Supermodel Niki Taylor Talks Turning 50, Embracing ’90s Style and Paying Tribute to Her Late Sister (EXCLUSIVE)
The beauty icon, who just became a grandma, also shares her favorite hacks and sources of inspiration
With her long blonde hair, perfectly placed beauty mark and radiant smile, Niki Taylor was one of the supermodels who defined the ’90s. Taylor’s wholesome girl-next-door vibe set her apart from the pack, and throughout the decade, she was a ubiquitous presence on magazine covers and billboards.
Now 50 and a mom of four and newly-minted grandma, Taylor maintains the same approachable beauty that made her a star, and for her most recent project she’s partnered with Coolibar, a brand specializing in stylish and sun-protective clothing and accessories, to promote their premium line, Mott50 Edition, alongside actress and former beauty queen Dayanara Torres.
Taylor starred in a commercial for Coolibar opposite her daughter, Ciel Taylor Lamar, and she just walked the runway for the brand’s New York Fashion Week show. “It was a nice full-circle moment,” Taylor says about shooting with her daughter. “We filmed in Miami, a place where I had shot many covers and catalog photos. I grew up in the sun. I’m from South Florida and I would Jet Ski and go to the beach all the time, and I wish I had sun-protective clothes back then,” she adds.
Shortly before she lit up the runway, Niki Taylor sat down with Woman’s World to discuss ’90s style, overcoming tragedy and the joy of simple living.
From fashion fangirl to ’90s supermodel
Niki Taylor came into the fashion industry at the height of the supermodel era, and she admired all the glamorous women who preceded her. “Oh, my God, the ’90s were really great. It was the height of my career,” she says. “I was such a fan of all the supermodels, and the fact that I got to be a part of it was the icing on top. Before I started modeling, I’d take my allowance and ride my bike to the drugstore to buy magazines and tear out pictures of all the models and put them up on my walls. I always had pictures of Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell. Christy was my favorite supermodel.”
Recalling one of the moments where she first knew she made it, Taylor says, “When I got to do my first fashion show in Paris for Thierry Mugler, I remember sitting in the chair getting my hair done by Danilo and looking at Helena Christensen in the mirror across the way and smiling at her.” “I really came into it as a fan of the industry and all the girls,” she says. “It was the best time for fashion. We didn’t have cellphones and we really took it all in and remembered it.”
Comfy clothes and convenient beauty hacks
Taylor still enjoys ’90s fashion, sharing, “I love baggy clothes, and those have made a comeback.” “You can’t go wrong with sneakers and baggy pants, and they’re comfortable. I love a casual look, and I’ve dressed like a boy for my whole life,” she jokes.
The model favors an equally low-key style when it comes to beauty. “There are so many good beauty products that came out after the ’90s, but the best beauty hacks are castor oil, witch hazel and baking soda,” she says. “With baking soda, you can use it on your face and your teeth, and it makes a good scrub in the shower. Witch hazel is a good astringent toner and cleanser. With castor oil, I put it on at night and in the morning it’s like Botox, because it gets your whole face so tight,” the fresh-faced covergirl explains. “I think that those old remedies are the best. You don’t need to spend thousands on skincare.”
How Niki Taylor stays grounded and grateful
The fashion world isn’t exactly known as the friendliest workplace, and when Taylor started out, she set records as the youngest model to land many of her campaigns and covers. Asked how she managed to stay grounded working in such a cutthroat industry before she was even eligible for her driver’s license, she explains, “I never saw myself as a celebrity. I always went home after work. I started when I was 14, so my dad used to come and hang out with me while I was working, and I didn’t have to be alone. I always had a chaperone.”
Taylor continues, “My mom kept me in school and at the time I didn’t like it and wished I could get a GED, but she made me stay and get my diploma. I got to still see all my friends at school and my boyfriend, and all of that kept me down to earth. I got to be a normal teen. I never moved to the city, and things always went quickly when I was traveling and doing shoots and Fashion Week.” “I always came home to Pembroke Pines, Florida, and you couldn’t dress up there,” she says with a giggle. Her background kept her humble, as did her positivity and sense of humor. “You have to be able to laugh at yourself. It’s the best medicine,” she says.
A year of milestone birthdays and tragic anniversaries
2025 has been a banner year for Niki Taylor, as she became a grandma to a baby boy in January and turned 50 in March. “I love being 50!” she says. “I embrace each year, and I love growing older with my husband.”
Taylor also reached a more somber milestone this year. This July marked 30 years since the tragic passing of her beloved little sister, Krissy, who followed in Niki’s model footsteps and frequently posed in photo shoots with her. In 1995, at just 17, Krissy died suddenly from arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, a rare heart disease. “I always think about my mom on those anniversaries, because I couldn’t imagine losing a kid, and I looked up to her and my older sister, Joie, during those hard times,” she says.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of Krissy,” Taylor says. “I feel like she’s always with me.” She shares a sweet recent moment in which she could feel her sister’s presence: “My husband and I were just out riding bikes, and we rode by the Intercontinental Hotel, where my sister and I used to stay when we were in New York,” she says. “We used to get french fries and french onion soup and we would get massages after a long day, and that was our bonding time. Being in the city always brings back those awesome memories with her. I love those memories.”
Niki Taylor keeps it simple
Looking back at the early years of her career, Taylor says, “I wish somebody told me to slow down, because there’s no rush.” Today Taylor and her husband, former NASCAR driver Burney Lamar, “are all about slow living.”
“I always come back to the simple things,” Taylor says, as she muses on her sources of inspiration. “My parents had such a beautiful love story, so they’ve always inspired me, and I hope to have the same kind of marriage with my husband. He inspires me because he’s the most patient person, and he’s my soundboard. He always takes care of me.” She flashes her famous smile and concludes, “I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”
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