Lucky Blue Smith - Stay Golden

W R I T T E N W I T H DA L LO N G . S M I T H

T R A N SWO R L D P U B L I S H E R S 61–63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA www.penguin.co.uk Transworld is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Bantam Pressan imprint of Transworld Publishers Copyright © Lucky Blue Smith 2016 Lucky Blue Smith has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material, both illustrative and quoted. We apologize for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgements in any future edition.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9780593077764 Designed and typeset by Smith & Gilmour Printer Trento, Italy Penguin Random House is committed to a sustainable future for our business, our readers and our planet. This book is made from Forest Stewardship Council® certified paper.

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

PICTURE CREDITS Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material. We apologize for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgments in future editions.

All photographs provided courtesy of the author unless otherwise stated.

Half title: © Mitchell Nguyen McCormack. Pages 6, 7, 36 and 130: © Jorden Keith. Pages 12, 52, 184-185 and 216: © Dani Brubaker. Page 56: © Tabatha Fireman/Stringer/Getty. Page 71: © Ryan Astamendi. Page 73 and 236: © NEXT Management. Page 74: © Hedi Slimane. Page 80: Top © Jacques Dequeker. Pages 82-83 and 87: ©Peggy Sirota. Page 101: © Jozef Ezra. Page 104: © Patrea Marolf. Page 106 (top) and 109: © Brooke Downey. Page 162: © The Ellen Show. Pages 164-167: © John Urbano. Pages 170-182: © Michael The Maven. Page 190: © Venturelli/ Contributor/Getty. Page 206: © Joe Schildhorn/Philipp Plein. Pages 210-211 and 214: © Michael Dumler. Page 213: © Sebastian Kim. Page 219: © Business of Fashion. Pages 220 and 225: © David M. Benett/Getty. Page 222: © Jack Taylor/Stringer/Getty. Page 226: Top left © Vogue Paris/Mario Testino; top right © DSection/Matthew Brookes; middle left © 10 Magazine/Magnus Unnar (styled by Garth Spencer); middle right © Vogue Man Ukraine/Lukasz Pukowiec; bottom left © Wonderland/Christian Oita; bottom right © Harper’s Bazaar China/David Roemer. Page 227: Top left © Rollacoaster/Doug Inglish; top right © CR Men’s Book/Sebastian Faena; middle left © ODDA/Diego Villarreal; middle right © GQ Style Turkey/Sergi Pons; bottom left © Vogue Spain/Nico Bustos (styled by Belén Antolin); bottom right © Harper’s Bazaar Thailand/Lukasz Pukowiec. Page 228: © Damien Neva. Pages 230 and 233: © L’Oréal Paris.

Cover photograph: Jorden Keith

CONTENTS

J U ST A P U N K K I D F L AT H E A D L A K E F I R E C R AC K E R S A N D S L I N G S H OTS M Y FA M I LY R O C K A N D R O L L C H R I ST M AS T H E B E A R VA N A N D T H E B E AC H F I R ST E D I TO R I A L S H O OT T H E G A P C A M PA I G N H AT E R S G O N N A H AT E T H E ATO M I C S L E V I ’ S I N H O L LYWO O D M OV I N G TO C A L I FO R N I A L I F E I N H O L LYWO O D L I T T L E F R E S H M E AT ICELAND WITH ANNIE T H E E L L E N S H OW WINTER IN THE SUMMER LOV E E V E R L AST I N G A N ATO M I C F U T U R E WA L K T H E WA L K G Q COV E R P E O P L E A N D P L AC E S

JUST A

PUNk

KiD

8

I

have to admit, I was caught a little off guard when I turned to see about 80 girls running full speed straight at me. I was suddenly swarmed by cute French girls grabbing me, touching me, and hugging me. I looked over to my mom, who had been pushed out of the way.

She was wide eyed and amazed at what was happening.

The rush was crazy. I was shocked. I wasn’t sure what to do. Girl after girl was pushing her way to get close to me, asking me questions, and touching me all over. It was awkward, crazy, fun, uncomfortable, and exciting all at the same time. It was completely overwhelming. I tried my best to answer questions and understand what they were saying, but it was just plain wild.

I T W A S A W K W A R D , C R A Z Y, F U N , U N C O M F O R TA B L E , A N D E X C I T I N G A L L AT T H E S A M E T I M E

One girl, who looked a little worried, finally got my attention and asked if I could help calm her friend down.

I walked over to where she was sitting on some steps near the group. She was breathing hard and crying, so I bent down and asked if she was ok. We talked for a minute, and I tried to make her feel better. We took a couple pictures and I gave her a hug. When I let go from the hug, she completely passed out right in front of me! Wow, I didn’t know what to think or do about that.

I didn’t know at the time, but the police were on their way over to see what was going on. I couldn’t understand what the police were saying, but they definitely wanted to

9

kick us out of the park. As the number of girls increased, we walked over to the street. It started to get a little crazier with the traffic being held up and everyone wondering what was going on.

Just a couple hours earlier, I had been doing an interview in a small café with The Business of Fashion magazine. At one point in the meeting, the interviewer asked me about my ‘meet ups’. They are something I love doing. Sometimes they are planned with a couple days’ notice, or sometimes they are planned that same day.

I’ll tell fans where I will be at a certain time so I can meet them. I love meeting new fans and friends, especially in foreign countries or places I have never been before.

I never want people to feel like I am untouchable or unapproachable. I love my fans!

I was telling The Business of Fashion journalist about the meet ups when he suddenly said, ‘Hey, why don’t you try to do one right now? We can see you in action and take some pictures.’ I thought that might be a pretty cool idea, but I really didn’t think it would work because there was hardly any time to let people know. So I said, ‘Sure, let’s try it and see what happens.’ I did a quick post on Instagram saying that I was going to be at the Jardin des Tuileries in about an hour. Honestly, I didn’t think anyone would show up.

Little did I know!

When we finally left the park and went on the street, it started to feel like everything was getting out of hand. More and more people were making their way over to the crowd.

The guys from the magazine realized it was getting too crazy, so they got us in the car and we took off. We all looked back, glanced at each other, and just shook our heads in disbelief.

10

THIS IS DAISY AND ME IN PARIS DURING SPRING/SUMMER MEN'S FASHION WEEK IN JUNE 2015. I STILL CAN'T GET OVER HOW MANY PEOPLE WANTED TO MEET US. I HAVE THE BEST FANS.

11

So here I was, barely 16 years old, just a punk kid, hardly any experience in life, traveling the world, meeting legendary people in the arts and fashion world, and making, ohhhh let’s just say, a little more money than your average 16-year-old bagging groceries. I couldn’t help but think . . . What is going on? How did I get here? How did this happen to me?! Well, let’s go back a few years to the beginning.

Before I go there, though, I need to say that everything I have going on in my career is an enormous blessing. I am very grateful and so lucky to have all these opportunities.

I’m probably even more fortunate than I realize. I never want to come across as arrogant or cocky. I like to be confident, but there is a major difference to being confident and arrogant. I hope always to be worthy and deserving of these great things that are happening to me.

I H O P E A LW AY S T O B E W O R T H Y A N D D E S E R V I N G O F T H E S E G R E AT T H I N G S T H AT A R E H A P P E N I N G T O M E

13

FLATHEAD

LAkE

I

was born on June 4, 1998, in Salt Lake City, Utah. My parents wanted to be surprised, so they decided on two names, one for a girl and one for a boy. Somehow, the name Lucky made its way on the running list. When my parents asked friends and family what they thought of the name Lucky, most people didn’t think they were serious. Some thought it would be a great name for a dog or horse. But, now, no one can imagine anything else.

And the name Blue just sounded cool. So that was it.

When I was around two years old, my family moved to California. My dad got a job opportunity out there, so we moved to Orange County. That’s where I was introduced to the beach. And I’ve loved it ever since. I have so many great memories of going to the beach with my family. Most of the time we would go to T-Street beach in San Clemente.

My favorite thing to do was stand on my boogie board near

M Y F AV O R I T E T H I N G T O D O W A S S T A N D O N M Y B O O G I E B O A R D N E A R T H E WAT E R A S T H E W AV E S C R A S H E D O N T H E S H O R E

16

17