Yahoo Lifestyle Kris Smith On Humour And Humble Beginnings
Kris Smith on the Myer catwalk.
You underwent a six-week body challenge to get ready for the Myer show: will you be cracking open the junk food tomorrow, or will you be sticking with the new regime?
I usually give myself about three weeks before I get in shape for something like this, but this time around I thought, 'you know what, I'm actually going to take this seriously'. So I unofficially did dry July, which was great. I'm not where I want to be yet - I'm fit and healthy but I have a lot of other goals I'd like to accomplish. I'll have a couple drinks after the show but we have an incredibly busy day tomorrow, so it will be kept to a minimum!
We had a giggle when we saw your fake request for goji berries and French champagne backstage at the Myer show...
If you ask anyone here at Myer which is the easiest of us to deal with, the response is always 'Kris - he'll eat whatever and do whatever.' Anyway, they sent my agent and I a dietary requirement form before the show, and he said, "Is it just the usual, you'll eat whatever's there?" And I said, "No, let's mix it up a bit." So I requested goji berries, a packet of M&Ms with all the blue ones taken out and truffles from a certain part of France - there must have been about 15 items. We sent that off and had a little bet on what the response would be. But Myer wrote back and blew us away: 'Yes sure, anything else?' Well, they opened the door then, didn't they?! So we wrote down a whole bunch of other stuff and eventually they were like... "Um, are you taking the piss?" (laughs).
How do you think you've managed to stay so grounded with all the media attention?
I come from a very humble background. My parents lived on a housing estate all of our lives. We didn't have a lot of food or money, but we had a whole lot of love and affection. We were taught morals and manners and that got us through life. I just like to make people smile and I'm extremely grateful for everything that I ever receive. I'm trying to pass that onto my son now.
What goes through your head when you're walking down the runway?
Over the years I've had a couple of different thought processes, but the main one is to smile and look where I'm going. I concentrate on not falling over (laughs). I don't have an attitude per say - I just feel incredibly fortunate to be doing this and I'm extremely grateful that Myer even gave me this opportunity in the first place. I just really enjoy it. The nerves are long gone by the time I hit the catwalk.
What trends are you looking forward to wearing this season?
There's some beautiful bright colours and a lot of checks and stripes coming out. I'm not scared of patterns anymore. I would shy away from that in previous years, but now I just think, "I'm going to rock that". And that would be my advice to guys: just give it a go. Also, listening to the women in your life works a treat! I run a lot of things past my girlfriend and vice versa - she'll take a picture and send it to me to ask my opinion.
In your opinion, what's the most stylish thing a woman can wear?
I've always been a big fan of the maxidress. That thought takes me to certain places - a nice warm place where the wind blows a woman's dress and it just sticks to her skin.
But to see a woman in a beautiful dress just owning it is amazing too. The sexiest thing she can have on is confidence. Without the arrogance of course.
What's it like working with Jennifer Hawkins?
Amazing. She's got a great sense of humour and is obviously easy on the eye. But her beauty is internal.
Finish these sentences...
My favourite band is... The Eagles!
My favourite designers are... Dom Bagnato, T.M. Lewin and Autonomy.
My celebrity crush is... This isn't really a secret, but Sandra Bullock. She just turned 50 and she looks amazing. I think it's her personality that gets me though - she's funny and I like that.
Kris with girlfriend Maddy King.
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