Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine July 2017 | Page 543
I started modelling back home in St.
Maarten but not as a real job, just
to express myself and to showcase
my clothing. When I came to the
UK, I was signed by a few agencies
in London who helped me to find
modeling jobs. My modelling came
about as a way for me to boost my
self-esteem as I really struggled
with my physical image growing up.
I was teased a lot and made fun of
and simply was never considered
attractive. I never needed that
assurance from anyone and figured
if I can feel good in my own skin that
it personally never matters what
other people thought of me or how
I look. I was told I can never be a
model because am not tall enough
or my striking features such as my
“Bambi” eyes and “Giraffe” neck will
never cut it.
Maybe indeed it would have been
this way a few years back but now
the fashion industry has opened
its doors and expanded diversity in
the way models look. We now see
more plus size models and models
with autoimmune conditions that
set them apart from every other
model such as vitiligo, albinism, and
alopecia universalis.