And let's get to know them more...
American Joe Kloenne is already 40 years old but still models. An article from Madame Figaro entitled "Ellos, los mas bellos" described him as " the symbol of longevity in a world where young people seems the most fundamental thing... " Kloenne is now already in his late 50s.
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Frenchman Albert Delegue was a former ski instructor but from the time he was discovered, there's no magazine where his face is not printed either in Sonia Rykiel, Daniel Hechter, Calvin Klein, Morgan or Armani ads. It's been said that he rejected a millionaire contract with Giorgio Armani.
Shown above are his modeling gigs for Scapa, Giorgio Armani and Blanc. Scans by AngelScans via tFS.
Maximo Morrone is from Argentina. In 1990 he traveled to L.A to study English, Omar (the owner of Omar's Men models) saw him walking on the beach and invited the young Argentinean to be a model. Morrone thought it was joke. Everything changed when Omar introduced Máximo to Steven Meisel. The following week he was doing Valentino and the D&G campaign with Linda Evangelista. In 1991, he did a big Gianni Versace Campaign, photographed by Bruce Weber. He also did the Fall-Winter Gianni Versace campaign 1994 with Richard Avedon.
Morrone is now a photographer, with his own website.
Alain Gossuin is now into the high-end clothing business, with his own brand Gossuin.
"He was a top model at a time when it still meant something and he appeared in 50 advertising films in a row (...). It is easier to count the number of the creators he didn’t work with than it is those he inspired ..."
Eric DAHAN - WAD Magazine
This article was written in 1993 when Kloenne is 40 years old and Delegue is 30 years old. The famed Delegue died in 1995. Johec, the publisher of Male Model.Retro translated the original Spanish article into English.
[ More of these models at Male Model.Retro | Scan sources: AngelScans via tFS and Male Model.Retro]
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Cameron Alborzian, on the other hand, is British-Iranian and said to be a favorite of Karl Lagerfeld. Reports the Persian Mirror:
From playing Madonna’s boy toy in the 1989 video Express Yourself to modeling for hundreds of fashion campaigns, billboards, TV commercials, and covers, this trendsetter spent nearly twenty years in the industry working with the likes of Valentino, Armani, Gucci, and Dolce & Gabbana. Cameron was named model of the year in 1990 and again in 1994. Today, Cameron is on his path to a new beginning. With an uncanny ability to connect to people, Cameron is now helping others with their own personal journeys. His great physique and endless dedication to the healing methods of the East, in particular India, have paid off, and he is becoming a source for Yoga, natural medicine and good health for people around the world.[ read more ]
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Scans featuring Cameron's work for Gianni Versace and 2 chosen editorials, one of which features the unforgetable Tatjana Patitz. Scans by AngelScans via tFS and Male Model.Retro.
The Persian Mirror interview also included some discussion on Cameron's roots and his work as a yoga instructor, thus the name... When asked what are some of the most exciting gigs he did as a model, he said:
Shooting campaigns with Herb Ritts, working with Madonna and Elton John, meeting Nelson Mandela, doing a show for the Oscars as well as with all the other models like Kate Moss or Cindy Crawford has given me a lot of great memories. Each project comes with something new which in reality is what is exciting about any work.
Enrique Palacios is Venezuelan. He was once married(?) to Naomi Campbell. He was discovered by Karin Models in 1995 in his hometown of Caracas. Most notable modeling gig is his 4-year stint as the face of Armani. He also did extensive modeling for Tommy Hilfiger and Dolce and Gabbana.
He remains an Armani spokesmodel, with the latest Armani Code fragrance campaign. His contemporaries include Gabriel Aubry, Jason Shaw, Mark Vanderloo, and Alex Lundqvist.
In the world of fashion, there is Kate Moss and there is Werner Schreyer. Schreyer is German and I'll let his website do the talkin'.
I did interviews with Norbert Michalke (DNA) and Gabriel Hill (WhyNot, Bananas) and Gig D'Aguiar interviewed Atesh Salih for ModelWatch, so if you've read them already, then you know who they are.
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Other names in the running... : I'd love to mention other models too - Larry Scott, Stefan Armbruster, Tony Ward, Paul Sculfor and Gabriel Aubry. And from a different time and age: Tyson Ballou, Ivan de Pineda, Scott Barnhill, Ryan Locke, Axel Hermann, Ryan Burns, Greg Payne [ More of these guys in Part 2]
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Representation: Back then, Boss Models (New York), Ford, LA Models, NEXT, Eye for Eye (Milano) are the agencies that represent the hottest male models. Of course, the guys are not earning as much as the women, a fact that remains true to this day. However, times have changed, while rather slowly and the guys are catching up. But it's still a long way to go... [ The Agencies: Now and Then are discussed in Part 3 ]
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Covers, Campaigns, Editorials: GQ (Gentlemen's Quarterly) is the ultimate in men's fashion way back in the 1980s and 1990s. Of course, the GQ magazine of today is not the same as those published in the above-mentioned periods. [ Magazine Covers, Campaigns and Editorials are discussed in Part 4 ]
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Modelwatching and the Internet: Back in 2001, there are but a few websites that feature male models and the male modeling scene. Today, there are probably hundreds of sites and blogs promoting, buzzing, gossiping male models. To give you an idea, here's a post from Modelizer (dated May 2004):
As complex as the world wide web is, there seems to be a lack of websites, dedicated to the [male] modeling industry, besides ModelLaunch, and Model Max. This site will try to fill that niche, as well as posting rants, about what's happening, in pop culture, and the alternative culture (which seems to influence what will happen, in the mainstream). [ source: Modelizer @blogspot ]
Modelizer stopped after about a year. Modellaunch's interviews (including interviews with Steven Strait, Adam Senn, Peter deVries, among others) are no longer online. Ones2Watch is now afiliated with Models.com.
ModelWatch was in 'suspended animation' for over 4 years and our last article was way back in 2006, in partnership with ModelHommes.
Of course, it would be unfair if I failed to mention MMWExchange, a Yahoo group, which serves as the male modeling world's unofficial chronicler. The man behind this is Pierre Grenier.
Among the new blogs, I love to mention Male Model.Retro. It offers a lot of information, including high-res images of male models from the 1980s and the 1990s, featuring magazine covers, editorials and ad campaigns.
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In Part 2, the guys who should be Top 30 Most Successful Male Models (of all time). We'll also list down our criteria for the ranking. Finally, a look at the biggest scandals involving male models, with explicit photos, of course!
