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Interview
by Edo Q © 2011 CoverMen
Mag!
February, 2011
-Hello
Doug, I'm really flattered you accepted to be interviewed
for my online mag, to start this interview off,
please give me some background information
Thanks
for asking me to be interviewed Edo. I grew up in Asheboro,
North Carolina which is a small city located in
the middle of the state. I'm a middle child with
an older sister (33) and a younger brother (24)
and my parents are still happily married. I have lived
in NYC for almost 10 years and also spent a couple
of years in Los Angeles in my early twenties. I'm 27
now.
-What do you remember from your school
days? What was your favorite subject?
I started
modeling when I was a junior in high school. I was very
active with sports and my studies in school and will
always remember and be thankful for how the faculty
supported the beginning of my career. I suppose my favorite
subject in high school was Latin 1-4 because the
teacher's personality and the curriculum that we learned.
My favorite subject in college was definitely Philosophy
even though I didn't choose that as my major.
-Who
discovered you and convinced you to become a model and
how old were you at the time?
In the spring
of 2001, I was 17 and my sister persuaded me to take
her place in a modeling convention that was taking place
in the nearby city of Charlotte, NC. The convention
was called "Manhattan Model Search".
I ended up going and won the "contest". The
contest consisted of being in front of various model
scouts for talent agencies in New York and Los Angeles.
They then voted on their top picks for who would succeed
in the industry and made sort of non-committal promises
to sign the model. I found this out three weeks later
when I came up to NYC and visited all of the agencies
that had instructed me to come up to NYC and meet the
agents. I went through the list of 11 agencies and they
all told me that I was too tall, too young, too baby
faced,etc. When I was leaving the last agency on the
list, which happened to be Boss Models an agent came
running out of the door. He introduced himself
as Calvin French and said that he was starting a new
division and would love to sign me. My dad and him worked
out the contract with the agency and then we agreed
that I would come up for the summer to see clients for
the first time.
-How did you get your
first modeling job and what was it like?
I
arrived in NYC two days after I finished my junior year
in early June. My first casting/go-see was for
Ralph Lauren. I went and met the head stylist at the
time Ben Eskridge and he immediately booked me
on a Ralph women's job happening the next day in East
Hampton, Long Island. I was a background model to the
contract girl at the time, Lonneke Engel. The photographer
was Reagan Cameron. It was a great experience and the
crew really took care of me in light of knowing that
this was my first job in modeling. It was pretty
-How
do you prepare yourself for a photography session? How
do you usually spend the day before it?
I
try to treat my body well the day before a shoot. This
includes eating healthy, not drinking alcohol except
for red wine perhaps, and most likely heading to the
gym or going for a run. I take care of myself
now a lot better than I did when I was first starting
out. When you are new in the business, you can get away
with a lot more things than you can when the client
knows that you are an experienced model.
-On
the fashion industry: who are the people that you really
loved to work with?
I have had the opportunity
to work with some amazing personalities and talents
over my 10 years of modeling. First off, I would have
to thank my agent Jason Kanner of Soul Models. He has
been so instrumental in the path that my career has
taken and I cannot thank him enough for his efforts
and business acumen. Among photographers, I would
say my most memorable experiences were with Arnaldo
Anaya-Luca, Bruce Weber, Matt Albiani, Richard Phibbs,
Peter Lindbergh, and Cedric Buchet. Among designers,
I would have to say Ralph Lauren and Louis Vuitton.
I just worked for LV and had an amazing experience shooting
the 2011 spring campaign in Malaysia. The company and
staff of Ralph Lauren, and specifically Polo, has always
treated me with the highest level of respect and has
remained loyal to me during the past ten years. For
this I would have to say that they have made the most
definitive impact on the shape of my career and also
my ability to remain in this business for so long.
-Your
career is obviously a very good one, what do you think
made you so successful as a male model as opposed
to the other good-looking guys?
Thanks for
the compliment Edo. I suppose modeling is a lot like
other professions where "timing and chance"
play important factors in where you end up in
your respective career. I was lucky and fortunate enough
to have met the team at Ralph Lauren when they were
looking for a fresh new face and were also scouting
for a new fragrance, which ended up being Polo Blue.
If I would have decided to start modeling a year later,
then I am sure my career and overall experience would
have most likely turned out differently. Modeling is
different for everyone but networking and staying "active"
in the business is an important component to keeping
you relevant to casting directors and clients alike.
The two biggest assets to a healthy modeling career
are the ability to travel the world with expenses paid
by the client and the endless opportunities to meet
interesting and successful people in and around the
fashion industry. The networking possibilities can steer
one to their life's passion or can merely serve
as a wonderful way to inspire individuals to levels
they never thought they would achieve.
-Who
is your favorite female model?
My love
and partner for five years, Deidre Nesteruk of One Models.
-What
are some of your personal interests? What do you like
to do in your free time if you have any?
My
personal interests vary wildly. I am running my first
marathon in Boston this April so I am training for that
as of now. If I am not training, then I stay active
by playing basketball at the Reebok Club in NYC, snowboarding
with friends in Vermont, cycling through central park
and up the west side, and running with my dog, Hudson.
I love reading novels and non-fiction alike and
have started writing occasionally in the past two years.
My real passion is in innovation. Over the past three
years, I have concentrated a lot of my free time to
aiding in the development of a couple of start-ups that
I have chosen to be involved in. This is exciting for
me because of the endless possibilities and the networking
that the start-up community represents.
-Thanks
Doug for taking your time to answer my questions, it
has been a gift to me and my readers!
Thank
you Edo.
-Douglas Pickett.
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