Photographer Dennis Tejero – Fashion Editor Kyle Sakunruchira – Talent Calum Harper at Marilyn Agency – Makeup Artist Steven Canavan at L’Atelier NYC – Hairstylist Nastya Miliaeva at L’Atelier NYC – Styling Assistant Bronson Vajda – Production Alecia Rodriguez – Casting Isadora Barnaudi – Studio Oak Studios NYC – Interview by Melania Musci // Total Look Ami Paris // Total Look Celine Homme // Total Look Ami Paris
Total Look Thom Browne / Coat Tom Ford
This interview for The Greatest focuses on the concept of a ‘handshake’. Can you share the specific event or connection that marked your entry into the fashion industry?
My first connection into the industry was tagging along to a random modelling agency party that my friend was with. There I met my now mother agent, Patrick, who changed my life within weeks after meeting at that party.
Can you walk us through your first casting experience? How did you prepare, and what was the outcome?
My first casting experience was a runway casting for Onitsuka Tiger and I think that I starred into the casting director’s eyes whilst walking. So awkward, but I learnt my lesson quickly!
Having walked for major brands like Gucci, Diesel, and Zegna, what emotions do you experience before a significant show today? Do you have any specific techniques to manage performance anxiety?
I feel pure excitement and adrenaline. I get nervous too when it’s a big show, but exciting and nervous emotions are cut from the same cloth. Before big shows or job, I just like to make sure I’m looking and feeling my best. If that’s spending lots of time in the gym or in front of the mirror doing my skincare. I just like to feel confident within myself.
Looking back on your career, was making Vogue’s Top 6 Male Models in 2023 something you ever envisioned?
Oh my goodness, no, not ever! This will forever blow my mind. After being with an agency and getting zero paid jobs in two years, being named top six was truly a surreal experience.
Having experienced large-scale campaigns, how crucial is the team’s role in achieving a successful outcome?
Absolutely everything. I just stand there and try to look pretty, that’s my role. Everything else is up to the other members of the team. The photographers, lighting, set design, stylists, producers etc.. Their jobs are so crucial for an amazing final result. Every job role on set is like a piece of a puzzle.
Total Look Givenchy / Top and Trousers Peter Do – Shoes Alexander McQueen
The life of a model is filled with constant travel. Are there times when you just want to be with your loved ones? How do you manage that?
I’ve been travelling the most I ever have in my life recently, and I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t tired. I often feel a want to be with loved ones, and also to just be at home in New York and do absolutely nothing. Hopefully, in December I’ll be able to do so and relax a bit more.
Have you ever encountered challenges within the fashion industry that made you reconsider your career path?
Yes, absolutely. I’ve had some negative comments from people in the industry that had really knocked my confidence in the past and unfortunately made me question if I want to be doing this at all. But working with such wonderful and amazing people, I’ve got my love and desire to continue progressing back.
Did your career as a model and the one as a content creator start and grow simultaneously, or did they follow different paces?
I started modelling long before content creation, and they really started growing at the exact same rate. As my modelling career got better, so did my social media, as then I could create more and more cool content within the fashion industry. They go hand in hand very well.
What sets you apart as a model, and what are your key strengths as a content creator?
What I think sets me apart from others is that I don’t take it all that seriously. Which can have its pros and cons, but I just like to have fun with it and continue to be my normal self.
If you weren’t pursuing modelling and content creation, are there any other interests you’d like to explore professionally?
If I wasn’t modelling or doing social media, then I’d hopefully be an actor as before all of this, I was in drama school. Which is also another thing I’m actually doing right now! I signed with an acting agency in London called Independent group talent around a month ago, and so fingers crossed something is on the horizon.