Shot by Ryan Croxton – Fashion Editor Asier Rodriguez – Model Momo Ndiayen at SUPA – Grooming by Seunghee Yoo – Casting Director Isadora Banaudi – Interview by Barbara Maestri // Total Look John Lawrence Sullivan – Shoes Eytys
What was your very first job as a model? What were your feelings towards it?
My first job as a model was a show with Martine Rose. I wasn’t signed with any agency back then. I felt very nervous at first, but I really enjoyed it and decided to do more.
Do you like your name? Is it linked to a particular person before you or does it have another origin?
My name is Mouhamed Ndiaye. But please call me Momo, people use to call me like this. It’s easier to say it and like it more.
A smell that reminds you of home.
The subtle smell of the Senegalese thiouraye is probably what I miss the most about my home country. It is the typical smell that you could perceive from inside the womb.
What’s your dream for the future?
My biggest dream is related to my family. I wish them to obtain everything they need whenever they need it.
If you had to decide, would you choose to change your past or control your future?
I would like to control my future because the past is the past and there’s nothing we can do to restore it. Instead, the future can be controlled by our will.
Total Look Dunhill – Shoes COS // Total Look Jil Sander
Is there a movie, or a book, that marked your life in some way?
“The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. This book gave me a paradigm shift, a new way of looking at myself and conceiving the world around me. Thanks to it I started practicing new positive mental behaviours.
Right now, what point in your career do you think you’ve reached?
I think that my career has just begun and I still have a lot to see and learn. I’m happy with I am happy with the direction it is taking.
Do you have a secret diary where you put down your thoughts?
No, I don’t have a secret diary but I do have a sort of to do list in which I order all my stuff and tasks, pointing out priorities.
Who’s the first person you call when you get good or bad news?
That person would be my mum. I always speak on the phone with her especially when I’m traveling somewhere alone.
Would you ever go bungee jumping?
I’d love to try out bungee jumping and skydiving. But at the same time, I’m quite scared so I’m not sure if I’ll ever give it a shot.
Total Look Fendi // Total Look Our Legacy – Shoes Eytys
Do you like gardening? Are you any good at it?
I love gardening during summer! It’s an enjoyable activity to pass time. Well, I assure you I’m very good at it.
Are you superstitious? Do you have any rituals before a fashion show?
No, I’m not superstitious and I don’t practice any rituals before or after the show. I believe that good things and bad ones are just meant to happen and they will occur with or without any mystery action.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Regifting. It is something I think many people do, but few of them admit it. It fits the true meaning of “guilty pleasure”. It’s so fun to take that lame gift and pass it on to someone else. There’s no need to feel a sense of guilt because the person who receives a second-hand gift will probably give it away too!
Are you a messy or super organised guy?
I’m a very organised guy but sometimes, when I feel lazy, I get very messy.
Tell me the happiest memory from your childhood.
Getting more money than expected from visiting relatives. I still wonder what the meaning of that gift was, since in the end we gave everything to our parents. And I remember falling asleep anywhere in the house and waking up on my bed. Priceless!
If you found Aladdin’s lamp, what would you ask for?
I) Let the genie free.
II) Give myself unlimited amounts of money to gain vast resources and to recruit the world’s smartest minds to advise me in how to use my powers wisely. With all these skills I would enrich the world, so as to maximize everyone’s quality of life, without forfeiting things like knowledge, and freedom.
Total Look John Lawrence Sullivan – Shoes Eytys // Total Look Jil Sander