Photo Betty Sze for Models.com
The art of reinvention is something that model Jamily Wernke Meurer is quite familiar with. Her gamine looks and demure aura have been a notable presence on the runways as of late and photographers like Hans Feurer, Collier Schorr, and Johnny Dufort have equally been drawn to it. Yet, not much is known about the Hot Lister and what kept her motivated when she almost wanted to quit for good. As she celebrates another run around the sun (happy birthday!) we spoke briefly with the Brazilian about how she got her start in the industry, what she wished she knew when she was 16, and reinventing her look on her terms.
So are you in New York now? Are you based here?
No, I’m leaving soon, I think maybe this week or this weekend. I don’t know where I’m based. I’m always in Paris but New York as well.
Do you enjoy one more than the other?
I enjoy New York but I’m in love with Paris. I don’t know it’s completely different but I feel well in both places. Paris has a bit of elegance to it but New York is more exciting.
I’m sure you being a model you encounter so many people from all different parts of the world – you just came back from Marrakech for the Dior show.
That was such a beautiful venue but such a hot place too! We were dying!
And the models had all those floor-length caftans and heavy clothes. I don’t know if the end of April is the best time to go to the desert.
Yeah, but it was fun! It’s such a weird place because it’s beautiful and people go there for vacation but at the same time, I felt bad because they need so much. You have the show going on and a few blocks away you have very poor people on the streets asking for food.
Now that everyone is traveling more for shows it’s that disparity of introducing people to new communities but also realizing people need help.
I just realized how small our problems are compared to all theirs.
I wanted to take you down memory lane back to when you first started. Do you remember when your first show was?
I do remember! I went to Paris when I was 16 and we didn’t plan on doing the whole season of course since it was my first time abroad. I met Patrizia Pilotti in Paris and then she booked me for Alberta Ferretti in Milan so that was my first show outside of Brazil. Then I went back to Paris to do all the tests and because you know when you’re in a new place they send you everywhere. It was really, really busy but I loved it. I always loved being busy. I guess I’m a workaholic or something.
You have a really strong walk. What do you think about anything when you’re walking down the runway? Do you have to zone out?
I’m very quiet during the shows. I get really concentrated and focused. When I put on the outfit I feel like this is some piece of art that a lot of people have been working hard on so I’m not going to wrinkle anything or damage anything. I’m just there to walk the show and I’m going to do my best.
It’s good. I can see you have a very stoic expression on the runways but it comes across powerful. Where is your favorite place to go in the world?
I think back home because then it’s a different world. It’s much calmer and my family and friends are there. I’m from the south of Brazil. My parents live on a farm so I have my dog, my birds, my cats. We have pigs, cows – it’s got the complete landscape of somewhere I can be totally just myself and I’m just my mom’s little girl.
Aw so charming! Where is the closest major city to your home now?
Somewhat major but not as famous is Florianópolis, it’s an island in the south that is very famous for beaches, surfing and people coming for New Year’s.
Sounds nice! How often do you get to go home?
I go mainly in December for the holidays and then maybe July or August for shows in São Paulo. Sometimes I go for other jobs, so at least like two or three times a year.
That’s great. I’ve been saying I’ve always wanted to go to São Paulo and witness the fashion and modeling scene there. It seems like all the major models that you hear from always start there especially if they’re from Brazil or they got scouted in Brazil.
São Paulo is so nice. It’s completely different from Brazil. It’s like Paris, it’s not France but along those lines. We all go to São Paulo at a very young age and spend some time getting ready and then we fly to wherever.
Speaking on your time in the beginning, I remember seeing an old, old video of you back in the day when you had long hair but I love the short hair that you decided to keep! When did you first cut it?
I cut it two years ago because I felt like my career was stuck and nothing was happening. Even my agents were quitting on me so I was like “Okay, I need to do something.” It sounds a bit like “wow, she thinks she’s great” but I always felt I had potential to do whatever I wanted so I was like “I’m not quitting, I just need to do something to get people to believe in me again. I need to do my part. I thought, Okay let’s see what I can do.”
I always liked Saskia, Stella, and Freja so I thought I need something with my hair to give me some new excitement. I cut it, and things started happening for me again. It was a slow process but I think that’s better when it’s slow but still happening. It’s not easy if you don’t believe yourself. Just forget about it! It’s all about money and business so if you’re not working, people are going to find another girl to work on so you always need to be the first one to believe in yourself.
This association with this androgyny as you mentioned names like Saskia and Freja fits perfectly now that you’ve said it and I see your hair it’s absolutely in that world. Even looking up to models in the industry is clever as you can justify “No, I know that I can be a model because there are people who have led the path.” Is there anybody else you look up to in the industry? Models that you’ve always thought about and said, “Okay, I really like the way they’ve handled their career”
I don’t know. I always admired people that are working for a long time because it’s not easy. You always have to be up to what is happening right now. I think they’re my main inspiration because even like Saskia, she started really late for a model. Stella, she’s working even though she is almost 50. Those types of models inspire me because they’re not trendy, they are just good.
What is something that you wish you knew before going into modeling?
When I was 16 and things were happening I didn’t have the patience or the confidence that I have now. I wish I was just more prepared and more open. I was very insecure. I was too young to be working I guess. My life in Brazil was very simple, just school and home and that’s it. I never had contact with different perspectives and different people. It was just me and my parents.
I think that’s why the industry is having conversations about what’s good when it comes to age – questions on should you prepare girls, really teach them the history so they can have all the facts because it’s just like a job. It’s just like any type of profession. You go to college or you study under a person, so you get prepared before they give you the actual job. You said when you first went to Milan you were 16?
16 and I didn’t know the people that I was working with- how important they were. My agents back then would say “You’re doing Chanel”. Oh cool. “You’re working with Yves Saint Laurent.” Nice! I thought “okay, what time does it start, what time does it end.” That’s it. Then I would go home and be on the computer and life went on.
