Model to Watch | Luis Borges Exclusive

Appear­ing in fall 2010 cam­paigns for United Col­ors of Benet­ton, Paul Smith, Tommy Hil­figer and Etro, DNA model Luis Borges expe­ri­ences his break­out sea­son in a sen­sa­tional fash­ion. Twenty-​​two years-​​old and from Por­tu­gal, Luis made a quiet debut on the run­way almost two years ago before get­ting a phone call, where in a humor­ous fash­ion, Luis Smith had been con­firmed for Paul Smith. Surely a mis­take that would not be made today, Luis is not going any­where any­time soon with cam­paigns already lined up for next year. One of the friend­liest tal­ents around, we look for­ward to what the near future holds for this new star.

Luis pho­tographed by Marco Pires with best friend and fel­low model Ana Sofia

How did you become a model?

Luis: It all started when my sis­ter put me up for Elite Model Look in Por­tu­gal with­out me even know­ing it. They called me to go to the casting…I was one of the finalists…but no, I did not win. That’s life. Any­way it is all my sister’s fault ah ah ah.

When did you start mod­el­ing then?

Luis: I started around 18 months ago. But full-​​time, I have only been doing it for the past 12 months.

How has your demand as a model changed in the last year?

Luis: It changed a lot, actu­ally it did not change, every­thing hap­pened in the last year. The shows for great design­ers, four cam­paigns for win­ter 2010, the rank­ing at Models.com…Sometimes I just think to myself it’s all going too fast, but after I just go: No it’s not too fast, it’s great!!!

What was the first fall 2010 cam­paign book­ing you found out about?

Luis: The first cam­paign was Paul Smith, after was Tommy Hil­figer and Benetton.

What was your reaction?

Luis: I remem­ber I was in Paris doing my cast­ings, I had just got off the sub­way, and my booker called me “Ça va Luis Smith?” I told him I was Luis Borges, not Luis Smith, that’s when he told me I had been con­firmed for Paul Smith. I was shout­ing in the mid­dle of the street, after all it was my first cam­paign, I had the right to do it. Thank God I was in a hotel room in Lon­don when I got the con­fir­ma­tion for Tommy, oth­er­wise I would have been arrested.

Most mem­o­rable shoot so far?

Luis: I think it was Tommy Hil­figer because it was shot on loca­tion in Los Ange­les, and all the pro­duc­tion involved. It was a very nice fam­ily reunion: the Hilfigers.

The evening before a run­way show, what is your routine?

Luis: I try to go to bed early, as some­times we have to wake up really early. I have to make sure I will be okay for the job.

Where do you cur­rently live?

Luis: At the moment, I’m in Lis­bon, Por­tu­gal where I was born.

What hair prod­ucts do you use?

Luis: I know it does not look like it, but my hair is really easy to style. I just need to use prod­ucts with ker­atin: sham­poo and mask.

How would you describe your per­sonal sense of style?

Luis: Unique! ah ah ah . It has already hap­pened to me, to be stopped on the street by peo­ple ask­ing me where I bought my boots or even a plain t-​​shirt. I’m happy to know peo­ple like my style and iden­tify with it. I think that is very impor­tant for a model to dress up with his own style.

What is your favorite movie?

Luis: I love My Sister’s Keeper with Cameron Diaz where she plays a mother that bat­tles to save her daughter’s life that is sick with leukemia. It’s very touch­ing. I also love Saw because I love all the “games” they have to go through to prove they deserve to live their life.

What were you doing before modeling?

Luis: I was work­ing at an account­ing office in Castelo Branco, the city where I was liv­ing until I moved back to Lis­bon to start modeling.

Describe your dream vacation.

Luis: Hmm­m­mmm. I just had my dream vaca­tion in Mex­ico. I was there for 2 weeks. I love to visit new coun­tries and cul­tures. But I would say I would love to go to Cape Verde. To meet my roots and meet the peo­ple that are very warm and friendly.

As of today, what is the future look­ing like?

Luis: When my mod­el­ing career ends, I would like to have my own agency. I also intend to take a fash­ion pho­tog­ra­phy course.