Presley Gerber on the Modeling Industry Rumor That Haunted Him as a Teenager

Presley Gerber was only 16 when he made his runway debut at Moschino’s Los Angeles Resort show—and just 27 when he died.

He had signed with IMG Models the previous year and was already building a profile. In 2015, he appeared alongside his sister, Kaia Gerber, in the influential CR Fashion Book, followed by a Calvin Klein campaign in 2016.

Looking back at those photographs now, the impression is striking: he was still a child.

Yet the modelling industry can be an unforgiving place for anyone so young.

During my years as a celebrity publicist, I worked with some of the world’s most prominent models, including Naomi Campbell, Tyra Banks, Molly Sims and Petra Nemcova. I spent years backstage at fashion shows, as well as accompanying models on photo shoots and at parties. The industry’s glamour can be mesmerizing and intoxicating—but it can also be dangerous.

At a fashion party in New York in 2010, I watched a globally renowned model snap her fingers and have a bowl of cocaine brought over as casually as if a waiter were serving sugar with coffee.

The bowl circulated through the room. Some women dipped their fingernails into the powder, while others used straws. Most disturbing of all, young people were present, mingling with influential agents, photographers and wealthy men. The pressure to take part in destructive behavior was immense.

There was also a disturbing sense of exploitation and premature worldliness.

I remember being backstage with Naomi at New York City’s Lexington Avenue Armory in 2005. It was Tyra’s final runway appearance before her lengthy retirement, and models were changing or standing around in little clothing. Wealthy businessmen moved in and out with remarkable ease.

I frequently saw Jeffrey Epstein backstage at Victoria’s Secret fashion shows. He had already gained a reputation for making people uncomfortable, although we had no idea then how extensive his depravity was.

Bodies were put on display, treated as the only currency that counted.

During a magazine-cover shoot at Chelsea Piers, a striking male model was hired to dance around one of my leading female clients. When I left the studio to take a phone call, one of the young men followed me outside.

He could not have been more than 21. He offered me sex in exchange for an introduction to Jennifer Lopez. I was heartbroken. This was a beautiful young man who had come to believe his body could be bartered for opportunity.

Those experiences took place years ago, but a friend who until recently ran one of the world’s leading modelling agencies says little has changed.

“People like to pretend the business cleaned itself up. It hasn’t, but they’ve become better at concealing it,” my source said. “The drugs, the predators and the pressure to be impossibly thin—all of it is still there. The difference is that everyone knows what they are supposed to say in public.”

I can only imagine the pressure Presley Gerber faced. One fashion source told me he struggled with comparisons to his mother, Cindy Crawford, and to his sister, Kaia.

“Presley never felt good enough,” said the owner of a leading agency. “He was always living in the shadow of his mother and sister. People assumed he received opportunities because of his parents, and that troubled him deeply.”

None of this explains Presley’s death nor does it attempt to explain away the decision to indulge in dangerous behaviors. But it does offer some context. The modeling business can be psychologically brutal.

I’ll never forget what supermodel Iman, who was supporting Campbell’s inaugural fashion show during New York Fashion Week in 2005, once told me about the event.

‘They do it in a tent because it’s a circus.’

She wasn’t kidding.