Full Frontal

This week, Model Musing would be giving full frontal if the website wasn't G-rated. I took the liberty of posting the actual picture which Samuel de Cubber was talking about, here in my blog. He is really proud of it and I didn't want to keep any of you from seeing why.

Follow the link for the original interview on Look Books or read below.

Model Musing: Samuel de Cubber

Nudity in the modeling industry has always been a big topic for discussion, but for Samuel de Cubber, it is nothing but his proudest moment. His big career break came in the form of a campaign for an Yves Saint Laurent fragrance, in which he was asked to pose wearing nothing but fragrance. 

Samuel knows the ins and outs of the modeling career and believes it’s a blessed one; “If you are a very successful male model you work three to four times a week at the most, so there’s plenty of time to enjoy life!” says de Cubber.

The top male model, who has traveled the world shooting with some of the most beautiful girls in paradisiac locations now takes from all the experience and networking he gathered through the years  and is applying it to another end of the industry.  Today Samuel works as a model scout for one of France’s leading modeling agencies, New Madison. Looking ahead, Samuel contemplates the possibility of working in the health and fitness industry: “I want to open up gyms, promoting boxing and Taekwondo as the best way to lead a healthy and happy life.” - And if he continues to take advantage of his body like he did in his modeling career, we don’t see any reason why his gyms wouldn’t be packed.

Once you were discovered, did you have support from your family?

I didn't need anyone’ s approval or support, growing up in Marseille you take every opportunity  you get to improve your life.

Was modeling a dream for you or did it just happened by chance?

I had no idea  guys could be models, I got lucky. 

What have you learned from your career that you consider truly valuable?

I learned that I am my own business, therefore I became the greatest sales person ever! (laughs) In that respect I am the product and this not only can be applied to modeling but also to my every day life. I have also  learned a great deal about myself, I  learned to recognize my good and bad sides, and that ability, I owe to the modeling business.

What advice would you give to aspiring models?

Don’t believe everything people say, learn to listen and make your own opinion, be patient and organized  and also, save money when you are lucky enough to make some!

Do you love fashion?

Not really, I wear T-shirts and jeans all the time, nothing else. 

What was your biggest challenge as a model? 

Not much of a challenge there, I always get very upset when I hear models complaining about their job; no one is forcing them to do this and if they had any other job in their life before modeling they would realize how easy they got it compared to anyone else.  

Why do you love that fragrance campaign?

Because I’m naked on it, and there’s nothing better than being naked (laughs)! No, seriously, it profoundly changed my life, I don't know of many pictures that were able to change someone’s life so much, I had no idea what I was stepping into when I took that job. 

Who took it? Were you excited to work with that photographer?

Solve Sundsbo took it, but I had no idea who he was.

Who else was in the crew?

From what I recall it was Tom Ford , Solve and his assistants, Sam McKnight and Thomas Lenthal on the set. 

What direction did the photographer give you?

Solve is really cool, we spoke a lot the day before the shoot and he showed me pictures of Greek statues and similar references, so once we were on the shoot we just went with the flow and tried a few different things, until Tom, Solve and Thomas where happy with it. 

What was it for?

The fragrance M7 by Yves Saint Laurent.

Model Designer

Last week I sat for a talk with Inga Savits, an accomplished model who recently started her own shoe brand out of Milan. Her love affair with designing for fashion dates from long before her modeling years and it's interesting to see how she took advantage of her work as a model to pursue her dream of becoming a shoe designer; and a great one too.

Already in her third collection, Inga's designs have been spotted in red carpets across the globe and in collaborations with emerging french designer Alexis Mabille.

Have a look at the full article here or read below.

Model Designer: Inga Savits

After a successful career in front of the camera, some models open up night clubs and restaurants, others launch their own fragrances and skincare lines and many of them work in collaboration with large brands to launch fashion collections with their names attached to it. When it comes to Inga Savits however, it goes the other way around.

At the age of 19, Inga was attending fashion school in Estonia, her home country, when she was approached by a model scout while shopping. Puzzled by the idea of having an opportunity to see how fashion was done from behind the scenes, the student took that chance and went to Paris. Inga’s first job was with Mr. Yves Saint Laurent, in 1998. Inga spent a few days with Mr. Saint Laurent in his atelier, hair coiffed and red lipstick on, while he worked on his collection. “My eyes were open to see how he was making his dresses, what kind of accessories he was pairing with them, pretty much everything!”. After walking YSL’s famous catwalk, Inga was thrown into the arms of the fashion industry, which embraced and still holds her dearly.

During the time spent as a model in Milan, Inga met the shoe designer Brian Atwood, who then lived there. In observing his passion for shoes, Inga realized that shoe making was what she wanted to pursue in fashion. With more than a decade of experience as a model, it was time to dive into her long time passion and for that, she moved permanently to the Italian city. She was delighted to be closer to the shoe factories she worked closely with as well as old friends who constantly inspire her to create her own namesake line, Inga Savits.

Still unsure of whether she should go back to school to study the craft of shoemaking or not, Inga took some time to research the industry. “I went to a friend of mine who works at Versace and asked his opinion. He said I had the best teachers in the world, from Mr. Yves Saint Laurent to Galliano and Donatella Versace, teachers that most students would never have a chance to meet in their lives. In his opinion I was better off with the experience I had gathered as a model. He said if I went to school for shoe design I would not allow my creativity to take flight and could be restrained by the practicalities.”

Inga’s designs are a reflection of her years on and off of the catwalk, and are inspired by her life. The main goal is to create designs that are stylish and feminine without having to compromise in comfort and versatility. “Unfortunately in fashion when you say comfortable people think about medical shoes, or ugly shoes, and my goal is to show that it is possible to create very feminine shoes that can be comfortable at the same time. I had to learn to walk in very uncomfortable shoes, so now I want to make the type of shoe you can feel good about and wear anywhere at any time of day, I don’t want women to be fashion victims when I can combine both things.” explains the designer.

Production costs may be a little steep, but Italy is where she brings her designs to life; her goal is to really establish her brand at the top, so she only works with the best factories. Entirely self-funded, Savits explains that her business is the size it was meant to be, her goal with her brand from the start was to begin small and build up from there.

Already in her third season, scheduled to debut during the September shows in Paris, the designer has gathered great compliments from her peers and has even managed to secure a collaboration between her brand and the emerging French designer Alexis Mabille for whom she is also developing a second collection for his show.

Knowing exactly what she wants for her brand, and when asked if she would ever consider going into clothing, the answer is immediate and firm: “No! I could maybe do some bags, but not clothes. I recently started looking at some bags and was really interested in them, it would be a good complement to my collection, but at the moment I am really focused in expanding my shoe collections and establishing my brand in the market.”

Inga Savits is available for sale in New York at Patron of the New in Tribeca and on line at Feminin Rascal.

You can follow the designer on twitter at @IngaSavits  and check out her website at www.ingasavits.com