We sat down to talk with Andrés about his life and career at our offices this past spring. He is intelligent in a quiet, confident and refined way. He was a superb athlete in his early twenties and readily admits he's nearly obsessed with soccer. He also has a wonderful ease about him, a kind of economy that makes no effort to impress — not attitude, far from it. He just genuinely seems more interested in communicating on a real level. And I found a courtliness in him too, a touch of elegance that seems fitting for a boy who grew up dreaming dreams in a castle in Spain.

Your home town sounds quite beautiful, Andrés.

Andrés: Yes, it really is beautiful, a little town with old medieval forts right on the Mediterranean. In the summer it grows to about 20,000 or 30,000 people but usually there are only about 4000.

Do you know anything about your roots? Is there any Andalusian blood in your veins or some other regional ancestry?

Andalusian, yes. My father is from the center of the country near Madrid, but my mother is from Andalucia.

What defines the Andalusian people?

It is said that above all Spaniards they truly know how to enjoy life, and that family roots are very important.

How many in your own family?

My mother died two years ago, so now we are five — my father, myself and two sisters. I'm the oldest child.

The tattoo above Andrés' heart, "Lucia", is dedicated to his mother's memory.

What was life like growing up for you. What was school like?

Well, it was typical for a little boy in a little town. My father has a restaurant in a castle, an old castle from the fourteenth century. It's quite amazing and jammed in the summers. As children we went to school in the winter and helped at the restaurant during the summers. I know what it is to work hard and how difficult it is to make money. So I can truly say I'm happy right now, when earning money is a lot easier for a change.

You know the difference ...

Exactly.

Were there a lot of tourists coming through the restaurant in the summer?

A lot. My father had clients coming from all over Europe and so I was meeting new people all the time. And when I was little I always wanted to meet new people, to talk to them and practice my Italian or French.

Like your father perhaps — he must enjoy people to own a restaurant.

Yes, also. People like him a lot. Many clients come back every year, some for fifteen years now. They always come back to see him, to visit and to eat the food.

Twelve seems to have been an important age for you. You started working in the restaurant that year and studying French in school. What else were you doing at that age? Did you play any sports?

Soccer!! Everyone in Spain plays soccer! If there are twenty boys in a school, nineteen are guaranteed to be playing soccer. So this was one of the most important things in my life.

Really?

Yes. I was always thinking about playing soccer and school was always secondary.

Who's your team?

Barcelona, of course. We're doing great this year.

What appealed to you about soccer?

Wow! I don't know. Probably because it's already in our roots, you know? Playing soccer professionally is every Spanish boy's dream. I don't think anyone made it from my school, but it's every boy's dream, especially when you're still eight, nine, ten, you still have that dream. After fourteen or fifteen, OK, you know it's not going to happen. But when you're young ...

 Aside from sports, what else did you do? Music? Theater?

I didn't like music that much. I was much more into sports and hanging around with my friends — I really didn't like school. Until I turned fourteen or fifteen and I learned about going out with girls.

But I should add that I loved to paint at that age. I loved it. Not anymore, but when I was a child I was always painting pictures. I had a very active imagination, I was always playing in the street and imagining things. I remember myself like that — having a nice life, daydreaming, and playacting. The castle was great for that.

So then you're fifteen, and you start dating girls. Did you think of yourself as good-looking?

Ever since I was little people were always saying "oh, he's such a beautiful boy." I remember going around with my mom, and all the people would say how good-looking I was. The thing that made her mad was they always said I took after my father, not her. He was very dark and my mother had blue eyes and blond hair. (laughs) But yes, as a child, people always said that.

Did you think so?

When I was younger? Yes. Because people always said that. My aunts, everyone in the family, every time I went out with my mother shopping ...

Usually it's the opposite.

Well, I'm speaking of when I was a boy. After I became a teenager, then your voice changes, your body changes and everyone looks at you like you're weird. That was a different story. But I was speaking of when I was a child. My father always made me stand outside in front of the restaurant to greet clients. I didn't always like it because they would kiss me hello and they seemed so foreign, but they were kind and brought me presents, so I didn't really mind.

You were like the mascot ...

(laughs) Precisely.

It sounds to me like you were very happy. You had a nice life as a boy in this beautiful little town. People liked you, you had good friends, you were good at sports. So you had a good life, especially for a boy.

Yes, definitely. It gave me a nice base, a foundation for the future.

What did you do after you graduated from high school?

I was nineteen and I wanted to play soccer professionally. There is a university program for this, but it requires one year of mandatory preparation. So I spent the year playing soccer for my city, something that made me very proud, and studying for entrance exams. You need to do well on both to be accepted, and things were going pretty well. Then during a game my ankle was broken.

God!...

...it was a major point in my life...

...literally a breakpoint?

Yes, a breakpoint in my life and it completely changed my dreams.

What happened?

There was a big rivalry with the other team and things had gotten a little rough. I was running down the pitch with the ball full-stride, (gets up to demonstrate) and just as I was going for a goal kick a player slammed sideways straight into my left ankle with both feet. It broke two bones and tore the ligament, so I needed major reconstruction.

It sounds terribly painful.

It was.

How long did it take to recover?

A year — six months of reconstruction followed by seven more months of therapy. I still have the pin in my ankle.

So all of a sudden everything comes to a stop. Your dreams of becoming a soccer player are shattered. Instead of literally racing towards your future, you're trapped immobile in a hospital bed, recuperating. Literally stuck. You must have been depressed.

Well, yes. And I didn't want to waste any more time. So I decided to take an easier route and study tourism.

That moment of giving up on your dream, though, especially at that young age, must have been difficult.

Maybe it was more about me realizing soccer wasn't my real dream, that instead something had happened for a reason, and maybe I should listen to what it was telling me. So I just thought 'OK, let's do tourism for now, and see where it leads.' And that's what I did. It made sense because of my father's restaurant and because my sister was already studying at that university.

So now you're twenty. How did the whole modeling thing come about. What was the first thing that happened?

Well, I was in Barcelona when I broke my ankle and it was my mother that suggested I go to a modeling agency. She thought I should try it. She was always trying to get me to try out for Mr. Spain or things like that, even though I always told her no. I didn't want to be a "Mr." anything. But she was always asking me about it, and my sisters too.

So quietly one day I went to see this tiny agency next to my school, just to check it out. But the guy there told me I had an amazing potential and encouraged me to go to Group instead, which is one of the big agencies in Spain. He really encouraged me.

I'm surprised they didn't try to get their hooks in you first.

I think he was getting ready to quit. He told me that Group was one of the best and really encouraged me to go see them.

When he told you that you had real potential, what did you think?

I didn't believe it. In fact, I was living with three friends at the time and when I told them what he said none of them believed me. They were like: "Oh come on man, you can't be serious!" (laughs)

So was modeling like a chance at a new kind of dream for you?

Yes, absolutely. When I talked to that small agency it seemed almost ridiculous to me that I could be a model. But almost as soon as I walked into Group, the big agency, that dream became true. Everything happened really fast. I remember when I walked in and first spoke to the booker, he just looked up at me and said "Wow!"

I thought to myself 'Is he talking about me?'

And everyone was so nervous. That was the first time I thought to myself there might be something in this whole modeling thing for me.

You could tell?

I could tell. They were all kind of nervous and looking at me, and the owner of the agency immediately came out and escorted me around the office to show me everything. Now maybe they do that for everyone that walks in, I don't know. But it seemed unusual to me.

They made you feel special.

That's it. They made me feel special from the very beginning.

That's amazing, to get that kind of reaction just walking in the door. How tall are you?

6'4".

What?

6'4".

Are you really?

(laughs) Yes. They put something a bit shorter on the card, and I don't look that big when I try clothes on, so it works.

But that's amazing, Andrés. That's really big.

Yes, for the industry it is.

It's like Marcus.

Marcus is 6' 3-1/2" isn't he? We are quite the same — he's a big one too.

Yes, he has the same kind of physique. With height like that you guys can carry it. What was the first thing you did professionally?

A hair show. It wasn't really a show. We just went there and they colored my hair blond. But it was the first casting I went to and they took me so I was happy. I think I booked the very first two castings I went to. And after that they said to me, 'Look, you're working now and you've got to take this seriously and get to the gym." I was quite big then, almost 200 pounds. Now I weigh about 186 or so and I'm a little bit more lean.

Why are you with Q Models?

Because they are one of the first agencies to give me a chance.

They believed in you?

They believed in me. And because they believed in me I have faith in them. It's one of the best agencies to start a career with.

I remember when we interviewed Natalie (Kates, Head booker at Q Men) and she told us about discovering you. She said she was on vacation at the time and was trying to tell you how unusual you are, but she couldn't speak Spanish and you didn't speak English. She said you thought she was this crazy lady from America.

(laughs) I thought something like that, yes. I was a student then. She kept asking me about pictures and I kept shrugging and throwing my hands in the air... The only things I knew how to say in English were 'hello', and 'how are you?' Things like that.

You were just finishing university then, weren't you?

Yes, finishing up that year. And at that time my mind was changing about things and I wanted to travel a bit.

Did you have any idea about what she wanted?

Natalie found someone that spoke Spanish and they helped explain that she liked my look and wanted me to come to America. One of the bookers at Group told me to go, but the other one said I should do Milano and Paris first. And that's what I did. But not until a year later because I'd already decided to travel for a while.

Andrés traveled for months, wandering through Asia and other countries, living very simply before coming to New York to work with Q Models.

Did you have any idea about what you were supposed to do when you first got in front of the camera?

I always was asking. Asking, asking, asking ...

I guess part of the difficulty for new models is that every photographer is different ...

Completely different.

How do you figure out what they want?

At the beginning I was a little more shy. But now I'm quite comfortable. I usually talk to the photographer before the shoot. I ask what we're shooting about, what kind of approach he's trying for. There has to be some communication. The kind of photographer that goes and shoots and doesn't say anything to you? That's the worst. But eventually you start to know how to move, how to work and what the photographer wants after some experience.

Would you talk about some of the photographers you've worked with?

I first started shooting with the really great photographers here in New York. I did an editorial with Matt Albioni that was great, we were laughing a lot, and that shoot led to the Banana Republic campaign with Michael Thompson a few years ago. That was my first big campaign here in the U.S. I love those pictures.

Why?

Because they are such nice pictures, on the beach and really fresh.

Do you see yourself in a different way when you look at these images?

Sometimes, but not always. Those photographs for Banana Republic? That was me. Sitting on the beach, wet hair, tan, laughing, relaxed ...

That's you at home?

That's me just as I am in my home town.

Is Banana Republic the campaign that launched your career in the States?

Yes. After that campaign, I really started to understand how it all works. And when I went to castings they already knew me. Calvin Klein was like: "Oh! So, you're the Banana Republic guy."

It makes a difference to how they receive you?

Exactly. And I worked continuously after that. Then a year later I was in Valencia shooting nine pages in French Vogue with Inez.

That was extraordinary.

It's the first time for a guy. Always they're doing this for the girls.

Do you know what inspired Inez?

Well, I think she wanted to do something different. And not just because it was a guy, but a masculine-looking man. Up until then you had more androgynous guys, smaller guys.

That's right, because you were one of the first truly hirsute models, with lots of chest and body hair showing. That was brand new.

Also they were beautiful pictures. I think they're the best pictures I have. I think this is what really made me. And the pictures that Inez shot probably can also be me — when I'm waking up in the bed, kind of tousled. Sometimes they make me look more strong or rough — that's not me. (laughs)

Then, after working with Inez I shot with Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot for the Louis Vuitton campaign. Now that was really cool, because the campaign was with Jennifer Lopez.

What was Karl Lagerfeld like to work with?

Like a nice dream. I first shot a test with him and afterward he gave me this beautiful, mounted print of the image. It was such a generous thing for him to do. Then we shot the story for Numero based on Corto Maltese. Did you see that picture? I look sort of like a pirate. Corto Maltese was a very popular French cartoon character, a sailor who traveled the world with the French navy.

What was Lagerfeld like as a person?

I think he is a very, very intelligent guy. And weird in a very creative way. But a very nice person with me.

Was he easy to talk to?

With him, yes. I don't mean you start cracking jokes, but he was so nice. He talks very fast, mixing French, German and English. And with Inez I was very comfortable. She was talking to me all morning about Holland, Amsterdam, about family ...

Is that important? The relationship with the photographer, in order to make something memorable?

I think so. Yes.

How did you like shooting with Matthias Vriens?

I shot with Matthias Vriens for Japanese Vogue. I didn't have the same opportunity to talk with him because there were six or seven other guys there. But they were nice pictures and I think he's a great photographer.

It's amazing how quickly these fashion images are created. As an outsider, you imagine it might take a week to get everyone there, to prepare sets and lights and clothes and models and makeup and plan out all the shots. But sometimes it's done in a couple of days or even an afternoon isn't it?

Yes. You arrive at the location, they style you and then you shoot. Like that. Even on larger productions, there are big, big teams working all morning so that when you arrive things are already set up. When the photographer arrives, he may look at a few things and adjust them, but otherwise he just starts shooting. By the time that Steven Meisel arrived, for instance, the models are already in place and lit.

What do you think you're actually doing when you model? Is it just physical — just posing?

No.

So what is it?

That's what it seems to be. And for many people, it is only this. But if that's all you've got, it will be a relatively short career.

So you're saying that there has to be some intelligence behind it?

Quite a lot, I think. Not like a mathematician, but you have to have something going on.

So when you're in front of a camera, what is it that you're actually doing?

Smiling! (At this point Andrés breaks out a big, goofy, cheesy smile and cracks us both up.) Seriously, I'm trying to like doing what the photographer and the client want me to do. Trying to give them what they want.

But what's going on inside? I've had models explain modeling to me so many different ways and I'm always interested to know what you're thinking about — or not.

I'm thinking about what I'm doing. Sometimes when they're doing a lot of hair and a lot of makeup or taking a lot of Polaroids, after a while you begin to wonder what you're doing there. You wonder if you're wasting your life, how you're just a prop that people are moving around all over the place. You start to feel like a squirrel, you know? Those thoughts all occur to you while you're waiting around.

But when the photographer explains the setup to you, you've got to get the job done. You've got to be there in the moment and do it. And whether they want to do something smiling, or something more acting or they want to do something serious, focus on it. And that's what I'm doing, I'm focusing on what I'm doing. I'm trying to do a good job.

One model told me that for him modeling was all in the eyes, about what you project with your eyes. What do you think?

Well, that's a lot of it, but it's a lot of things. It can be in the eyes, but for me it's more having everything all at once. Because you can have the eyes right but if you're arm is over here (we both laugh as he makes a ridiculous gesture) you're not going to make the shot. So I think it's all of one feeling, what you're doing.

For instance, you see here, how I hold this glass? I'm trying to hold it like a gentleman, elegantly. I'm folding my body up a bit, crossing my legs. It's like acting in this way too. It's why so many models become actors.

What about you?

I don't think so. Not for the moment, no. But who knows. If there's an opportunity of course one should try it, why not? But it's not my priority, at all.

What are the things that interest you? This must have opened up some opportunities for you. What do you want to pursue in the future?

Well, right now it's to keep focused on modeling. And probably go back to Spain and start a business. That's always been the idea in the back of my mind. And I've met someone in Spain recently — my girlfriend.

Do you do many shows?

Not many.

Because of your size?

Yes, although last season in Milano I did five shows in the winter. And in Paris I did four.

Even in Paris? They say that's the hardest city for big guys.

Yes that's true, but the campaigns were already out and my book was great right then, and some of them just took me because I was "that guy" I think. I don't know if it will happen the same this year. I'm going to try anyway. I've got to try. But it's quite hard. You do a lot of work for five shows.

How many castings did you go to in order to book those five shows in Milan?

I went non-stop from early in the morning until seven at night every day for seven days straight.

Does getting the campaign guarantee you the show?

You never know. I've done campaigns and never booked the shows, and booked shows and never done the campaign. My friend just booked the Versace campaign and he didn't get their shows. I did the Louis Vuitton campaign, but I couldn't do the show because the clothes were too small. It's kind of crazy.

But there's no money in the shows, is there?

No money.

So why are they so important?

For exposure. If you book good shows a lot of important people will see you. And not just the people who see the show but the production team. All the stylists, photographers, production people — they work all the time on other campaigns and jobs. So if they see you and like you they can recommend you for other jobs.

 Of all the things you've done, what's the most fun?

So many things. Traveling, going to Tanzania for six days to shoot a spread for a Spanish magazine. That was an amazing experience. All the traveling is crazy, you know? All that you learn in one year. I thought I knew a lot, but the more you travel the more you learn.

Do you like that?

I like to learn about new things, but it's tiring too. Sometimes you don't want to learn anything more new, you just want the comfort of familiar things. (laughs)

What is the worst thing about modeling?

The worst part is that you are always spending so much of your own money on meals, hotels, taxis, tips, flights, cards, etc. And maybe a little bit the way they treat us.

Are you talking about how mean they are at the castings?

In the show castings they can be mean, but that's understandable because they have so many models to see. But sometimes in the shoots too. Usually the whole shoot is about the girl, so you are like nothing. Or they think that you are stupid or that they can do whatever they want because you're being paid to be there. Once you get experience you learn how to react professionally.

For instance on this one job, they gave me these tiny clothes — way too small for me. I'm a size 50 and it says so right on my card. So I looked ridiculous when I came out dressed in the clothes and they all started screaming at me "Oh my God, you're so huge, you're so huge, you brute, you look like the Hulk!" I told them that the fault was with the size of clothes they provided, that my size is right on my card, but they kept yelling how horrible and huge I was, all of them, blaming me for the problem. Basically, when you start out you eat a lot of that kind of shit. All the guys go through it.

Andrés, as you know, this interview is for ModelLaunch, the first website dedicated to the men's industry...

Finally! It's so clear you believe in what you're doing. And even though you are starting something way before others, there is a big men's industry and it should be taken seriously. So I'm very proud to be part of it. I hope this trend continues, because male models also deserve the chance to be known.

Last September Elle Magazine gave me an award in Spain for Best Male Model. It was the first time ever that they gave this award to a man. And I say again, 'Finally!' Because they take so seriously the girls in Spain, and often they have done very little internationally

We believe the guys deserve equal recognition and equal pay for fronting a multi-billion dollar industry.

Sometimes we don't earn a quarter of what the girls make for the same job. But women spend a lot more money on fashion, too. Something like ten times more. Men? We don't. Look at us! (laughs pointing out that we're both wearing jeans and T-shirts.)

But no matter, male models should get more attention. Maybe it was because it was all so new back then, but I think in the 80s and 90s male models were more like stars. Afterwards, the men were totally forgotten. Maybe part of that was the models were no longer real men the way the were back in the 80s. Fashion changed, and men's image changed. Before it was very masculine men in the industry, with real arms and muscle. But when that changed they forgot about us. I wish it was like that now, because I'd like to make that kind of money. (laughs)

That's right, Marcus made real money.

Marcus, Mark Vanderloo, Jason — they all made real money. Right now, you've got to work for less. They come with campaigns and sometimes it's like: "are you kidding me? that's all they're paying?" But you can't say no. Whereas for the girls, they're flying first class and they get three to four times more money. That's just the way it works.

Still, I make good money and my friends would laugh if they ever thought I complained. So it's a little ridiculous, but sometimes you wish you could make a little bit less and stay more in one place.

Sitting at the top as you do now, Andrés, what's your advice to that new guy just starting out.

There was this new guy in Milan last season. He's called Jon (Kortajarena) — a Spanish guy, 18. And when I saw him in Milano I said to him 'Listen, you're going to do great. Go to New York." And just now I heard he was booked for the Versace campaign and shot Just Cavalli too. I'm not sure if you saw that photograph? That guy really has something. But you never know what will happen because this business is absolutely crazy. (laughs)

From Modellaunch.com