Yasmin Le Bon and her daughter Amber are on the brink of something big. Since Amber gave birth early last year, she and her partner, Ben, and their son, Sasha, have been staying with her parents – model Yasmin and Duran Duran star Simon – at their home in south-west London. However, it’s nearly time for Amber, 36, to return to her own place.
"We ended up staying a bit longer because it’s so lovely to be with everyone," Amber tells Best Quality Designer Handbag in this exclusive interview. "They get to see Sasha every day."
Nevertheless, with building works completed on her flat and with Sasha on the brink of moving to his own room, Amber is ready to go. "He’s got to have his own room because we’re disturbing him in his sleep," she laughs.
"It’s got to happen," Yasmin says. "I’m going to see them all the time, but they haven’t gone yet." Sasha turned one at the end of January and Amber’s eyes shine as she recalls a "fantastic" birthday surrounded by family. "Sasha was rampaging around, giggly and smiley," she says.
Grandmotherly love
Yasmin, 61, adds: "Even though he can’t talk, we have the most fantastic conversations. We can sit and yabber for a long time. He really does make me laugh. "I never imagined I would live to see the day when I actually saw my grandchildren. I never take it for granted. Every day is a blessing with them.
"Seeing Amber as a mum is glorious, because she waited a little while and it was something she wanted so much," she continues. "It makes me cry every time she turns around with that kind of, ‘Mama, I’ve got a baby [face]’. Then we both cry, because it's such a joyful thing."
Amber, a model and DJ, says of motherhood: "I’m in heaven. I’m loving every moment of it, even the difficult ones; I just take a minute. There will be a point where he won’t want to hold my hand when we’re walking to school and my heart will break." She’s also hoping for a sibling for Sasha. "I would love to have more children. Hopefully there will be another one."
"Seeing Amber as a mum is glorious, because she waited a little while and it was something she wanted so much," Yasmin says. "We both cry, because it's such a joyful thing."
In the meantime, Yasmin, who was among the highest-earning models of the 1980s, and singer Simon, 67, are revelling in being grandparents (Amber’s sister Saffron, 34, who lives nearby, has three children). Becoming a grandmother in 2018, when she was 53, was "the start of a chapter", Yasmin says, describing herself as "the dragon".
She adds: "When you come to grandma’s house, you need to be in check. You need to keep your manners."The grandchildren "absolutely hero-worship Simon", she says of her husband of 40 years, whom she affectionately calls "Princess". "I don’t call him Princess for no reason – he’s the fluffy one. He still makes me laugh every day."
© Dave Benett/Getty ImagesAmber says that she has always treated her parents’ relationship as the benchmark for her own. "Look at the way he treats my mum," she says. "My dad is one of the kindest people in the world. That’s all I ever wanted – someone kind." She has nothing but happy memories of her childhood growing up with famous parents. "I didn’t know any different for a long time, until I was like: ‘Oh, people don’t spend their summers sleeping on a tour bus.’"
Sasha, though, will have to wait for his first Duran Duran tour. "There are too many cables for him to chew." For Yasmin, who had Amber when she was 24, "it was a lot", she says. "There was so much going on that I had to be quite tough with them. I said: ‘No brats on my watch.’"
Like mother, like daughter
One of Yasmin's favourite memories of Amber came through her work, when her daughter, then 20 months old, appeared alongside her on the runway for Chanel’s autumn/winter 1991 show. "She wasn't even meant to be doing it. She came to the fitting and Karl [Lagerfeld] was fawning over her and all the seamstresses said: ‘Oh, please let us make something.’ The next season they were like: ‘Is she coming again?’"
Today, Yasmin and Amber have teamed up to feature in George at Asda's new fashion campaign, Believe in Denim. "I’m literally wearing two jackets at the same time," Yasmin says. "It's something I’ve been doing since the Eighties."
Inevitably, then, the campaign, which celebrates denim as a timeless wardrobe essential, resonates with her. "I’ve had this bee in my bonnet about dress codes. To me, denim is ageless; it’s for everyone. You dress to make yourself happy. The idea of anybody telling me that I can’t do anything just makes me want to do it more."
For Amber, the affordability of the range is key. "I don’t want to spend £400 on a pair of jeans; I’d rather spend that on my son," she says. And she hasn’t succumbed to the pressure that many new mothers feel to get back into their pre-pregnancy jeans. "I try to ignore most of it." Instead, most of her post-partum focus has been on nutrition. "To get all of the vitamins that you lose in pregnancy, that’s been my main goal," she says.
Today’s modelling industry is a world away from the cut-throat early days of Yasmin's career. "Back when I was young and thirsty, people would just make comments in front of you, like: ‘Oh no, she’s got a bum.’ So I developed this glass wall and comments would bounce off," she says.
Yasmin, who turned 60 last year – "I enjoyed my bus pass!" – has spoken frankly, too, about her "deep, dark menopause days". Now, she says: "There needs to be some deeper understanding [around the subject]. I’d never even heard of it. I think it’s important for the other half of the population to understand what’s going on. If it was happening to them, we would certainly understand more about it. A little bit of sympathy, a lot more understanding."
Both women are looking forward to the year ahead. Top of Amber’s list is joy, "however we can find and create it – it’s such a tough world at the moment", she says.
Yasmin would be happy with a fence. "And a gate, so I don’t lose the dog again. And if my needlepoint kit arrives, that would be good, too."
Yasmin and Amber's edit is available at george.com and in selected stores now, in sizes 8 to 24, priced from £18 to £26
Yasmin and Amber will be appearing on a special Mother's Day episode of the Second Act podcast, now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts and Youtube.
Pick up the latest issue of Best Quality Designer Handbag to read the full report. You can subscribe to Best Quality Designer Handbag to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google apps.
