Andrea

Who:
Andrea Lourdes del Aguila Mendoza (@andreaa_dam) — 172 cm / 5’8″ — Mexican (Huichol/Mexican) from Guadalajara, Mexico — born August 29th — she/her.

Where:
MMRUNWAY (Guadalajara – mother agency)

— One thing people may be surprised to find out about you:
I am a scientific illustrator. I have an Instagram account with all the plants and flowers I usually draw.

— An issue or cause you are passionate about:
I feel really passionate about the land – ecosystem in my region. I am always trying to create content about protecting the land and the traditions. The care of the endemic natural and plant systems, water, and the ecosystem. It’s really important to me, so I am very focused on this now.

— What are three interesting facts about you?
1. I have a great auditive memory, which means that I can recognize people, places, or situations just by listening. I am a foley artist, and I have my own studio.
2. I am really good at walking in nature, and I never feel tired; it energizes me a lot, actually. So, I really love to be outside, drawing plants and bugs.
3. I have a really flexible voice, so I can recreate other people’s voices, lol. I would like to be the voice of a children’s movie or something like that.

Aneken

Who:
Aneken Zaldivar (@anekween) — 175 cm / 5’9″ — Mexican from Mexico City, Mexico — born April 27th — she/her.

Where:
In The Park Management (Mexico City – mother agency), DNA Models (New York), Ford Models Paris, Fabbrica Milano Management, Storm Management (London)

— What’s the last thing you Googled?
“Why Harry Potter throws the Resurrection Stone?”

— What are three interesting facts about you?
1. I love climbing mountains and volcanoes, going uphill for 10 hours straight…that’s the most perfect feeling for me.
2. My favorite kind of music is hard techno, haha. I can listen to Nico Moreno while I eat breakfast in peace, or just chilling.
3. I love Africa, especially African animals. Since I was 8, I’ve been watching documentaries about the wildlife there. I could go on a safari and mostly recognize all of the animals that live there (even the rare ones).

— What is something people may be surprised to find out about you?
I learned how to read tarot, LOL. I’ve always had a good intuition!

Maya

Who:
Maya Velasquez (@maya.c.v) — 172 cm / 5’8″ — American (Wayuu/Venezuelan/English/German/Mexican/American) from Los Angeles, California, USA — born September 28th — she/her.

Where:
VISION Los Angeles (mother agency)

— What is something people may be surprised to find out about you?
I think the thing that people are most frequently surprised by is that I speak Spanish fluently. I mean, I understand, at first glance, that I most definitely do not look like someone who would have the ability to just switch to speaking perfect Spanish, but I actually can!

— What weird or useless talent do you have?
I actually would not say that it’s a useless one because I have come in handy many a time, but it is weird: I can remove a bottle cap with my teeth. So basically, I am a bottle opener with legs because whenever the opportunity presents itself, I am always called over to pry open the bottle cap with my teeth, although I am almost positive it’s quite bad for your teeth.

— What is an issue or cause that you are passionate about?
An issue that I am passionate about is women’s rights, specifically here in America. Having two moms and two step-moms, I have found myself, more times than I can count, knee-deep in conversations regarding the gender bias here in America. In the past decade we have seen a large decline in the rights of women. Beginning where women, still to this day, make 78 cents for every dollar that is earned by a man, to watching Roe V. Wade and women’s reproductive rights be completely overturned by nothing less or more than old white men, the gender bias here in America continues to be a huge obstacle for many women and now girls. These problems go beyond what I have listed, but all of these issues reflect the ongoing societal struggle that women face in order to achieve full gender equality despite the positive progression America claims to be making.

Michael

Who:
Michael Poulin Piotrovsky (@michael.piotrovsky) — 186 cm / 6’1″ — Canadian (Ojibwa/Russian/Canadian) from Sudbury, Canada — born July 11th — he/him.

Where:
Next Canada (Toronto – mother agency), Next New York, Next Paris, Next Milan, Next London, Platinum Management (Seoul)

— Tell us about your hometown.
Although I wasn’t born in Sudbury, it’s my hometown. I was raised there and still currently live there. The best thing about Sudbury is how in tune with nature it is. Whether it is freezing in the winter or hot in the summer, everyone loves to embrace what Mother Earth offers. Honestly, the worst thing about Sudbury is how few other opportunities there are – it’s quite far and isolated. That being said, I’m forever grateful I have this opportunity to travel as a model and see more of what the world offers.

— How did you become a model?
Even though I had been scouted multiple times as a teenager, I didn’t really pursue it until I finally got scouted again when I was 20 years old. It truly opened my eyes and reshaped my self-esteem, as I had struggled with many things in the past. Like in my previous answer – it was a far-fetched opportunity for being from somewhere like Sudbury. My mother agency is based in Toronto, which is a pretty long drive, to be honest! I still give gratitude to those who discovered me a few years back every day.

— Who is someone you admire and why?
My mother! I know I’m not the first person to think of their mother as the person they admire, as she is my rock. Nobody has supported my choices like her, and she only encourages me to continue chasing what and who I want to be. I was even doubtful of becoming a model in the past – but not her. Nobody else will give me the advice, love, or cheer that my mother does every day. I am me because of her; she’s my biggest influence.

Oscar

Who:
Oscar Davila Morales (@gueroojo22) — 186 cm / 6’1″ — Mexican (Cora/Mexican) from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico — born June 22nd — he/him.

Where:
MMRUNWAY (Guadalajara – mother agency)

— The most interesting thing about your family:
In my family, there are at least five people with heterochromia, so it’s really weird to have this condition. Also, the ones who don’t have it in the eyes have silver hair, like Storm from X-Men.

— Who is someone you admire and why?
I really admire my father. I still believe in him; he never surrenders and has strong confidence even when struggling with really bad economic situations. He always has a good face and ideas to keep fighting and trying.

— What are three interesting facts about you?
1. I have one blue eye and one brown eye, so my nickname is “Guerojo,” which means “blondieye”, hahaha.
2. I live closer to a big canyon in Guadalajara, and I love to walk with my pitbull in the early morning and be in touch with nature. I am a real nature lover.
3. I work at a job in ceramic fabric, and we do a lot of art stuff, which is pretty cool.

Shiraz

Who:
Shiraz Bhatti (@shazzy_razzy) — 187 cm / 6’1.5″ — American/Pakistani (Anishinaabe/Punjabi) from West Bend, Wisconsin, USA — born March 14th — he/him.

Where:
VISION Los Angeles (mother agency), Soul Artist Management (New York), Elite Paris, Elite Milan, Elite Copenhagen

— Who is your favorite entertainer?
Noodin Niimewin is a woodland powwow dancer. I love the regalia that he makes and love how he tells a story through dance.

— What’s a story your family/friends like to tell about you?
I once had a local garage rock band play at our warehouse, and 300 people came. The show got a little out of hand, to say the least. The floors were bouncing because of all the people jumping around, moshing, and crowd surfing to the music. Ten cops came to shut it down. They took me into their car and gave me a $10,000 ticket. I thought my life was over; I didn’t know how I was going to pay off the ticket. My friends started a “Free Shiraz” campaign before the court date to help get the word out and raise money. I went to court representing myself, and by some stroke of luck, the violation was dismissed.

— Who is someone you admire and why?
My grandpa. He was taken from his family by the government and missionaries to a residential school to “kill the Indian, save the man” for 12 years, hundreds of miles away from his family. He lost his language through the residential school system but became fluent again as an elder and is due a lot of credit for the Ojibwe language conservation movement that we are seeing today. Through all of that abuse and trauma, he still passed on his culture and was proud of who he was as he got older.