Cara Delevingne Reveals How Modeling Made Her 'Hate' Her Own Body

Cara Delevingne — the model who singlehandedly brought back bushy brows — is bowing out of the fashion industry for good.

Or so she says.

The 23-year-old supermodel announced her departure from the industry in a recent interview with London newspaper The Times, in which she discusses how modeling did her more harm than good.

She recalls,

I was like, fight and flight for months. Just constantly on edge. It is a mental thing as well because if you hate yourself and your body and the way you look, it just gets worse and worse.

Delevingne says modeling made her hate the way her body looked, due, in large part, to the unrealistic pressures put on those in the limelight.

Stress from the job led to a severe psoriasis breakout during one fashion week, and makeup artists had to cover her body in foundation to hide the skin condition.

Worse still was the aggressive sexuality required of many jobs. She explains,

I am a bit of a feminist and it makes me feel sick. It's horrible and disgusting. [We're talking about] young girls. You start when you are really young and you do, you get subjected to… not great stuff.

Delevingne says she'll be devoting her energy to acting, an industry with its fair share of problems, but one still scores ahead of the modeling industry.

She tells the paper,

I am very good at standing up for myself now, and for other people. If there is injustice I will flip out. If someone is crossing a line, they will know about it and so will everyone else.

The former model says she's happier now than ever and looks forward to continuing to pursue acting.

That, at least, is a good sign: With four movies coming out this year alone, it looks like the movie industry wants her as much as she wants it.

Citations: Cara Delevingne Says the Modeling Industry Made Her Hate Her Body (TIME)