It’s no secret that the hills of Hollywood have brought us some of the most iconic sister duos—the Hiltons, the Hadids, and now the Hamlins. Consisting of Amelia Gray and Delilah Belle, the genetically blessed offspring of film and reality TV icons Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin, the duo grew up like most girls do—but with the unusual reality of having cameras lurking within a 10-foot radius at all times.
Over the last few years, the industry has gotten to know all about the sultry, brunette vixen that is Amelia—who almost instantly became a muse to some of the biggest fashion houses since her debut—partly due to her transformative alter ego whom she lovingly refers to as “Camelia.” But lately, the world is also catching on to Amelia’s blonde bombshell counterpart and older sister, Delilah Belle.
With over 2 million followers on Instagram, soon hers will be the name on everybody’s lips, and she’s more than ready to prove that she’s got the guts and glamor—and a recently christened alter ego, Belle, to match Camelia—needed to make her mark.
Amelia Gray: When did you first want to model?
Delilah Belle: I first wanted to model after watching America’s Next Top Model. I was really into it back in the day.
AG: We watched it together. Dad has this vivid memory where we were watching America’s Next Top Model, and apparently, we looked at him and were like, ‘Dad, can we do this?’ and he replied ‘You can do whatever you want.’ Would you say that Tyra [Banks] is one of the supermodels that sparked that interest for you?
DB: I think she was definitely someone that made it feel like [modeling] could be possible for me. There was just something about her that really inspired me. I grew up knowing about Christy Turlington, Kate Moss, and Cindy Crawford, [who were] gracing the covers of Vogue that we would get, but Tyra [was] my earliest memory.
AG: Do you remember what your first photo shoot was? What were the vibes?
DB: I think my first photo shoot was for Teen Vogue. We were on location in a bodega, [and ended up] in the streets of New York. I want to say I was like 17 or 18. I’m 25 now so that was like ages ago, I don’t know who she was. I literally remember sitting there being like, ‘Oh, you get dirty while modeling,’ because I had to sit on the streets of New York. I was like, ‘Okay, this is out of my comfort zone and I love it.’ I think I was also wearing something that Beyoncé had worn. I don’t know.
AG: I was so jealous when you did this. I was pissed!
V Magazine: You know, this is technically your second shoot for V, right? You were shot years ago by Sølve Sundsbø in a downtown New York series.
DB: Wait, stop. Oh my goodness. I remember this! Perfectly.
AG: Oh my god. You were with Luann de Lesseps’ daughter!
V: I don’t know what it is, but these photographers just want you on the ground in New York City.
DB: I love being on the ground in New York, so much.
AG: Me too. So your first was Teen Vogue, and V was maybe second. [Aside from this], what would you say is your earliest fashion memory if it’s not America’s Next Top Model?
DB: Remember when we got the Mary Kate & Ashley line? I’m going way back. I think mom bought it for us, it was their first Walmart line.
AG: Where is that now?
V: They now call it The Row. Kidding!
DB: [Laughs] I remember I had this denim hat, and I felt so cool wearing it. If we still had that, that would be really cool because it would be considered vintage, and we [used to] wear it with little suspenders.
AG: Do you remember when we would go shopping with Mom and then we would come home and do a whole “store” in the dining room?
DB: Yes, we made a store with the hangers from Target, and would play for like five hours, selling to no one. For [events] like father-daughter dances, [shopping] would be so fun because you get to try on all these different dresses even though [we knew] we’re only allowed to shop on special occasions.
AG: We would have to hide it all from Dad. How has your style evolved since your Mary Kate and Ashley hat days of making stores with our clothes from Target?
DB: I never really knew how to answer the question of ‘What is your sense of style?’ I would always say like comfy chic, [and] right now I’m definitely very minimalist. I think [my style has] just evolved with me.
AG: With this recent photoshoot for V, talk to us about your hair transformation and the hair trauma. This sort of is a big deal because it’s kind of taking you back.
DB: I was in preschool on a playdate. I loved this little figurine that I got from the top of a birthday cake once, and it was Prince Charming. I remember bringing it to my friend’s house, and she went behind her dresser and was like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna cut your hair. What do you want it to look like?’ And I tell her I want to look like Prince Charming and she just chopped my hair off. But, I remember seeing my parent’s faces [when they picked me up] and that’s what hurt. We didn’t know what we were doing, we were kids, but seeing them get mad, I think it made me really self-conscious. I remember wearing wigs after that, and [our parents] frantically calling someone to come fix the haircut because it was crazy. My dad had to put paper over all the mirrors in the house because he didn’t want me to see myself.
AG: Yeah, you were depressed.
DB: But as a surprise, they took me to Disneyland the next day, which was very kind and smart on their part [because it helped] distract [me from] myself. I was wearing a bandana [most of the] day, and then I took it off like ‘I don’t need this anymore.’ And then I just came into myself, which I thought was a beautiful thing. Between then and now finding out that I was going to do a big hair transformation for the V shoot, I feel that I just gave too much importance to my hair.
AG: You gave so much power to your hair!
DB: This is not just about hair, it’s a bigger thing, but I was always [thinking], ‘Guys like long hair so I’ll get extensions’ or my agents would always tell me ‘Take your extensions out. Don’t dye your hair.’ I dyed my hair orange [once] because I thought that that would be super cool, and the guy I was dating at the time [didn’t like it].
AG: The male gaze is terrible. It’s really important to break free from that, It’s so freeing once you do. I think I can relate to that [with] what I did with my eyebrows, which was very much going against the male gaze. I also remember kind of struggling with that and my sexuality during that time. You say the word “conforming”–if you’re not doing it for yourself, you’re constantly [going to be] conforming to someone else’s [taste]. You’re never going to feel like yourself.
DB: And I don’t think I ever got to feel like myself. I’m lucky enough to have a boyfriend now who is so supportive and [my hair] doesn’t matter [to him]. [With this shoot] I felt like this was the time that I was ready to face that trauma and say goodbye to that and…
AG: Just cut it off!
DB: It’s spring, new beginnings are like a rebirth. I just think it’s very symbolic. I’m really happy about it, and glad I had you there on the shoot.
AG: I’m very proud of you. It’s not easy to do a transformation, especially with how much power you’ve given your hair over all these years. Hair is like identity, but at the same time, it’s not because it’s so complex. No other opinions matter but your own at the end of the day.
DB: [My boyfriend] helped me realize it’s not important. Don’t give anything like that much importance.
AG: Don’t give your power away!
DB: Exactly!
AG: So what is making you the most excited in fashion these days?
DB: I love that there are so many different trends that there’s not just one way to dress. Each show from this past season, in my opinion, had such different [messages] with where style was going. And I think that’s a beautiful thing because then people can explore their sense of style without having to conform. Chloé, for example, brought boho back, and that’s so fun for people that really missed that [style] and then there’s Miu Miu [which is] completely different, [and] I love that.
AG: If you could trade closets with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be? Are you not going to say me?!
DB: It’s a hard question because there are more than three people but I’ll give you three answers… You—
AG: Thank you!
DB: So annoying. Then mom, then probably Kate Moss in the ‘90s. I don’t really know what her closet looks like now, but you never know.
V: What are your thoughts on your careers being parallel to one another and seeing each other out in the modeling field doing your very best?
AG: For me, it’s really exciting. We grew up really close doing everything together. You know, sisters fight and we go through phases of whatever bullsh*t that sisters go through. Delilah is my older sister, and I’ve always taken the role as older sister. I think that it’s such a beautiful thing that you’re coming into my field. It just made me so proud to see you on the V set the other day and made me so excited. I think it’s still really new and we haven’t been in the field together for very long and it’s so fun that now we’re spending more time together and sort of reintroducing our sisterly love in a different, more mature way. Now that I have a couple years in this, I can teach you and show you the way, how I always liked to do. I think having V as the first opportunity [for you in a while] feels right and feels like family.
V: I didn’t know you were on set, Amelia! Did you help Delilah with any posing tips?
AG: I had to leave because I was going to go there. [Laughs] I feel like you just have to be thrown into it. You can be taught to a certain extent but Delilah is really good at posing and understanding herself behind the camera. For me, I need to shoot alone and I need to be in my own world in order to really channel my alter egos and the other characters that I need to play into. But I saw you and everything was good, and then I was like ‘Okay, I’m going to leave, you just need to do your thing, be yourself, and have your moment.’
DB: I asked you to come, mainly for the haircut. Throughout the story, you see that the haircut goes beyond than one sitting, and it was about that transformation, which I thought was beautiful. You also were getting more anxious than I was about the haircut and I was like ‘Okay, girl, you need to go.” I wasn’t nervous [because] I was in my zone. Anytime I’m behind the camera, it switches on even if someone’s watching.
V: How would you describe that switch? Amelia mentioned to us in a previous issue of V that once she switches, her alter ego Camelia enters the room. What do you call your alter ego?
DB: She was named on this shoot. Her name is Belle. Who is Belle to you, Amelia?
AG: Belle is who Camelia is to me. Belle doesn’t conform or give a damn or a rat’s ass about what any man has to say about her hair.
DB: Amen.
V: Camelia and Belle, they’re going to take over the world now.
AG & DB: Love!
This story appears in the pages of V148: now available for purchase!
Photography Alvaro Beamud Cortés
Fashion Nicola Formichetti
Interview Amelia Gray
Editor-in-Chief / Creative Director Stephen Gan
Makeup Sarah Tanno (Forward Artists)
Hair Frederic Aspiras (The Only Agency)
Model Delilah Hamlin (The Lions)
Executive producer Dana Brockman (viewFinders)
Producer Frank DeCaro (viewFinders)
Production coordinator Ernie Torres
Digital technician Dillon Padgette
Photo assistants Simone Triaca, James Mankoff
Stylist assistants Frankie Benkovic, Jeung Bok Holmquist, Lokela Blanc
Makeup assistant Mila Kwan
Production assistant Trey Butler
Location Smashbox Studios
