_Celebrating Jamie Strachan

I really like working for Calvin Klein, Versace, Gucci, and Helmut Lang... It's nice to see familiar faces in a fairly lonely business. Photo courtesy of Select Model Management.

Updates! Jamie on Boyd, new male models on the scene, Art, runway shows, and his favorite place in the Big Apple, stay tuned for the update!

PLUS, you will soon be able to personally send Jamie your messages! He'll have his own MW email account here for all who wishes to talk to him- coming up this 3rd week of August 2005!

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Fresh from the runways of Milan and Paris, Jamie Strachan still exhibits the same energetic, boyishly-appealing, extremely personable and friendly bloke he has been known for.

Regarded as one of the hottest male models on the runways, Strachan also made a name for himself when he modeled for Gucci, Nicole Fahri, Dries Van Noten, the twin stints for Hugo Boss (both the Orange and Black labels), Versus, Burberry, and Kenzo. Going back to the runways, Strachan can be seen strutting his stuff at almost every point of the fashion spectrum- from Ralph Lauren to Gucci, from Versace to Calvin Klein... Back in London, Modelwatch caught up with Jamie and with the assistance and support from Select Men's Maxine Henshilwood, we were able to talk with Strachan and got a glimpse of the man, the model, fashion's ultimate boy-next-door in this exclusive interview.

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Jed: For having seen it all- Milan, Paris, NYC, of course London, how would you assess each of these fashion capitals in terms of your career as a model?

	Updates! Jamie Strachan's background in the Arts has helped him lessen the boredom models usually have to endure during some of modeling's 'dull' moments. With his ability to draw, he's working with his friend, Boyd Holbrook to do some illustrations to Boyd's upcoming book of Poetry. Shown here are some samples of Jamie's sketches! 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Jamie: I have now stayed in all these cities quite allot. I am in fact Kind of living in New York at the moment. But it is hard to say I live anywhere with work going as well as it is.

Milan is a small place, with a very beautiful center, which is surrounded by a very industrial exterior. Although I have been to Milan many times, I don't actually know much about it, as the only times I have ever been there, it has been for work. And the only places you see when you are working are the inside of Fashion companies' show rooms and offices. But the atmosphere there makes me feel very relaxed. The people are cool and have always been inviting.

I used to live in Paris when I was a kid. From around the age of 14. I lived there for a year, full time with my parents and then I went to school in the south of England. Meanwhile my parents still lived in Paris, so most school holidays were spent there. Paris is Paris. It is the most beautiful city I have been to. The art galleries there are some of the best in the world. Which I still go to often, even though I am no longer actively studying art. But I still love art, and still draw and paint as much as I can.

When I am not living in New York, I am living in London. London is cool. Allot of my friends live there and more of them are coming after they finish university. Which will probably make me like London more. But right now I am kind of bored with it. I lived there for 3 years, pretty much, full time and I think I have got from it what I needed for now. But coming back for holidays are always good, and I always have fun.

Jamie Strachan At Ralph Lauren. Photo taken from first view.

New York for me is the centre of everything I am interested in right now. There is a serious amount of live rock music, which I love. There are many good galleries and museums also. I have made allot of friends there who are up for working on projects with me. It is always easier and more motivating when you two minds working for the same goal.

Actually Boyd (who I think is on your web site) and I have been working on some short films together and I did some illustrations for a book of poetry he wrote.

As far as modeling goes in any of these cities, it is the same in all of them. You do shoots and shows and they are mostly fun. But they all happen so fast they kind of roll in to one.

Jed: You just happen to be one of the more experienced catwalker. Do you still get the jitters before a show, any show? Which among the designers did you got the most enjoyment and satisfaction? Any particular favorites?

Jamie: I've never really got nervous before a show. Not Sure why? I did slightly for my first ever show, and when I opened the Gucci show. But apart from that not really.

I got nervous before the Gucci show, because I had been working with Tom Ford and his design team through the whole design process. So I got to see how much it meant to so many people. You know how first impressions are the most important. Also it was actually pitch black when I first walked out and I had to kinda guess where the middle of the runway was.

I really like working for Calvin Klien, Versace, Gucci, and Helmut Lang, because I have got to know everyone at these companies and they are cool people, who are easy to work with. It's nice to see familiar faces in a fairly lonely business.