Modeling was something grade 7 student Michelle A. dreamed about from a very young age. Growing up around fashion because of her mother’s work as a designer, she stepped onto the runway at just 8 years old and quickly found herself drawn to the excitement of shows, photoshoots, and competitions. At just 13 years old, she has been walking runways, starring in ads, and competing in fashion shows for years, experiences that have taught her confidence, resilience and how to stay true to herself.
What follows is Michelle’s story with professional modeling, in her own words:
I started when I was, I think, 8 years old, and I just found it really interesting, so I continued doing it. My mom is a fashion designer and I really wanted to follow in her steps, even though I don’t think I’m that good at fashion designing, I really found it interesting (modeling her clothes) so I just continued doing it.
She never forced me to do anything, but I just liked doing it, so I continued doing what I liked, and my mom was really supportive about it. She really makes sure I’m happy with what I’m doing, and if I’m not, she’s never going to force me to do it, and she just encourages me a lot. My friends are also really supportive about it, and they say that you’re a model, so you’re really pretty and things like that, so they’re really supportive about it.
I was, I think, 10 when I had my first modelling experience, and it was for Metro. I was in an ad, and we were supposed to just kind of act and present the things, and it was really fun and interesting. My favorite modeling experience was probably when I won first place out of 300 people at Loski fashion week on May 14 2023, because I felt really proud of myself, and it was really hard to win since I was in the young categories and there were many older people that were much more experienced than I was.Â
I felt kind of shy at first, and I remember my first time wasn’t that good, but as I did it more times, it got way better. I just started being more confident as I did it more times, because when I was younger, I wasn’t so confident. Yes, I get nervous, but the nervousness has gone down since I did it more times. I think the first time I actually went to a big competition and fashion show, I got so nervous that I started crying. Sometimes people make fun of me, but I just don’t take it personally, I ignore it. I just think to myself that I’m going to do amazing, and that I shouldn’t think about what other people think about me. [The biggest thing I have learned from modeling so far is] to not care about what people think about you.
Modelling feels like a rainbow, because there’s a lot of different experiences going on, which can be fun, scary and challenging.
Interesting article, thank you for sharing!