BECAUSE ITS main focus is not the catwalk, the local market is more receptive to the unconventional model the dreadlocked male and the petite or full-figured woman.
"Jamaican people like to see people who look like them or who they can look like," says Heather Stewart, a 30-year-old model signed to Miguel Models. Heather has worked consistently with companies like Superclubs and Air Jamaica. This systems analyst at Advanced Digital Services is one example of the unconventional model working in Jamaica today. Her age, which would obviously pose a problem for her in the international market, does not limit her prospects locally. "It is not very difficult for me," she says. "I look young, I don't look like 30."
As a result of her youthful appearance, her appeal is two-fold and has worked in her favour. She can still garner the attention of business people who want to appeal to the youth, as well as those who want to appeal to the more mature individuals who desire to look young.
YOUTHFUL APPEARANCE
Heather got into modelling when most international models are on their way out at age 27. Despite her youthfulness, a successful 30-year-old model is an extreme rarity on the international scene where most models start in their early teens. According to Stewart, the unconventional model can find success locally but their success depends on the agency with which they are signed. "It depends on what you want out of it [modelling], it depends on the agency, some are not focused on the local market," she says.
Indeed, while most international agencies and their local counterparts require that their models look a particular way, tall (over 5'8') and very thin, agencies that cater to the local market may take models under 5'6' in height, and over 130 pounds. Champs Model Management is one such local agency. According to Debbie Ann Stanley, CEO of Champs, the focus of her agency is not on 'exporting models', and as such, she uses models who are representative of the Jamaican and Caribbean people. Stanley says her female models can be 'mawga, but healthy mawga' and not as rail-thin as those who model internationally.
Champs is also credited for making popular the phenomena of the muscular male model on the local fashion scene. Stanley admits though that the 'buff' male model is not such a rarity since the most popular male supermodel is muscular Tyson Beckford. She says Champs model Horace Walker is the number one male model in Jamaica, and this is partly due to his sex appeal. Women like to look at 'buff' men, claims Stanley. Champs has also attempted to yet again set another fashion trend as it is the only agency in Jamaica that currently has a full-figured model her name Kemeka Thomas.
Twenty three-year-old Kemeka weighs 195 pounds and is 5'9' tall but she says that she is doing well as a model locally. She says she does three or four shows per month during summer and Christmas when fashion is in full swing. Yet it has not always been like this for her. When Kemeka got started in modelling three years ago, many people did not take her seriously.
FULL-FIGURED MODELS
"I wasn't getting any jobs, they were not 'digging' full-figured models," she says. Kemeka says she went on numerous auditions and did not get chosen, "but after a time when they saw how persistent and confident I was I started getting work, since then I have gotten all the auditions I've gone to." Kemeka has since done work for Bigga and Lotto Pick 3, and has appeared on the runways of many fashion shows including, the bridal show for Beautiful Brides. Another of Champs' models, 20-year-old Kerry Lewis, is one unconventional model who is currently enjoying a lot of success locally. Kerry is only 5'5" in height and a mere 110 pounds. yet this petite model has done more work locally than can be said of most other conventional models. Lewis has modelled for Wray and Nephew, appearing on their calendar; Caribrake; Sashi in 2001, and Bigga. She has appeared in KFC's 'Scratch and Win' promotion, in music videos by 112 and Super Cat, Foxy Brown and Beenie Man and in a Jerry Springer series yet to be aired.
Daniel Brown, son of the late 'Crown Prince' of reggae, Dennis Brown, got into modelling to showcase himself and to gain recognition as a singer. His dreadlocks, he says, did not pose a problem for him getting into the industry. He says that Micheal Barnett, CEO of the Miguel Model Agency, understood his focus as a model. "I do cultural shows" he says. As a result of his focus, Brown capitalised on a niche in the fashion industry locally, which is what many unconventional models and their agencies have done and continue to do in order to ensure their success.
