teri Toye? Work it out. This is the first chance I’ve had to talk to you since we knew each other back in the day. We both had our own worlds around us.
TT I think the last time I saw you, you skated off.
AW Into the sunset!
TT It was on Canal Street, in Manhattan. It must have been the ’80s. You used to rollerskate on the street.
AW I was always on skates. It was shocking.
TT You looked amazing on them too.
AW Did Nan Goldin ever take portraits of you?
TT Nan Goldin always had a camera in her hand and was always trying to take everyone’s picture. If ever you would get in a compromising situation, she’d be right there. We were friends, and I used to hang out with Nan in her loft while she put together her slideshows. We would sit together all night and watch her slides.
AW That’s amazing.
TT It would’ve been more amazing if we’d had glow-in-the-dark extension cords.
AW What about David Armstrong?
TT I love David Armstrong.
AW What about Richard Hell and the Voidoids? Did you know Richard?
TT Yeah, I knew Richard, but not well. I mean, everybody knew everybody. It was like a small town.
AW What about Max’s Kansas City? Did you ever hang out?
TT No, that’s just a little before my time, I’m happy to say.
AW Really, how can you not have gone to Max’s Kansas City when you went to Studio 54?
TT I guess I’m just not as old as you think. How old do you think I am?
AW I really have no idea. I’m 42. Hold on, Pierre wants to ask questions now.
PIERRE FRANCILLON Hello, Teri Toye. How are you doing?
TT I’m good. How are you, Pierre?
PF I was really honored when André suggested I ask you a few questions.
TT I haven’t seen you in a hundred years.
PF Yeah, but a hundred years is a minute, baby.
TT Whenever I see people I haven’t seen for twenty, twenty-five years, I always think that if I’ve aged as much as they have I’m going to kill myself.
PF Oh, really? I haven’t aged at all. I don’t know if you have this recollection, but one day you were wearing a Gaultier green pantsuit, walking down Houston Street, coming from the East Side, going to Soho, and you were listening to Dionne Warwick. It was such a great look. Are you still connected to fashion? Do you still find inspiration in fashion?
TT Well of course. Doesn’t everyone?
PF Which designers are you feeling? If you were to walk in somebody’s show, who would you walk for?
TT I like all the same ones, and then there are a lot of new ones.
PF Who are the new ones?
TT I love Alexander McQueen.
PF We have all hailed to the queen.
AW What was your experience like with Karl Lagerfeld?
TT That was amazing, and Karl was lovely. After the show, he told me I was the toast of Paris. It wouldn’t have meant so much if anyone else had said it.
AW Are you still in contact with him?
TT No, I’m not. I’m not in contact with anyone.
AW That’s chic. That’s a full answer to my question. So what are you doing now? What’s life like in Iowa?
TT Well, I have a house and dogs and a family.
AW Family? Husband? New husband?
TT No, I’m happily divorced. I have a mother, a sister, and her four children.
AW Is Tammy out there? I don’t know who Tammy is, but Carlos is asking about her.
TT Tammy’s my sister, and yes, she lives next door to me. Family is family.
AW You are outrageous. Is Tammy a girl too?
TT Yes.
AW Will you guys shut up and let me ask my few questions? We just wanted to make it fun for you. Carlos was asking what kind of looks you’re wearing this fall. Do you watch that show America’s Next Top Model?
TT I watch it once in a while.
AW Do you know this transgendered model called Isis on the show? Have you seen her? What do you think about that on national television?
TT Go, Tyra. I think that Isis must be very brave to put herself through that.
AW Work it out. I always wanted to ask you, Teri. You are basically transgender royalty, fashion royalty. When you stopped, who took over? Who do you feel carried the torch?
TT Well, I kept the torch.
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