Piper Rockelle had been perfecting her skills of holding an audience’s attention through a screen. In May, she learned that those skills do not translate to live interaction.
The social media influencer made her fashion debut as a runway model during Miami Swim Week in a CI Swim x Mariella show at the Mondrian South Beach. Just eight weeks later, she appeared at another runway show in New York, presenting two looks, including a Wall Street Swim baby blue set, during The 8th Wonder presentation at New York Swim Week.
Such a fast-paced move could easily be interpreted as a one-off guest appearance rather than a working model’s schedule. However, according to Rockelle, it was intended to be a career move.
“Miami was definitely a learning experience,” she explained in an interview for Where Is The Buzz. “I think I went into it assuming that because I’m comfortable in front of a camera, I would automatically be comfortable on a runway, and they’re honestly two completely different things. In Miami, I was thinking about everything at once: my face, my feet, where I was looking, when I was supposed to turn, and that can make you look more tense than you realize.”
By July, she had managed to streamline that checklist.
“By New York, I understood that less is more. I worked on my posture, slowed down my pacing, stopped rushing the turns and learned to actually let the clothes have their moment,” Rockelle said. “I was much more aware of my shoulders, my eye line and hitting the end of the runway without feeling like I had to ‘perform’ every second. The biggest difference was confidence. In Miami I was trying to remember how to walk a runway. In New York I felt like I belonged on one.”
She sees moving from social media to modeling as an expansion of what she has achieved online rather than as giving up her current audience.
“I don’t really see it as abandoning one thing to become something else. It’s more about expanding what people know me for,” she said. “I’ve built a brand online, and I’m proud of that, but I also like putting myself in situations where being good at social media isn’t enough. On a runway, you have to show up, take direction and do the job.”
While Rockelle is open to working with an agency, she does not want to give up her current identity to fit into that of a model.
“I definitely want to do more traditional modeling and more runway. If the right agency relationship came along and it made sense for where I’m going, I’d be open to that too,” Rockelle said. “I’m not doing Swim Week just so I can say I walked in a show. I want to keep getting better at it and earn bigger opportunities. At the same time, I think what makes me valuable is that I already have my own audience and identity, so I don’t want to erase that just to fit somebody else’s definition of a model.”
Rockelle is also known for her friendship with Sophie Rain, another popular online personality, who has walked the runway alongside her and defended her against the critics. She said she admired Rain’s approach to marketing before they became friends and that it gives her something that a professional representative cannot offer.
“A manager can give you strategy, but they’re never going to completely understand what it feels like to actually be the person everybody is talking about. Sophie does,” she said. “There are things we can say to each other about pressure, criticism, business or the internet that don’t need a huge explanation first. And I respected how she thought about marketing before I ever knew her personally, so there was already that level of admiration.”
Asked whether a friendship that is beneficial for both parties online is still sincere, Rockelle did not refute that business logic.
“Of course we’re aware that being seen together can be good for both of us. We’re not stupid, we understand the internet, and we both understand marketing,” she said. “But I don’t think something becomes fake just because it also happens to perform well. The friendship has to exist when there isn’t a camera around or anything to gain from it. That’s the line for me. If we started making decisions about our friendship based on what would get the most views, I think we’d both feel that immediately.”
Given the choice between two most visible runways in the industry, Rockelle chose quite clearly.
“Savage X Fenty,” she said, choosing Rihanna’s brand over Victoria’s Secret.
She mentioned that the latter show has a different meaning.
“Victoria’s Secret is iconic. Walking that runway would be a huge milestone in modeling, and I would never pretend that it wouldn’t be incredible,” Rockelle said.
However, she believes that the fit is more important than the milestone.
“But Savage feels closer to the kind of model I want to be. Rihanna created something where personality is part of the appeal,” she said. “It’s sexy, but it’s also confident, individual and a little unpredictable. You’re not just supposed to disappear into the clothes, you’re allowed to bring yourself to it.”
“I think Victoria’s Secret would be the ‘I made it’ moment. Savage X Fenty would be the ‘this makes complete sense for Piper’ moment,” Rockelle said. “And if I only get to choose one, I want the one that feels the most like me.”
