interview

Name:
Silvia Arenas (@silvia__arenas)

Pronouns:
she/her

Agency:
Mouna Models (Amsterdam)

Age:
34

Height:
5’11.5

Place of Origin:
Barcelona, Spain

Ethnic Origin:
Catalan

Birthsign:
Sagittarius

Did you always want to be a model? Tell us about how you were discovered.
As a kid, I always wanted to be a ballet dancer, but the path organically shifted to modeling when I was 16 years old. I kept studying, and it was never my full-time job, and for all these years, it was all about rejections, disappointments, and dealing with a lot of frustration. Before giving up, I decided to give it one last chance, and luckily I signed with my current mother agency, and well, you could call it “being in the right time at the right place.” I’ll be forever grateful to them for giving me the opportunity and for seeing my potential at my age.

Most memorable modeling experience so far?
To be honest, everything so far this year has been memorable! I can definitely feel the Fire Horse energy. Going all the way from Shanghai to Paris and having my debut with Chanel Haute Couture… Come on! A moment I had been waiting all my life to happen… being in the atelier at Rue Cambon, walking through the Tuileries, the show at the Grand Palais, my friends doing watch parties back home… those days felt like being in a movie.

One song you have on repeat, and why?
Pneuma by TOOL. The album came out the year I moved to the Netherlands, and I remember listening to it on loop for days. Almost seven years later, I still can’t get enough of it.

What other passions do you have aside from modeling?
Photography. I spend a lot of time behind the camera as well. My practice spans from documenting art exhibitions, going to artists’ studios to register their processes, portraying them, to capturing what and who surrounds me in my everyday life.

What is something you’ve always wanted to do/try?
When possible, I would love to adopt a greyhound. Or two.

What’s one thing people may be surprised to find out about you?
That I don’t have a driver’s license! But I love washing cars. Every time we stop at a gas station with my partner, while he refuels, I have to take that grimy squeegee thing and clean all the windows.

What change would you like to see in the world?
I would like to see a world where no one is disposable, where we dismantle systems that profit from war, exploitation, and domination, and we replace them with care, justice, and collective liberation for all beings.