"Six months later I was in Paris. I was 16, and it all started to happen"
About this Quote
“I was 16” lands like a quiet shock. It’s not presented as trauma or triumph, just a timestamp that forces the reader to do the math on vulnerability, legality, and the industry’s appetite for youth. In modeling, age isn’t trivia; it’s currency, and it’s exposure. Herzigova’s understatement lets the uncomfortable subtext sit there without being litigated: the runway-to-adult-world conveyor belt, the way ambition and exploitation can share the same taxi.
Then the phrase “it all started to happen” does double duty. It’s celebratory, sure, but it’s also evasive in a way that feels culturally accurate. Success in fashion is rarely a single, narratable cause; it’s a fog of castings, looks, timing, and other people’s decisions. The passive construction protects the speaker. Things “happen” to you in that system, even when you’re talented and driven.
The intent reads as origin story, but the subtext is about acceleration: how quickly a teenager can be swept into a global machine, and how neatly memory edits the chaos into a clean, myth-ready line.
Quote Details
| Topic | New Beginnings |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Herzigova, Eva. (n.d.). Six months later I was in Paris. I was 16, and it all started to happen. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/six-months-later-i-was-in-paris-i-was-16-and-it-111798/
Chicago Style
Herzigova, Eva. "Six months later I was in Paris. I was 16, and it all started to happen." FixQuotes. Accessed February 3, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/six-months-later-i-was-in-paris-i-was-16-and-it-111798/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Six months later I was in Paris. I was 16, and it all started to happen." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/six-months-later-i-was-in-paris-i-was-16-and-it-111798/. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.

