Supermodel Carolyn Murphy Talks New ADEAM Design Collab And More

Carolyn Murphy, 48, lives in Malibu where she starts each morning by opening all the windows in her house before her daily surf, weather permitting. Along with Amber Valletta and Shalom Harlow, she’s one of the ’90s supermodels known for both their laidback personalities and the sleek, minimalist styles they modeled. Lately, Carolyn Murphy, who is allegedly worth $35 Million according to Celebrity Net Worth, has been working with the fashion brand Adeam on a collection inspired by the times she lived in Japan during her early modeling days.

Here, she speaks to WSJ. about having a crush on fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto in the ’90s and painting in her at-home studio until midnight.

Here are some things Carolyn Murphy revealed to WSJ. Magazine…

On the time she wakes up on Monday’s, and the first thing she does:

Monday and every day, it’s about 6 a.m., unfortunately. The first thing I do is have a really good stretch. I open the windows, no matter what time of the year it is. I go through the house and I open up all the blinds or curtains, sliders, doors, windows, whatever it is. I brush my teeth and then I make green tea, say hello to my dogs, let them out. And then I like to take a few minutes, sit maybe 15, 20 minutes in the sunshine with my tea and do a little meditation, take some deep breaths. That can usually then evolve into some deep stretches, like 15 to 20 minutes [of] yoga and journaling. I kind of have to have “me time” for a good 30, 45 minutes.

On her dogs:

I have two labs and they’re polar opposites. One is very calm. He’s my distinguished fellow who, if he were a human male, we would be reading the paper together. We wouldn’t debate politics but we’d definitely be discussing the art and style sections. And then my other one, he’s more like my goofy buddy. We usually walk down to the beach and do a surf check. If it’s good and I’m not working, then I’ll go for a surf. He’s more my jock. He’s the guy who’s good-looking but dumb. Carolyn Murphy Net Worth

What do you eat for breakfast to start the week off right?

My go-to breakfast would be two soft-boiled eggs and avocado. It’s been like that for a really, really long time. I don’t really drink coffee, I’m a green tea person, but occasionally, if I need a kick in the boo-boo or to get my brain going, I’ll have coffee.

On her beauty routine:

The big part is at night. That’s using a really good creamy cleanser, all Estée Lauder, of course. [Murphy is an ambassador for the beauty company.] A couple nights a week, I’ll exfoliate with an exfoliating scrub or mask. And then I do a serum and a moisturizer. For me, it’s more about layering. And then I got this really cool gold, very fancy [facial] roller, which everyone swears works. I’m only one week in but I think my jowls are lifted, or lifting.

In the morning, I usually just splash my face with cold water and then repeat on the serum and moisturizer. I don’t wash again in the morning. And I swear by drinking a gallon of water a day, which everyone teases me, because I do carry around a gallon-sized Hydro Flask.

On her exercise routine:

If I’m lucky, I get to surf every day. That’s a big workout. Four or five days a week, I’m hiking. I have this little mini trampoline I’ll try to do for 15 or 20 minutes, that’s really good for the lymphatic system. I’m really outdoorsy and living in California is conducive to that. And then I’ll just use small weights and little things I have here at the house to do target areas and squats and lunges. It’s all about the butt these days, gotta keep that up.

On her go-to uniform to look chic, no matter your age:

“It doesn’t matter what age you are,” says supermodel Carolyn Murphy of her uniform of decades: vintage Levi’s, a white button-down with hoop earrings and her hair pulled back. “It’s great for day—and then if I were going out at night, I could wear the same thing but maybe I would put on a sexy bra and red lipstick and a little mule.” 

On the inspiration for her new collection with Adeam:

I looked at [Adeam creative director] Hanako [Maeda]’s silhouettes and there’s this femininity there, and a softness, and that’s what I love about Japan. There’s this juxtaposition—the yin, the yang—how you can be in this metropolis of the city and then there’s this beautiful, quiet park somewhere and next thing you know, you’re under the cherry blossoms and the dogwood. I’ve lived in Japan three or four different times throughout my career. That was my place of choice as opposed to all the clubs on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. I had such respect and this real reverence for the Japanese culture—so much so that at one point in my life, I got a very big tattoo that was Japanese that I’ve since removed because my father didn’t speak to me for three months. 

On that tattoo:

Oh, it was a big koi fish, with peony flowers and waves. It could not have been more Yakuza, which is the Japanese mafia, and I didn’t know at the time. I was like 25. This was the ’90s. It was a different time. Fashion was so much more exploratory, and I could be in Japan and I would wear wide-legged trousers with a little T-shirt and trainers. Hanako was fascinated by that time. We really went into detail about what fashion was like back then. I was sharing stories with her about my early days in Japan and why I loved that.

I worked very closely with Yohji [Yamamoto] quite a bit. When I was putting together my references for Hanako, there was a mix—not only of some of those older pieces I had from Yohji and Comme des Garçons, just these simple silhouettes that would have just one quirk to them—but also there were some vintage dresses I had from the ’70s. There were also ceramics, these Japanese female ceramists for textures and color and nature. Even some Japanese film. I just wanted to really honor her and the country and to somehow bring it all together in that way. Carolyn Murphy Net Worth

On working closely with Yohji Yamamoto in the 90’s:

Well, Yohji was actually in Paris and working with him, I just remember that I thought he was a Japanese Neil Young. And then I found out from one of his assistants that he actually is that. I don’t know if anybody knows, but Yohji was actually kind of a folk-indie rock star in Japan. And of course that made me have a crush on him more.

On what she’s watching lately:

This weekend, my daughter [Dylan Blue] and I watched this crazy docuseries called The Way Down. Let’s just put it this way: There’s a saying in the South called, “The higher the hair, the closer to God.” This is this whole docuseries about this church and this woman who ran it. It’s nutso bonkers. Of course I binged Bridgerton when that came out. 

On sustainability and living simply:

I’m not the queen of sustainability and I’ve never claimed to be. I live a back-to-basics lifestyle. I don’t like a lot of stuff, I like things really minimal. I like to support smaller brands or heritage brands. If I can buy locally or at least keep it in America, that means a lot to me. That’s something I really started paying attention to when I met [Patagonia co-founder] Yvon Chouinard when I was living up on a farm in Ojai back in the mid-2000s. Because I was exchanging horse poop for his seaweed—we were composting—he and I became friends and he really taught me a lot about living simply, and it kind of changed my life.

Read the full article here.

Photo: Courtesy of ADEAM via WSJ. Magazine

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