Interview
The Guardian-Michael Segalov
The model and actor cooks apple pancakes or else pasta bolognese, stares at the clouds, walks the dogs, enjoys a calm family day
‘If we’re all up for it, we end the evening with karaoke and more wine’: Claudia Schiffer. Photograph: Stephane Cardinale/Corbis
What does Sunday feel like? Calmness. I wake up naturally, no alarm. Monday to Friday, I’m up at 7am to make breakfast and do the school run. We live in the English countryside: rolling hills, fields, farmland. I love being surrounded by nature. Even when it’s raining I just watch the clouds.
Do you cook? We normally have a long brunch with local produce – I like making my mother’s apple pancakes. That and pasta bolognese are about the only things I can cook. Drinking is seasonal: summer is perfect for a rosé; red wine, cheese and a game of cards is my absolute favourite winter afternoon.
Any exercise? A long walk with the dogs, rain or shine. We play table tennis, croquet and swim as a family. I might do an online class with my eldest daughter. During the week, I tend to find excuses not to meditate or work out.
How do you have fun? Sometimes I watch my husband and son battle it out playing backgammon and chess. In the summer, we spend the whole day outside. If we’re all up for it, we end the evening with karaoke and more wine.
Sundays as a kid? I grew up in a small town near the Rhine. My dad would open my curtains loudly and insist on having breakfast as a family. In the afternoons he’d take us to the forest. Me and my siblings weren’t always keen, but could be persuaded with the promise of a kid’s malt beer at a pub. Now I’m the one making my children walk.
Sunday nights? After a long bath with salts, a mask and candles, I quickly brush my teeth to make sure I don’t open a bag of caramel Cadbury buttons (I’m obsessed). I watch Friends. Since lockdown I’m addicted; I never had the time to watch in the 90s as I was always working late. I’m catching up now.
Captivate! Fashion Photography from the 90s edited by Claudia Schiffer is published by Prestel, £49.99. The accompanying exhibition is at Kunstpalast Düsseldorf until 9 January