Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/1546381
model behavior For model and writer Veronica Webb, personal style is a lifetime journey, punctuated with statement-making jewelry along the way. BY SHANNON ADDUCCI PORTRAIT BY ANDRE GABB ong before model off-duty was a notion, Veronica Webb was absorbing everything she encountered in the rarefied corners of the fashion world. The iconic model got her start in the late 1980s and '90s, at the dawn of the Supermodel era, working with the likes of Azzedine Alaïa, Gianni Versace, Isaac Mizrahi, and Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel, all designers driving the look and feel of that moment from fashion's upper echelons. During this time, Webb also booked numerous magazine covers, including Vogue, Essence, and Elle. Her presence made Webb a pioneer of inclusion at a moment when fashion and pop culture were starting to bring diversity further into the mainstream. When she signed a campaign with Revlon in 1992, she became the first Black model to land a long-term contract with a major cosmetics company, a move that broke barriers and helped to expand the very definitions of beauty and influence. It was through these encounters— backstage, at photo shoots, and in castings—that Webb began to form her own ideas around style and glamour. Additional work as an actress, TV personality, and writer have also helped Webb to share her point of view, most recently with her Substack Haute Mess, which includes looks back at pivotal moments in her career and explores the central theme of aging with agency and power. While Webb still models, regularly shooting campaigns and walking the occasional runway (she always receives booming applause when she appears on the catwalk at designer Sergio Hudson's NYFW shows), her personal life might be even more glamorous than any gig. Through her marriage to diamond and jewelry industry leader Chris Del Gatto (a partner at Bal Harbour Shops' Yafa), Webb's access to and education in important gems and rare vintage jewels have given the model yet another perspective on her timeless but evolving approach to personal style. L "Trends percolate, but style simmers," says the barrier-breaking model, actress, and writer Veronica Webb. a life 106 106 BALHAR B O U RSH O P S .CO M