words by Eddie STATS Houghton
Flipped to the back of New York mag this morning to run through the crossword over my morning tea and what did I see but Jamaica’s favorite daughter and Large Up homegirl Nicola Vassel sashaying across Wooster street in a new Cole Haan ad. Not surprising maybe for a bonafide super-model, except that lately Nikki has been more at home on the other side of the eye-candy equation, making a name for herself as a curator with Deitch, the hottest gallery in SoHo.
But with another NY mag editorial featuring her posing off in her white-walled loft and a lengthy profile in the Times all in the past year, it seems like people just can’t stop taking her picture. The difference now is of course that she’s getting famous for what she has to say more than the way she owns a catwalk. Either way, it’s nice to see the world waking up to what we’ve known for some time; whether at Passa Passa or Art Basel, Nikki is a force to be reckoned with.