In the words of Laura Craik, writing for The Sunday Times Style [IG] magazine September 3, 2023, Debra Shaw “thrums with good energy”. A key reason for Shaw’s longevity as a couture model [most recently for Thom Browne], and face of Saint Laurent, Dior and Mugler lies in her humanist spirit.

Fabien Montique [IG] captures Shaw in the fashion story ‘Red Hot’, wearing Celine by Hedi Slimane on the cover. Note an outtake from Montique that is very VROOM VROOM. “I like wearing red — it’s a powerful colour.”

Jack Collins styles the 58-year-old American model, who calls France home since 1992, in red luxury fall fashion from Alberta Ferretti, Ann Demeulemeester, Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana, Ferragamo, Givenchy, Gucci, Prada, Proenza Schouler, Stella McCartney, The Row, Y/Project and more./ Hair by Jacob Kajrup; make-up by Tiziana Raimondo

AOC has previously documented Shaw’s Philadelphia-born personal history. Not enough time has beem spent in fashion-world, talking about Debra Shaw’s wise, humanist, ego-muzzled spirit.

Paris on My Mind

Shaw’s own comments hit an AOC nerve when she recalled her origins story, centered around a customer in a local Philadelphia, PA clothing store, who mistook her for a mannequin.

“She jumped when I moved,” Shaw says, laughing again. “Then she told me I should go to Paris. ‘They will understand you there,’ she said, and then left the store, like a ghost. That woman put the idea in my head. After that I got fixated on Paris and the Eiffel Tower. Now I can see it from my window.”

AOC is deeply committed to understanding this history — the love and respect that so many American Black creatives and talents have found in Paris. I will add also the French Riviera, where our famous jazz musicians and singers have flourished for decades while America lived in a deep state of racial segregation.

Debra Shaw narrates her own story: “[The year] 1997 was a big one for me. That was the year I became touched by all the top designers — Lagerfeld, Versace, Valentino, Galliano at Dior and Lee McQueen at Givenchy. It was a season of firsts, and also my first time in American and Italian Vogue.”

Being a Team Player

For AOC, Shaw’s self-analysis of her secret to her longevity is a life lesson for all of us. It involves:

“. . . being open, being flexible and not having the ego involved in areas that it doesn’t need to be involved in. You can have the ego on stage because that helps the performance, but coming in and demanding things? That doesn’t work with this [younger] generation. It should never have worked, because the reality is we’re all pulling together. So be a team player.”