Derek Castle, A Fashion Model and a Traveler Following His Dreams
Meet Derek Castle, a 21 years old young fashion model from Argentina, working hard to earn a living. Dreamer by nature, he spends the most of his time travelling. He enjoys learning about other cultural traditions. When he was barely 17 years old, he moved from Argentina to India out of pure love. Currently, he stays in India and does modeling. He is raising his three brothers for their betterment of life. When asked why did he leave Argentina, Derek says,
“It wasn’t easy, when I was in Argentina doing modeling the market wasn’t good for us, the models. Still is not good because you don’t get paid enough to live doing what you love”
Pursuing modeling was never in his books, Derek mentioned. But when he got into the world of fashion, he fell in love with it and decide not to quit. However, he would love to complete his studies as a psychologist. Apart from modeling he is a fitness enthusiast and a sportsperson.
“I am a personal trainer so I train myself in very different ways, If I start writing my routine I’ll take decades to finish it I like to workout, I am pretty good at sports because I’ve been training since I was 3 years old. I got my black belt degree in Tae kwon do when I was 16″
As mentioned above, Derek is currently based in India, when asked what he loves the most about the country, he told that he loves the hospitality of the people.
“The people, It’s always about the people, they got a humble heart that is always open to everyone.”
When asked why did he chose India to do modeling and how different is it from Argentina, Derek said that almost everything is different. The models are given recognition and respect from society. He chose India because he feels that that country never stops growing. He extremely admires the will of people to work.
Derek has been in the industry for almost 4 years now. These 4 years have given him immense experience and made him strong. Sharing his career goals, he says,
“My goals? Having fun doing what I love, and helping to the people from different countries to discover a way into modeling.”
Derek fashion style is not at all inspired by anyone. He loves todress up according to his mood. Explaing how his mood decides his outfit, he says,
“If I am in a good mood I usually wear white clothes and if I’m in a bad mood I usually wear black clothes. I believe that the way you dress should describe yourself so that’s my way to communicate how I feel through my outfit.”
According to Derek, stereotypes are there in the fashion industry. One will find it everywhere in the world, not only in the fashion industry. He feels that modeling should be open to everyone because modeling is not about being beautiful, it is about your attitude and how you deal with your environment. Elaborating further, she says,
” I didn’t face any stereotype I have a huge respect for myself so I never let anyone tell me what I should be or how I should be. A good models know what to do to become a better model, nobody should judge you because of your body or appearance. Don’t let them!”
Sometimes the modeling industry gets a bad rap with the jealousy and egos encountered between other models and agencies. On asking Derek about the same, he replied that it is true. And feels that every individual might have faced such complication with the agencies or with models. Adding more, Derek says,
“The market is strict and you have to know how to adjust yourself to it. Learn how to deal with your ego and how to deal with the ego of the company you are working with. Some agencies at India gets possessive with their models, they think we are numbers, or just pretty faces that should work for them. If you are model and you are reading this, remember that you don’t work for anybody but yourself. You work with the agency, not for them.”
In the end, Derek shared what change he would like to bring to the world. He said,
“In a world where everything is imperfect, I would like to give everyone the opportunity of tasting what is being a model, without stereotypes, without judgements, without barriers.”
Also Read: “Fashion Is All About Multimedia”, Fashion Model, Milena Panic`
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