More than three decades after launching her modeling career, Beri Smither is getting just as many gigs as she did in 1989 when she was 18.
“As long as I can still work, I’ll take jobs,” Smither, now 53, told The Post ahead of hitting the catwalks for the umpteenth time this New York Fashion Week.
The former Vogue cover regular — who has modeled for an array of legendary shutterbugs and high-end brands — is just one of the experienced beauties very much in demand this fall, bringing ’90s nostalgia back to the runway and continuing a trend led by the stars of the supermodel heyday like Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington.
“I think it is tapping into the era when models were orthodox in a way,” Smither said of the nostalgic comeback, which dovetails neatly with other throwbacks suddenly found fascinating by the younger generations, whether it be fashion trends or cassette tapes and digital cameras.
The turn of the century, she told The Post, was “a little bit more pure” and had “a different energy” than today’s internet-driven world.
And while everyone’s obsessed with nostalgia, there’s no denying that things look extremely different than they did in 1989 — the year Smither first began modeling, shortly before celebrities began appearing en masse on magazine covers and in cosmetic campaigns.
“I did sort of worship models,” explained the poser, who dazzled on the covers of Allure, Elle, Vogue, Glamour and Cosmopolitan throughout her decades-spanning career.
“There was just a certain, I felt like, more prestige.”
Smither started strutting long before social media and smartphones, back when the next hot cover girls and boys were discovered at their local mall or ice rink — rather than leveraging famous parents, a celebrity partner or a vast social media following, she said.
Back then, Smither — who has been lensed by world-renowned photographers like Peter Lindbergh and Arthur Elgort and fronted ad campaigns for major fashion houses such as Chanel, Armani and Versace — said the primary “exposure” for models was long-lasting, tangible products.
Now, notoriety hinges on fleeting viral moments.
“Back when I was doing it, the exposure would be in periodicals, paper, magazines, whereas now, it’s just disseminated all over the internet,” Smither said. “Everyone’s looking for content.”
But one difference between then and now is that aging is no longer taboo: Models of all generations are celebrated and walking some of the biggest runways every season. Last spring, Collina Strada’s catwalk saw women of all ages walk the runway — including a new mom with her baby — while Batsheva exclusively cast women over 40.
This season, which kicks off Friday, is anticipated to be no different, which model Liisa Winkler, 46, calls “refreshing.”
“When I turned 20, I remember my agent [saying], ‘Just keep saying you’re 19,’ because that’s basically telling me it’s kind of old,” Winkler told The Post, recalling a time when “saying you’re in your teens” was “more exciting to people.”
Winkler launched her modeling career in her teens, posing for Gucci campaigns or walking runways for Tommy Hilfiger, Paco Rabanne and Anna Sui, and has most recently modeled for Proenza Schouler and Toteme.
But when the Ontario-based model and herbalist took a yearslong hiatus to become a mom and go back to school, she feared it would be the end of her career. Upon returning in her mid-30s, she was surprised when she continued booking more high-end clients well into her 40s.
“Now I’m doing fashion shows with such a range of ages, to the point where I show up backstage and they don’t know what I’m there for,” Winkler said, recalling how she is sometimes confused for hair and makeup staff rather than a runway model.
In her 20s, Smither never thought about a decades-spanning career, operating under the assumption that every shoot or runway could very well be her last. Her secret, she dished, is “preservation.”
“You want to preserve, you want to take care of yourself,” she explained of her “holistic” wellness routine.
“It’s not only physical, it’s internal, it’s spiritual, it’s mental.”
For Smither, that means being involved in her community, finding her purpose, fostering relationships and, of course, hitting the gym, ensuring her “roots are done” and finding “a good dermatologist.”
She has also found a better relationship with fitness and food, is now sober 26 years and recovered from an eating disorder.
“I’ve exercised obsessively, and I’ve binged the night before a shoot and woke up at, like, 4 a.m. to get on the hotel treadmill and burn it off for two hours,” said Smither, calling her old habits “insane.”
Her pre-runway rituals nowadays look quite different, exercising as she normally would while being a bit more meticulous about her diet.
“I mean, nothing drastic,” she said, “but I’ll cut out, like, desserts.”
