in a world full of trends, i want to remain a classic

There are some people who have helped to advance me and other girls, but the fashion industry is always behind popular culture. They think they understand the zeitgeist. They don’t know anything about the zeitgeist.

I believe the universe has great plans for us. When you are young, you don’t learn that

Eliminating the things you love is not wellness. Wellness feeds your soul and makes you feel good.

I have a 15-year-old daughter who thinks that I always had this self confidence that I have now at the age of 60. And I always tell her that what she is going through – the low self-esteem as a teenager – that is a right of passage.

I arrive in New York on October 15, 1975. On my own, by the way

The women I gravitate to are the ones who defy convention and reinvent themselves – hence, they reinvent the world around them.

My given name was Zahra, which is the ‘flower of the desert.’ I don’t look anything like the flower of the desert. My name was changed by my grandfather to Iman, which means ‘have faith.’ And it meant to have faith that a daughter would come.

The day you settle for less is the day you will get less.

I’m lucky in some ways in that I really don’t need more than five or so hours of sleep.

Beauty is being comfortable and confident in your own skin

I was a very nerdy child. I never fit in, so I became laboriously studious.

I didn’t start exercising until the end of my modeling career. When you’re young, you eat and drink what you want and stay up all night and still look good.

I was not considered beautiful at all. Really. And this is what all models say. But I’m still not considered that beautiful in my country. I don’t know the beauty ideal where I come from – but it’s not me.

I’ve always said if what I’m going to create doesn’t look good on everybody, I’m not going to do it

Life is too short not to have pasta, steak, and butter.

I thought at 46 years old, I’ve been removed from the fashion industry for 10 years. I couldn’t possibly write a model’s book. That’s for a 20-year-old. But I could say what I want to say without chastising the industry.

At the end of the day, a 34B doesn’t give you self-esteem

The difference between rearing a child in your 20s and one in your 50s is one of patience.

As I always said: I fell in with David Jones. I did not fall in love with David Bowie

My looks have changed. I have laugh lines – not wrinkles

Intelligence is sexy. Don’t play dumb, especially young girls. Don’t play dumb. And let people see that you are intelligent

I have a certain manner of speech that is unique to me. I tried once to have my staff tweet for me, and it was a disaster! People knew right away that it wasn’t me.

There are highlights when you become irreplaceable as a model, like when you become a muse to designers. They look at you differently; you’re not a coat hanger for hire.

I was born in Somalia, which is in East Africa. My parents started with nothing: poor, poor, poor. They eloped, which was unheard of in my country, when my father was 17 and my mother was 14.

At the end of the day, my legacy will not be modelling but my cosmetics line.

Italian was my first foreign language. I speak it better than English

It’s really not a good idea to forecast or double guess the fates; you will always be fooled.

I’m a very political person, and I think things through clearly, even when I was 18 years old.

I was studying political science; I was adamant that I was going to follow in my father’s footsteps.

On my 50th birthday in 2005, my discount-wielding AARP card came in the mail. I hurled it in the trash, put on something fabulous, and had a decadent meal. Just the thought of putting it in my wallet felt like a concession.

I suffer from low self-esteem. I had horrible self-esteem growing up. You really have to save yourself because the critic within you will eat you up. It’s not the outside world – it’s your interior life, that critic within you, that you have to silence.

I don’t love eating meat. I really only like chicken and fish

Modeling gave me so many experiences, like traveling and being exposed to global cultures, but the most valuable lesson has been working with designers who truly are visionaries in their field.

I was admittedly comfortable with Iman Cosmetics being identified as a beauty brand that filled the gap for black women because it was deeply personal for me

I was under 18, and to leave Kenya to come to the United States, to get a passport, you had to be 18. So I lied and said I was 19 to get the passport, because otherwise, I had to have permission from my parents, and my parents would never have let me come.

If I feel frustrated in a situation, I take a deep breath and walk away

When I started modeling, they tried to pay black models less than they paid Caucasian models. I turned down those jobs because I knew what I was worth.

The truth was I felt ugly growing up. I only really started feeling comfortable in myself when I was 40.

People talk about the miracle of birth. No. There’s the miracle of conception. I did IVF, but nothing happened. So I began to think of adoption, and then I got pregnant. It was definitely a miracle

There is a lot of noise out there. I don’t want to follow the trend – I want to create the trend.

I was never a practicing Muslim. But I do consider myself a Muslim

I don’t look like a white woman. I look Somali.

I like to get up around 5:30 or six – that’s my favorite time of day. My family is still asleep, and the office is still closed, so I can start my day slowly

I tell all my younger friends, ‘Don’t be afraid of change. That is when you truly see what your destiny is.

When I was in high school,we were, like, 4,000 or 5,000 students, and 50 girls – and I didn’t have a date for my prom. My father paid my cousin to take me

I am so far more secure and more grounded and more know who I am than when I was in my 20s.

I keep on 5 to 10 pounds above my jeans weight, as the ultimate no-filler-needed refresher, and buy a size up on jeans.

When everyone is telling you, ‘You’re so beautiful, there’s nobody like you,’ you begin to think it’s true. But of course there is nobody like you.

People get numbed when they see picture after picture, year in and year out, of people starving.

I was raised to treat my body as a temple, but even as a little girl, I had a major issue with self-esteem. I thought there was something wrong with the temple.

My father … gave me a positive connection with men because he is a gentleman

We grew up as poor people but we never knew poverty. I still love and miss the Somalia I grew up in. Things changed, when my father became a diplomat later on.

You want a career? Do that first. You don’t want to have kids? Then don’t. You don’t want to get married? Then don’t. But once you do something, you’ve got to know that there is compromise.

I wanted a bronzer so I could look like I just came from Ibiza everyday.

We all have friends and loved ones who say 60’s the new 30. No. Sixty’s the new 60.

We are very private, so we decided from early on that we will keep the press and editors and everybody out of our house.

We all want what every girl wants: to look fabulous while we’re out there ruling the world.