Like You, Sofia Richie Loves Reality TV and Shopping on The Real Real

In person, Sofia Richie is more doll-like than she appears in photos: heart-shaped face, brunette hair freshly blown out, her makeup ultra natural with just a hint here and there to accent her features. And as Richie sauntered into a Lower Manhattan office building in a sparkling pantsuit this week, her voice deep and fast-talking, it was obvious that her presence is also more pronounced than expected. She just turned 20 a few weeks ago, after all.

“I thought I was going to wake up and feel like a different age,” said Richie, perched in a chair. “But nothing.” There was no wild party to mark the occasion, either. “I just chilled. I just needed to relax. I literally wanted to do nothing, and that’s what I did. It was the best time.”

The model, who is signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York, certainly deserved the right to “just chill,” especially considering her packed schedule for New York Fashion Week, where she took in Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, and 3.1 Philip Lim, among others, from the front row. On top of that, she had just flown in from Australia, of all places. “I went home for a few hours and repacked,” she said. “It’s tiring, but it’s alright.”

Luckily, at this point, Richie is a seasoned fashion pro. “My first ever fashion week, I was so stressed out,” she said. “I had no idea what was going on; I didn’t understand it. Gradually, as I continued to go to fashion weeks, I got in the groove of it. For me, bouncing from show to show is a lot. And you’re expected to look different at every single show, even hair and makeup wise.”

Given her short trip, Richie wasn’t able to check off everything from her New York must-do list, though not for lack of trying. “I have to stay at the Four Seasons. I have to go to Bar Pitti. I have to see a few friends that are mandatory or I’ll never be allowed back. And that’s really it,” she said. So far, two of the three on her checklist had been handled. “I haven’t done Bar Pitti yet—I might need to have it Postmated to me.”

In addition to seeing friends, though, Richie had also gotten to have some quality family time, as her brother Miles recently signed with Wilhelmina, as well. “It’s fun,” she said. “Finally a partner in crime.”

But the real reason she was here was to take in the clothes, as a self-proclaimed “clothes junkie.” “I’m staring at the clothes the whole time,” she said. “’I’m a big online shopper, department store-wise, and I do a lot of vintage shopping. And I shop The Real Real. I got a Celine fur coat. It was good. If I had known the weather was going to be like this, I would have brought it.

“I love designers,” she continued. “The Row, Saint Laurent, Celine, Alexander Wang. I love Wang. I think I really connect with Wang on a style and personal level.”

Would she ever want to design her own line? “Yes. One hundred percent. It would be like taking a street twist to The Row.”

But for now, Richie was happy focusing on modeling, taking into consideration advice her dad, Lionel Richie, had bestowed upon her. “I got to my dad a lot for advice,” she said. “He’s a good tip-giver. The best advice was to run with my passions.” Of her career aspirations, Richie said, “The cover of Vogue is my dream job. I’ve always wanted a big campaign like Givenchy or Saint Laurent.”

But unlike many of her peers, don’t expect Richie to pivot to acting anytime soon. “I’m not an actress. Everyone has tried at some point in my life to be like, ‘You’re going to go on a casting,’” she said. “I’m like, ‘No.’ I’m not an actress. I can be real on TV and be myself, but I could not be an actress.”

So what about reality TV, given both her half-sister, Nicole Richie, and boyfriend, Scott Disick, are seasoned pros at the genre? “No,” she said. “I’m not a reality TV person.”

That is, of course, unless she’s the one watching. “I love Real Housewives. Vanderpump Rules is amazing. Didn’t one of them just get engaged?” Yep, against all odds, Jax and Brittany are engaged—news to Richie, apparently—a testament to truly how busy she’s been this week. “He actually proposed? Shocking. That’s big news. Oh my god. Who knew!”