By Glenda Anderson, Staff Reporter
DEIWIGHT PETERS leans over his balcony, a huge grin on his narrow, boyish face his big eyes shining a welcome. The afternoon sun at his back, he has the casual look of a college student on semester break white, worn, ribbed T-shirt; pocketless, spray-painted jeans, shredded at both knees; and leather sandals.
However, only minutes before he had been chatting up a storm on his telephone with his overseas contacts, directing the movements of one his top models in Los Angeles, California, while holding court inside his tiny two-bedroom apartment at Dunrobin Court, St. Andrew, with a small group of young models.
He leads us inside the office of Saint International (he is the chief executive officer) which has been creating a buzz on the local modelling scene since its entrance five years ago. A thin yellow/brown carpet takes us into a small bedroom which has a double window of wooden louvre blades; a low bare dresser, frame studded with photographs; and a simple bed set off to the right and partially covered with books, notepaper, and magazines.
On the wall above his workstation there are plans, notes and lists and a computer sitting atop the desk is framed with stick it notes and contact cards. In one corner of the room there is a box of CDs, at the other end a plastic container with stuff - paperwork mainly
complete his executive office.
This is the seat of his empire.
His only staff is assistant Kristol Jackson.
A PASSION FOR FASHION
The plainness of his office and his simple style of dressing may not show it but Peters has a passion for fashion and has introduced scores of young Jamaicans to the glitzy world of modelling in fashion capitals Miami, New York, Paris, London, Madrid around the world. He is the man responsible for launching the career of Nakiesha Robinson, a former Tarrant Comprehensive High School (Kingston) student widely touted as the next Naomi Campbell and two of Jamaica's most successful male models, Colet Buckley and Kibwe McGann.
Perching on his dresser, one leg crossed over the other, Peters talks about his blunt, sometimes caustic comments to those with stars in their eyes. The lanky, thirty-something-year-old makes no apologies.
"What's cruel in telling the truth?" he responds to a question about his scathing criticism of model rejects during last summer's televised CVM Faces of Summer model search competition.
Confident in his ability to pluck out leggy schoolgirls with 'the look' from a crowd and transform bushy-headed teenage boys into self-assured young men who can hold their own in a demanding industry, Peters sees his approach as being practical.
Born and raised in the small cane farming community of Water Lane, Clarendon, he's not afraid to go against the grain. Being the older of two boys, a member of the first Glenmuir High School team to win the national debating competition, and a cultural director for Irvine Hall where he lived while attending the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, he has been prepped to step into the unknown.
DOMINATED
Therefore, comments that the local modelling scene was already dominated by the competition before he, a virtual unknown, showed up, bring an incredulous laugh and comments like, "Was it? Really?"
Still, he only backed into the fashion industry after losing his job as senior marketing officer with Workers Bank (1998) after the financial sector meltdown of the 1990s. After the axe, he paid full attention to his earlier moonlighting stint as artiste manager to the cabaret group PIANO.
"After the meltdown I was really looking for a job. I had just bought my apartment so I had that to think about. I had three really good final offers but at the last minute (in one case) someone called to say that they had given the position to someone else.
"That inspired me. I remember coming into this very room the same day and that's when I wrote the plan for Fashion Faces of the Caribbean."
Before mapping out his plan, he worked on several local productions, including the James Bond film festival, and events for SuperClubs' Grande Lido Braco which were to put him in good stead.
"What a lot of people didn't know is that I did a lot of research. It involved travelling to various countries, shows, talent conventions, getting to understand the industry, and really the model management thing happened quite by chance," he says.
His management studies degree (major in international marketing and business strategy) was also useful but it was his contact with industry ace Rodney Harris in 1999 that proved invaluable in accessing some of the senior players in the fashion business. Harris (now director of new faces at Elite Atlanta a modelling agency became his mentor, helping him to understand the business of scouting and imaging and
putting him in contact with some of the best names in photography and fashion styling.
Directed by the vision of presenting stunning images of his Jamaican models to the international market, success was almost instantaneous. Early successes include Janine Henry and Cloe Luton, who were the first Saint models to leave Jamaica directly for the South African market.
In 2000, a record 17 Saint models were signed to agencies in South Africa, London, New York, and Miami.
A LOT OF HARD WORK
How tough was it to break into the Jamaican market, especially with the idea of a male model?
"It wasn't hard getting started. It just involved a lot of networking and getting to understand all the elements of managing a model which was not followed here in Jamaica.
"I had to establish a formula. I remember after my first batch and after I was told what exactly was involved I got the models to do very good portfolios and started developing the eye for the look. I think that has been the crux of our success. Also, every market I go to I try to
educate myself on what the agencies are looking for."
The agency's signature has been tall models (average height of 5' 8" for females and 6' for males) with an intriguing face.
"The models have to be
outgoing, with a basic amount of intelligence, they must be adaptable, and have an understanding of the realities of the market."
The 'market' also defines his rugged schedule. "I'm married to the business. I wake up at 5:00 or 6:00, and I'm on the phone with work because of the time difference (in other parts of the world). Sometimes (I'm at it) until I go to bed at 11:00 or 12:00.
"On a typical day, for example, I would have to organise between New York and Los Angeles, coordinating to make sure that my model's copy book gets to Milan, Italy. I'm often trying to track it all the way. I'm coordinating with embassies to get the relevant visitor's visas for the models. Then I have to make appointments to see their agents (overseas), then casting may also be taking place."
All of his money goes into the business, he says. "Every cent."
Still there is hope of a healthy other life.
"I definitely intend to marry, definitely intend to go back to school, but right now I'm focused on taking Saint to the level where I want it to be."
The next level is the launch of a television division that will involve fashion TV "before the end of the year."
He's also at the contract stage for a reality fashion series along the lines of the popular U.S. reality show Survivor. Called Model Mansion: The Search for Jamaica's Premier Fashion Model, it's set to begin airing in January. The show will follow the activities of 18 male and female contestants as they compete for an invitation to live in a 'mansion' and earn a prizes such as international trips, photo shoots with renowned photographers, model contracts and high profile appearances.
More about DEIWIGHT
Music: 'I love music all types but especially new age Karl Jenkins (Adiemus) is a favourite. I play a lot of that for the shows. Nothing to me like the visuals, the creative side, the styling, the fashion.'
Clothing style: Although he regularly sports cleancut short sleeved open shirts, often under corduroy vests, (a reflection of his simple yet offbeat style), he says his dress is usually to suit the occasion.
"If it's going to be about clubbing, I like edgy chic sophisticated, casual meet rock kinda look."
Still, his wardrobe also boasts pieces from France's finest designers, including Nino Cerruti, Pierre Henri Matout and Emmanuel Ungaro.
Parents: Sonia and Kenton Peters
Brother: Peter-Ray
Peter's favourite fruit: Orange
Favourite juice: Passion fruit
Favourite meal: Stewed peas with cornmeal spinners
Motivation: The challenge of breaking hot new Jamaican faces on the international scene.
SAINT SUCCESSES
The first Jamaican/Caribbean agency to sign 18 models
internationally in one year to agencies in four fashion markets spanning three continents North America (Miami, New York); Europe (London); and Africa (Johannesburg, South Africa).
A member of the prestigious American Modelling and Talent Convention one of the world's biggest and most prestigious model's conference. Two Saint models took the first and third places in 2000 in the runway competition from a field of nearly 700 contestants, and second and third place in the photography competition. They were judged by leading model agencies from around the world.
