Plus, the online article below which was in Herald Premium came out on the Wednesday before – August 20th.
Here’s the print out of the online article if you don’t have Premium- sorry, they didn’t mention Bateman and Unity books as I requested- but one picture is in Unity Books store.
NZ model and agency founder Kim Larking goes from fashion to philanthropy
Former model and founder of Clyne Model Management, Kim Larking.
For more than 25 years, Kim Larking was a giant in the fashion and modelling industry. His next chapter has focused on giving back to create a better world.
Larking, 61, walked the top runways around the world in the mid-1980s and the early 1990s, going on to create one of New Zealand’s top modelling agencies, Clyne Model Management, where Kylie Bax was one of his signings.
He now runs a charitable organisation, Vision for Humanity, and has become an author. “I’ve gradually redirected my life from the heights of the fashion world, while wishing to stay authentic to who I am,” Larking tells Society Insider. “I try to use my fashion experience to create relatable, inspirational role model messages to make healthy, constructive habits fashionable.” Larking says that through social media, everyone now has a platform to magnify their beliefs, values, and interests, subtly influencing the direction of society. “That should be used for constructive purposes,” he says.
Kim Larking, 61, walked the top runways around the world in the mid-1980s and the early 1990s.
Larking modelled around the world for six years in Milan, Paris, London, Tokyo, Canada, and Spain, and worked for designers Armani, Missoni, and Valentino in Milan.
As an 18-year-old, Larking says, his education was travelling the developing world on a shoestring budget of 50 cents a day, which he says was an extreme contrast to being backstage at the haute couture runway shows of Jean Paul Gaultier with all the supermodels of the era. It was these extreme life perspectives that he says helped shape his unique view of the world.
With a book filled with solid global industry contacts, Larking started Clyne Management in 1991. He credits the success of Kylie Bax as a key milestone in turning his agency into a powerhouse. “Having discovered and managed Kylie, placing her globally, every door in the fashion world opened wider,” he says.
Kylie Bax’s success was key to turning Kim Larking’s agency into a powerhouse.
One of Larking’s most significant moments for Bax was signing her with Woman Agency in New York, where she worked with photographer Steven Meisel – famous for his work in Vogue as well as for photographing Madonna for her controversial book Sex.
“Her stardom flowed from there,” Larking says.
Other famous names on Clyne’s books included Michelle Blanchard, who went on to feature on Real Housewives of Auckland, and Nicola Robinson, later known as Nicky Watson while married to Eric Watson, as well as Nick Bryant, Andrew Healy, Andrew Von Lochner, Jannette Williams, Racheal Millar, Peter Nolet, Chloe Hardy, Tia Woods, Jessica Clarke, and Emily Baker.
The last thing Larking did at Clyne was to place Georgia Fowler with IMG New York, sparking her international career.
Georgia Fowler’s move to IMG New York, aided by Kim Larking, sparked her international career.
He finished with the modelling industry in 2011, but retained the agency’s offices in Auckland’s Martin’s Lane, turning them into his base to focus on his new business, Vision Products.
Kim Larking at his St Martin’s Lane home office. Photo / David Rowland
The skin and body care range is made from natural, organic, wild-harvested ingredients, and presented in advanced eco-packaging. Vision Products also has a range of bamboo eco-apparel. Larking says he reinvests in “Biospherically Correct” systems.
“A Biospherically Correct system takes into account all eco-social aspects of how products and services can be ethically produced – as per the principles of how our biosphere works,” says Larking.
Larking’s goals are lofty. Vision Products generates funds and awareness to support its sister charity Vision for Humanity, which he says aims to “elevate global consciousness and empower people to co-create a successful planet, with more peace, prosperity and joy in the world”.
Larking says VFH is developing a wide range of resources to help people “holistically advance their lives”, and there are large-scale templates the charity is working on as initiatives to positively shape the world. When VFH officially launches, Larking says he will bring all of the services into a planned “urban sanctuary” he hopes to open next year.
Larking is also a self-published author, with his first book, Health Psychology: A Paradigm Shift to Greater Health Span, released last year. It includes techniques to assist people with life balance, authentic happiness, self-empowerment, and functional ageing.
Kim Larking released his first book last year.
“The greatest satisfaction has come from the regular stream of people who have informed me how the book has helped them,” Larking says.
He lives what he teaches, looking years younger than his 61 years, but he believes age is irrelevant anyway – it’s your functional or biological age that counts.
He says he has refined all his lifestyle habits for optimal well-being and health span, but likes to blend in at a party.
“I drink kombucha from a champagne glass and cranberry juice from a red wine glass to keep everyone feeling comfortable,” he says.
