With the recent televised airing of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, people have supermodels on their mind, but few know that freshman Kendel Malcolm is an aspiring supermodel herself. She lives in New York during the summer and frequently travels the country during the school year to pursue a career in modeling.
Malcolm’s career sparked when Kellé Dance Company came to her at a dance competition and asked her to model for their catalogue. “The dance catalogue had me on the cover of one of their advertisements and ever since then people have been asking me to model for their agencies,” said Malcolm.
The 15-year-old lived with her mother in New York City for a month constantly working and meeting with multiple agencies who were interested in her. “For every agency, I would give them my book of pictures, walk for them, and they would usually ask me personal questions. They would tell me that day if I got the job or not,” said Malcolm.
Malcolm currently works with three different modeling agencies that are very well-known in New York: Innovative Artists, Felton Group, and Ford. “One of my favorite shoots was working with the Felton Group because the photographer blasted Jamaican music and I got to just dance and be myself,” said Malcolm.
Malcolm is required to travel to a variety of different cities like Boston, Chicago, and Miami in order to work with designers and participate in runway shows. “I’ve always done runway shows in Boston and Chicago where I model really fancy dresses you see in magazines,” said Malcolm.
Although Malcolm is pretty independent when it comes to her modeling career, her parents have been a source of constant support throughout her successes. So far, her biggest achievement has been her photo shoot with the Felton Group, where they took beauty shots and sent the pictures to many other modeling agencies.
Malcolm hopes to continue modeling in the future, with her ultimate goal being to model for Italian Vogue, a fashion magazine. “I’m hoping to get more offers as I get older and I really want to work in Italy with their Vogue magazine,” said Malcolm.
