Liya Kebede has been modeling for more than 20 years, but she had never before sat for
an artist. It was a particular thrill to sit for Clemente. “I didn’t know his work specifically,
but when I found out that he had painted the portrait of Gwyneth Paltrow in [the 1998
film] Great Expectations, I was so excited,” she says. “I remember when I watched that
movie, the portrait really touched me. I don’t know why. Then to suddenly see my portrait
done in the same way, it meant a lot to me.”
It seems ironic that Kebede, 38, has never been painted, given her precise, delicate
features. “The relationship with a painter is so different,” she explains. “He’s so focused
on you, and you’re always wondering, ‘What could he be looking at?’ It’s so penetrating.
There’s something quite beautiful about it.” Kebede posed in a glorious Tom Ford evening
gown, but in the cold of the studio covered her knees with her winter coat. So Clemente
couldn’t help a little bit of subversion, adding the coat to the final work. “He said, ‘It will
be the one thing in the picture that’s yours—it brings it all together.’ ”
When Kebede was growing up in Ethiopia (where she returns twice a year for her clothing line, Lemlem, and her
work for her maternal health foundation), art wasn’t readily available to her. But she was ahead of the curve in other
respects, having had her two children, Suhul and Raee, by the time she was 27. Now separated from her husband, Kassy
Kebede, she says, “My 30s have been a really transformative decade. I feel like I’ve grown a lot.” However, she’s lived a
lot, early. “Children make you grow up very quickly,” she says. “You become a mom, so you have to be a mom, you
know?” But today, with a 10-year-old and a 15-yearold,
she is officially a cool mom. “I’m having a fun
relationship with them right now,” she says, adding
with a laugh, “I hope it’s nice for them too!”