Page 9 - Real Style July 2018

GRACIE PHILLIPS MAY BE JUST 20 YEARS OLD, BUT THIS RISING MODEL immediately strikes us as wiser than her years.
In an era when many It Girls head straight into the spotlight courtesy of their parents’ fa- mous last names, Phillips is an anomaly—she’s the daughter of Filipino-American actor Lou Di- amond Phillips, but made her way into fashion without revealing who her father was. Although her mother is a former model as well, our cover star assures us that her journey has been largely her own.
“At the end of the day, it’s my face that is go- ing to be on the cover, not who my parents are. I wanted people to book me based off of that, based on who I was as a person, rather than ‘Oh, this is Lou Diamond Phillips’ daughter.’ I wanted to be booked as Gracie Phillips,” she declares.
Today, the L.A. beauty is also a student and is working on a degree in Communications. To make it all work with her busy modelling sched- ule, Phillips takes online classes and completes schoolwork in between castings and shoots. She’s set to graduate in the next year and a half.
“Education has always been very important to
me, and getting my degree has always been a goal of mine,” she tells us proudly.
With her no-nonsense upbringing and focus on education, Phillips clearly has her feet on the ground. She even followed her parents advice to start modelling at 18, rather than sooner, like so many of her peers.
“A lot of girls I meet started when they were 15. I started when I was just about to turn 18. I think that’s partly due to the fact that I had two parents in the industry, and they wanted to keep me out of it until I had graduated from high school and was a little bit older,” she explains.
Growing up, Phillips was unaware of how fa- mous her father was, and the atmosphere at home was a down-to-earth and humble one. “It wasn’t until we would go out or I saw him on TV that I knew my dad was different. For me, he always kept work and his home life pretty separate. He tried to keep a very normal household, so when he wasn’t working, he was just my dad,” she says.
It’s clear that her dad’s work ethic and ambition have subtly rubbed off on Phillips. The up-and- coming model currently has her sights set on the Victoria’s Secret catwalk and Angel wings. She
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PHOTOS, LEFT: DORIEN