Georgia May Jagger: The Interview

Her papa is a Rolling Stone, but this rock child turned model is the new face of fashion.

Who would have guessed, back in the anything-goes years when Jerry Hall was carousing with Grace Jones in Paris and busy posing for Helmut Newton, that she would turn out to be such a rocking mother? But the living, breathing proof of her outstanding parenting skills is sitting right in front of me, eating a chicken Caesar salad at a restaurant near the Los Angeles home of her half sister Karis Jagger, whom she is visiting.

"My mum is actually really wholesome,"" says Georgia May Jagger, 18, the third of four children to come out of the 21-year union between Hall and Mick Jagger, one of the original (and arguably the most glamorous) supermodel/rock star pairings. Wholesome may not be the first word that comes to mind when describing Hall, but Georgia insists it's the case. "She remembers everything because she didn't take drugs like everyone else," she says. "She'll see a black-and-white picture taken 40 years ago and say, ‘I was wearing a red dress and gold eye shadow.' It's incredible."

The Texas-born Hall has clearly instilled a healthy dose of Southern charm in her daughter, who is relentlessly polite, well spoken, and even a little shy. No It-model antics here. In fact, in her white Twenty8Twelve sundress and blue sandals, she seems more like the photography student she'll be when she starts classes at New York's School of Visual Arts in a week. The only clue that she has joined the family business is her face, an outrageous mix of her father's wildly proportioned mouth and wide-set eyes and her mother's high cheekbones and long golden hair. If those features haven't been burned into your memory yet, they will be soon. In the past year, Georgia has closed the runway show for Chanel's resort collection, landed a three-year contract with Hudson Jeans, shot a campaign for Rimmel London cosmetics, and been named Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council.

But right now, Georgia is adjusting to life away from her mother's London home, which she just moved out of a week ago. "My mum hasn't been to New York for so long, but she used to live there in the '80s. So when she found out I was moving to Alphabet City, she freaked out," she says, laughing.

Georgia was nervous about embarking on her own, despite a life well-traveled on Rolling Stones tours. "When I was younger, I'd fall asleep on the plane after a show and wake up in a different city," she remembers.

This time, it's just her. "I thought I was going to be alone, but when I got to New York and saw my sister Lizzy, I was like, It's going to be okay." The two are more like best friends despite their age difference. (Elizabeth, who has been modeling for a decade, is 26.) "My mum used to dress us in matching clothes, and we're seven years apart." Georgia laughs. "I'm guessing it was pretty horrible for my sister."

Family is supremely important for Georgia, whose siblings also include James, 25, a fledgling actor and the bass player for the metal band Turbogeist, and younger brother Gabriel, 12, who's back home in London. Karis, 39, Jagger's eldest daughter, with writer Marsha Hunt, is a married mother of two who works in film in Los Angeles.

"Karis is like the star of the family because she went to Yale," says Georgia. The seven Jagger offspring, including jewelry designer and socialite Jade (Bianca Jagger is her mother) and the youngest of the bunch, Lucas (the son of Brazilian model Luciana Morad), often get together with Jagger and his longtime girlfriend, designer L'Wren Scott, for New Year's Eve in Mustique and then spend time together over the summer. Growing up, "when he was away and I was at school, we didn't see each other for a long time," says Georgia, who was seven when her father and Hall split. "Even when my parents were together, they both had to travel and work, and it wasn't like they had nine-to-five jobs. In that way, it wasn't a normal family life. We'd go and stay for a few weeks with Dad on tour and bring a tutor with us."

For Lizzy, Georgia, and Theodora and Alexandra, the daughters of Patti Hansen and Keith Richards, tours were the ultimate summer camp. "They were family guys," she says of Jagger, Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Charlie Watts. (This wasn't the '60s, after all.) The kids spent their summers packing up dressing rooms and tossing paper airplanes from the top of hotels around the world. "We'd get up to a bit of mischief. We'd order funny food and send it to people who were picky about what they ate on tour, like snails or brains," she says, giggling. "They used to give us jobs. Rallying people to wake up in the morning or for makeup was a popular job for the little girls."

Over the years, pieces from her father's wardrobe have made their way into Georgia's closet. "But just '60s and '70s stuff," she clarifies. "The newer stuff Dad still owns." And those famous stage costumes? "It looks iconic in pictures, but up close, they're terrible, covered in plastic beads meant to look like rhinestones. My dad has more sparkly stuff than most men."

He's also not as tough as some fathers might be, Georgia says, even when it comes to boys. "My dad's not a very intimidating father figure," she explains. For the last two years, she's been seeing Django James Stewart, the musician son of Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. "Our parents know each other. My dad's cool with that kind of stuff," she says. "He always wanted me to do my best. I'm quite dyslexic in school. My dad let me figure out what I wanted to do on my own. My parents never really lecture me," continues Georgia, who clearly looks up to their example.

Hall recently released a book of photographs in the U.K. from her four-decade career, which serves as a great source ofinspiration to her daughter. "When Mum was first modeling, it was all about that Thierry Mugler woman with the tiny waist and the giant ass. They used to pad their hips. I think it's much sexier," she argues. "Lizzy and my dad are naturally skinny. I model jeans. You need a bum for those."

Her discreetly topless ads for the Hudson line didn't shock her parents. "My mum did a lot of very provocative work with Helmut Newton. She understands," notes Georgia. "It is pretty crazy, though. I didn't think that it was going to be on giant billboards everywhere. I'm sort of like, Oh, God!"

Georgia's recently expanded her role by becoming a designer, with her Hudson by Georgia May Jagger line set to launch in March 2011. Her design is influenced by "the men's Wranglers my mum used to wear. And I have to say Guns N' Roses really inspired them as well." That said, "My dad's supportive of all my endeavors," she says, like a good daughter. "When I was a kid, I wanted to be a tightrope walker and a marine biologist, and I think my parents wouldn't be surprised if I did all of those things too."

Hedi Slimane was introduced to Georgia May Jagger in 2007 at her father's house in France, where he shot candid photographs of her. The two met again when Harper's Bazaar asked the indie-rock designer to photograph Georgia for this portfolio.