Destined for the French Riviera, Jerry Hall left her small-town Texan home at the age of 16 in pursuit of supermodel stardom. Cue high-fashion shoots by David Bailey and Helmut Newton, lunches with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, and an album cover for Roxy Music’s Siren that led to a much-documented affair with Bryan Ferry. His fateful mistake was introducing Hall to Mick Jagger, who bested the glam rock crooner in the battle for her affections. Last year Hall published her photo-illustrated autobiography, My Life in Pictures, which chronicled her glittering nights at Studio 54 with close friend Andy Warhol, onetime roommate Grace Jones, Anjelica Huston and, of course, her Rolling Stones beau. These days she lives a quieter life on the edge of London’s Richmond Park, with the focus on her four children with (now ex) Jagger—Elizabeth, James, Georgia May and Gabriel—but that’s not to say she’s retired: in 2009, Hall was the face of Chanel accessories, and she currently fronts the campaign for Invisible Zinc skincare with Georgia May. While we could go on, we'll defer to Hall’s eminently quotable sound bites over the years, delivered in a trademark southern drawl.

Hall on Hall

“I was 14 in Texas. But I looked 25.”

"My first airplane trip was to Paris; I spent my last bit of money on a pink metallic crochet bikini and some high heels, walked out on the beach in Saint-Tropez, and a man came up and said, 'Would you like to be a model?' How lucky is that?"

"It took a year or so to start making money. When I got $10,000 I went and bought a long mink coat and walked along the Champs-Élysées looking at myself in the shop windows." 

“My mother said it was simple to keep a man: you must be a maid in the living room, a cook in the kitchen and a whore in the bedroom. I said I'd hire the other two and take care of the bedroom bit.”

“The more flesh you show, the higher up the ladder you go.”

“Mick Jagger and I just really liked each other a lot. We talked all night. We had the same views on nuclear disarmament.”

“I think if I weren't so beautiful, maybe I'd have more character.”

“A healthy love life is not and should not be the preserve of those in their 20s and 30s. It's important at all ages.”