Campsite Media.

Hey everyone, it's Vanessa Grigoriatis.

Thank you for sticking around to hear Model Wars, the podcast from iHeart Podcasts and Campside Media.

This episode, we're speaking with Omer Alboretto.

He's that exuberant guy who went from model to agent and then went from hustling with Paul Fisher at the Lynd Agency to becoming one of the most influential figures in the entire modeling industry.

I was very fortunate I've to opening Omar's Man.

Within like eight months, the Los Angeles Times approached me and they wrote this incredible artile about Omar's Men, saying Omar says goodbye to the Kendall image and introduces us to a new realism in male models.

So yes, I'm the guy who started that.

The inclusivity, the diversity, which is very predominant today in today's world.

Everyone speaks of diversity and inclusivity.

It was always I've been doing this forever in my life.

Umar's vision for a new type of model didn't come easily.

I recall many times castings when the clients will say no black models.

It was so often, and it was so many.

Especially like department stores, department stores, because you know, we had catalog those days.

But some campaigns as well, some advertising jobs that will say no model, no black models, or when they cast and they say, oh, we're looking for a black model.

So it was never like a model, like a black model.

So some change was desperately needed.

Remember when I moved to Los Angeles, I called every male model a chuck.

Iybody looks like their name is Chuck and they're like a quarterback.

Everybody looks like a quarterback with six pack and brown hair and green eyes.

And I didn't go well with that.

Because I don't play football.

I don't.

It's like they all look alike to me.

And Omer is the kind of guy who can almost will change to happen.

When Klin said to me, no black people, no black models, I still went ahead and send black guys.

Oh my god, I did that.

I will say, you know what, I'm gonna send in this guy because I know they're gonna vibe.

So the guy might be Philippine, no Asian, Turkish, Russian, whatever, but I knew he would vibe with the photographer and then the photographer would go to bat for the guy.

I know this is why I want.

Omar also has one hell of a life story.

It's one of those life influences, art influences, commerce style of stories.

If you need someone to break the mold in the modeling agency, who's better than a dark skinned Panamanian who speaks Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Italian who left his home country to live and to party in New York and Los Angeles, Milan and a bunch of other places.

And as you might remember from earlier in the series, it all started in exactly the place you would have thought it would have started, Studio fifty four, where Omar was discovered as a model.

But before he could get to Studio fifty four, Omar had to find his way to New York.

I grew up in a neighborhood called Villa Casserees in Panama City, Panama, very very fortunate.

My mother worked at the.

Canal Zone, so my mother was earning an American salary in what was then a third World country.

So I can't say that I come from humble beginnings because I don't went to private schools, drivers I always had a housekeeper.

I was a swimmer.

I swam for the national team.

I became pro at twelve years old, I knew nothing of fashion, entertainment, music, none of that.

I was from the pool to school, to school to the pool.

My mother, as a gift, gave me a ticket to go to Disney World in Orlando, and when I arrived to Miami, I was kind of freaked out.

I had a big afro then, and.

I heard that in America, if you had an afro, they'll arrescue.

So my entire time on the plane, I kept pushing it down.

But when I got to South Beach I didn't.

It was weird.

It was like we had a layover and it was a lot of like old people playing dominos on the streets.

I'm like, what is this place?

And I'm a Latin guy who said to me, like, where are you going.

I'm like, well, I'm going to this New World tomorrow.

He's like, I'm going to the World.

We used to call in Latin America New.

York the World.

So he said, I'm going to the World tomorrow.

I'm like, man, I want to go to the World.

He goes, yeah, I'm going to take a bus tomorrow morning.

So I asked for my ticket.

I called my brother and in New York City.

My brother was already living in New York and I told him I was coming to New York and he said, let me get your ticket.

And I said, now, I'm going to take a bus with this guy.

He's cool.

We're going to just travel, you know, up to New York and I get to see some of the United States and got off the plane or walked through Times Square.

Never saw anything like that.

Whoa like the other day from Times Square?

Was Times Square, not not the thing that's oh now.

I mean Times Square was like the It was like the bottom of the ghetto.

I mean it was exciting because it was like you bumping into people.

You got drug dealers paying puzzle hookers.

It was crazy.

I never saw anything like that.

I'm just staring at everyone.

And funny enough, I saw a line at a movie theater my brother was while they standing online.

I never saw that in my life, to go to a movie theater.

He's like, oh, it's a doubleheader too, kind of like iconic films Superfly and Saturday Night Theater.

I like, I want to.

Check them out.

So I haven't even been in America for two days and I'm already watching Tony Manero and superply.

So I was doom from the jump and I watched these two movies and.

Went back to my brother.

We lived in Brooklyn, right across the street from the Brooklyn Museum from Prospect Park, and it was very, very cheat that neighborhood then.

I don't know what it looks like now, but it was super super chic and my brother did extremely well.

My brother was president of Io Insurance Services offices on Wall Street.

He told me he's going to put me in school so he could get facilitate my papers to stay.

So do you want to stay?

I'm like, yeah, I want to stay.

And now is when fate intervenes for Omar, although he also helped fade along with a pair of Italian designer jeans, we.

Went to the city.

We got dressed nicely.

My brother gave me money to buy something nice and about a pair of Ferucci jeans, and we went to see the play.

And when we left the theater, we kind of looked to our right and it was Times Square.

Looked to our left in the Central Park, we saw a lot of limousines coming out of fifty fourth Streets.

We're like, what's going on?

We never saw that many limousines in our life.

We're like, let's go buy and see what's happening.

And as we got closer, we saw the big on in fifty four and Ricardo looks at me.

He said, Pete, that's the place we saw in the news a few days ago with famous people go.

So we were walking through the crowd and Steve Rubel, famous owner of Studio fifty four.

He used to stand on top of a fire hydrant picking people, got the velvet rope and stop staring at me.

You're not getting in.

He was so rude to people.

And he goes those two right there and I'm like me, say, you're coming.

Are you staying?

I'm like, we're coming, and he gave us two tickets.

We're like, oh my god.

I never saw people like that in my life.

The first thing were on the left.

I'm staring at that whole table.

I couldn't get my eyes off them because I'm staring at Diana Breeland, I'm staring at Houston.

I'm looking at Andy, you know, Andy Warhol, you know this little guy with crazy looking hair.

And I couldn't.

Get my eyes off Jean Michellekis because I'm like, they let that guy.

In he looked like a bump.

He's like, guy got paint everywhere and a hoodie and.

And we're like, what the heck is this place in.

Houston with a cigarette holder talking to Diana Breelan.

And and we stayed.

We had like eight dollars among ourselves.

We split it.

We bought one drink, two glasses.

When we finished it was water and ice and you know, try to fit in.

You know, I love women.

But that night we kept staring at this one black guy because there weren't that many black guys in there many black people in there at the town.

Out of like twelve hundred people, it was probably like fuck thirty twenty thirty.

And I'm staring at this black guy in the middle of the dance floor.

I never saw anything like that.

He was like six four six pack, no shirt on, white fur coats, skin tight leather jacket, pointed counter of cowboy with a big Ulzi Paratti belt, and he's twirling these two women and it's like, I mean, one is Liza, one is beyond Copley.

I don't know who these women are.

And he's torn it.

Then he throws.

The coat, takes it off and throws it to the side and the buck we look at guy Jeff Musquiz picks it up and takes it to the table.

I was born that day.

That's the day I was born, the Omar before Sach, sweet little shy kid.

I walked in that place and I saw a world that was like.

What more about Omar's story?

After the break?

So Omar found his calling on the dance floor at Studio fifty four.

That's something his brother, who remembers the president of an insurance company, can surely understand.

My brother, actually, my brother did one of the greatest and worst things ever happened to me.

I remember coming home one day and he said, pack your stuff.

I'm like, okay.

I never asked questions, but my brother was tough.

Packed my stuff.

He drove to Queens Village.

We dropped me off in this gorgeous apartment and I dropped my luggage upstairs.

He went in his pocket.

He took three hundred and fifty dollars out.

He said, this is for you.

What are we doing?

He said, this is your apartment.

What you mean is my apartment?

He said, yeah, this is your apartment.

It's time for you to fence for yourself.

And I'm like, wow, I'm bawling.

Now I got three hundred and fifty bucks.

I got an apartment.

Oh, let the fun begin?

And it Yeah, the fun began indeed.

But a month later I went home one night and put the key in and turned the light on and there's no electricity.

And turned this and there's no gas.

There's nothing.

I'm going, what's going on?

So I go downstairs to the landlord and I say, hey, you guys got electricity?

Show?

Yeah, well I don't.

Nothing is working.

Go where have you paid your bill?

Like?

What's that?

Like?

Have you paid?

Do you check your mail?

I'm like, where is.

My mel She goes that box is yours?

And it was like stack like this, you know electric bill?

This?

Oh?

What do I do?

Pay it?

Not any money?

I'm and parting my ass off.

So I call my brother the next day and I said, hey, there's no electricity.

He goes, and what do I do?

You go pay the bill?

You go, I have no money?

Should I come over?

You go?

No?

You ever heard of something called a job?

What?

What?

What?

What?

What am I going to do?

I mean a job, like I really have to get it.

If I got a job at a part time job at a belt factory in the city, putting holes in belts, a series of things, like the dad.

I worked as.

A messenger, but all that money was just going to go to Studio fifty four.

That's all I did was go to Studio fifty four.

Get you rest up, Ricky.

My friend Dicato learned how to sew, so he used to make me beautiful trousers every week.

Like jeans.

I remember he made me my jeans that I went to Italy with.

He made them for me whatever money we have with my top and whatever.

Shoes he wore.

So we were always super dappered out.

But all we do is go to the studio.

That's all we do.

And I kind of like develop a certain sense of style myself.

And dear friend of mine, Arthur, Arthur Williams and his boyfriend Lawrence, they were so great, you know, grateful to me, grateful to me.

They always took a liking to me.

They introduced me to a designer, Italian designer Callediola Viola, and.

The guy looked at me and said, hey, I want to meet this guy.

And they introduced me to the guy and he's like, oh, you have a great look.

You know what.

I never had a guy tell me that, like I have a.

Great look, and he and he invited me to do his collection in Milano, and he sent me a ticket and seven hundred and fifty dollars cashier's check to come to Milano.

I'm like, yeah, of course, but I'm not a model.

I'm like, isn't that kinda like weird?

Ricardo was like, dude, you gotta go.

I have no idea what the hell I'm going in for.

I arrived, I got picked up at the airport.

They put me up pension.

I lived on the patia and the next morning the driver came to pick me up to take me to the showroom for my fitting.

I got to.

See the designer and when they were doing the fittings, they were the seamstresses.

There were like three of them and they were freaking out taking my measurements and they were speaking Italian and they were like my question on the possibly no, no, of course, I been request what what are they tripping out about?

So they're like, call Cloud and the woman said, Kim a Cloud.

You look.

Request call a designer.

He needs to come and see this.

So he came down and he said.

Hey, thank you for coming.

I'm so happy you're here.

I'm like, dude, like, what's going on?

Like why they tripping on me?

He goes, well, I got great news to tell you.

You are ay walking, dummy, and I'm like, what does that mean?

I had the.

Egg exact measurements of the dummies, the mannequins, to the tee, every neck from here to here, from here to here, from here to.

There, in seam, hips, waist chest, it was everything was exactly the length.

And I said, is that a good thing?

He goes, you're walking, You're a mannequin.

Said I'm gonna do something for you, and he called lemarsh Di Ricardo Guy elenadic Asti was the top model agency in Milana at the time, and he told her I had this guy for you.

Got to meet this guy.

So he sent me over with his driver.

I went to the agency.

They took polaroids of me, and they call him and say, hey, can we send him out right now because it's fashion week?

Well, yeah, send him out.

I went on six castings and booked all six shows, and those four years I was averaging like thirty three shows per season between Milano and Paris.

They placed me in Paris for Paris Planning and worked for the best of the best.

You know, work for Kenzo and you sail On and Piter Cardan, Jesus you go.

Tim Mugler became friends with those guys.

But every weekend that I was off, I would go to New York to go to the studio.

One thing with me, I was always very realistic with myself.

I knew how to separate myself from Omar and looked at myself and I said, look, I'm never going to become super male model.

I look at the guys that I'm going up against.

Those guys are bloody beautiful.

They were all white.

Charles Williams married event people's marrying womble.

These guys were beautiful to look at.

I'm like, I'm not nothing to look at.

I'm just interested.

I got a cool swag, and I have this crazy voice and this accent.

So yeah, I get, but does.

Not translate well to print.

And I really wasn't really doing any print jobs.

I was doing more runway.

I was fine making a good living, but I was also blowing my money.

I'm never saying that dime in my life.

I was just partying and on one of my trips back to New York.

Dear friend of mine, he said, Hey, there's an agency in New York called Lamage Models and they're thinking of opening a runway the department.

Will you be interested?

I said, I'll take a shot.

He said, well, I have an apartment in the back of the agency, on the penthouse.

So I'm living the big life.

I'm living on sixty fourth in Madison on a penhouse.

The offices in the front and the back there's open a door and there's a whole apartment there, and that's where I lived.

So Omar is going from model to agent, and now he gets to see a whole new side of the industry.

He's the one telling people where to go, how they should dress, what they should say, how to present themselves.

But being on the business side also means confronting much of the industry's ugliness.

This is the point from the beginning of the episode where clients feel entirely comfortable telling a black model agent that they don't want any black models for their shoe, and Paul Fisher backs Omar up on this.

With the time Supermodels kind of ran the day because the Kontinesst Publishing company would only put supermodels on the covers of their magazines versus celebrities.

Out of every twelve covers, eleven of those covers were supermodels, and out of the eleven, ten and a half of them, year after year were white women.

We used to have to beg the Continents Publishing company to give Naomi a break or carry Young a break.

I used to fight with the editors of every major magazine about their their way of looking at our modeling industry, that it did not reflect what was happening in our communities around this country.

I used to fight with them.

I mean, there's there's four editorial spreads in Vogue every single month for and each each each editorials between six and eight pages, which is twenty four pages.

Twenty four pages times twelve months is two hundred and forty four pages.

Out of the two hundred and forty four pages, two hundred and thirty of them were white women, period, full stop.

It never hit me.

You know, I'm still learning how to be a black person in this country.

I'm honey.

I when I came to America, I didn't know who Martin Luther King was.

I didn't know who Malcolm Axel gross up Park and all these black heroes, incredible humans that I know nothing about those people.

I grew up in Latin America.

We study at AlSi, Mofranco and up at all.

We don't study Shakespeare.

We studied me Listen.

I mean, I didn't know anything about black culture.

So I think I was very fortunate to grow up in an environment that color was not an issue, in a neighborhood that color.

Was not an issue.

We had financial racism when I was growing up.

Either you were poor or you were middle or you did well.

We did well.

So my neighbor next door to my home in Panama where I grew up was Japanese, across the street Filipino, next to the Chileno, next to that German.

So I had I grew up in a environment with all kinds of race.

Yeah.

I never really fell into that trap or that behavior, and I now not me.

Omar also says that the main leverage he and Paul had and fighting for their models came from their connections to photographers, which were deep.

One of the things we had our advantage over many agencies is that we really had a lockdown on photographers.

PAULI had his posse of photographers that were very loyal to him.

Many models that we created that no one wanted to touch and welcome.

We did it because we had the photo power.

When you have the photo photographers behind you who believe in your vision, and these are photographers of power, the thing that makes it a lot easier.

So you knew what you were going to get and you knew what it will do to your model's career.

But with professional photographers being replaced by influencers taking selfies, the path that Omar helped forge for new faces breaking into the industry feels like it has disappeared.

I don't know how do you make a model today?

It breaks my heart.

Into today's market, today's world of modeling with social media and influencers, digital creators, content creators.

What are you?

What are you talking about?

Your digital creators?

I'm looking at your pages, just pictures.

Of you, like, what do you?

What are you creating?

Is?

Oh?

I see you could now create your own persona online.

I just see so much of nothing these days, and there's no signature like water.

Water is a great drink.

Is there a better way to make water?

Do you want to mess with that formula?

No?

We had a formula and it worked, and social media came and disrupted that formula, so our formula no longer works.

But Omar isn't exactly one to complain.

I mean, the nineties was a roller coaster for us.

You know, it's there a roller coaster.

We never were any played for more than like ten days.

I remember closing the agency and.

We were like, let's get out of here.

We closed the agency and went to Hawaii four days, like all of us, the whole entire agency, and we all took mushrooms.

We arrived and were.

This beach the night we arrived, all on mushrooms.

And the next morning we got up and there was a sign that saying do not go into the ocean because it was like a shark infested water.

And here we were hanging out in this ocean all night on mushrooms.

It was a fun ride.

But when Omar finally became a father, he decided he should probably give up the swimming with sharks on mushrooms part of his life.

My son was born and that changed a lot for me.

That's really was the time when I'm like I need to I didn't want to do this, by the way, I just didn't want to be in the industry at that time.

I don't say I was freaking out, but I'm like, I'm about.

To become a father.

I cannot have this lifestyle being a father.

I remember being in Russia with some friends of mine and one became a very famous director now, Chris Broncado.

He wrote Narcos.

Chris, look at me.

He's like, Ohmi, when was the last time you stayed home on Friday night?

I don't think I have ever stayed home on Friday night.

He's like, dude, we should do a story called The Fridays, The Many Fridays of Omar.

I can't do this no more.

Like I just want to like focus and stay in one place.

So I think I'm gonna just say Miami.

This is when Omar opened his own agency, and he still runs it to this day.

It's different from what he used to do.

But that's kind of the point.

People from my generation, they're caught up in the nineties.

They're pissed.

I don't blame you.

Yeah you're pissed, but dude, keep it moving.

Man.

We're not there no more.

I don't lived there no more.

I hate Fisco, I hate old school funk.

It bores me already been there and listened to afrobeats.

You gotta just keep it moving in life.

That's the one thing I always tell young people, like, stay present, stay in the now, and by the time you finished saying the word now, that's part of the past.

Model Wars was a production of iHeart Podcasts and Campside Media.

Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Model Wars was executive produced and hosted by Vanessa Gregoriotis.

Our senior writer was Michael Kenyon Meyer.

Julia K.

S Levine was our producer and reporter.

Our senior producer was Lily Houston Smith, and our assistant editor was Emma Simonov.

We had story and production help from Shoshi Schmolowitz, Ali Haney, and Blake Rook.

Our production manager was Ash Warren and our studio recordist was Ewan Li Tremuant.

Sound designed by Mark McCadam.

This episode was mixed and engineered by Amber Devereaux.

iHeart Podcasts executive producers were Jennifer Bassett and Katrina Norvell.

The show was also executive produced by Rachel Winter and Campside Media's Josh Dean, Adam Hoff, and Matt Schaer.

If you'd like to access behind the scenes content from Model Wars and Campside Media, please go to join campside dot com.

That's j O I N C A M P s I d E dot com.

If you enjoyed Model Wars, please rate and review the show wherever you get your podcasts.

Thanks so much for listening.

Thanks so much for listening to our entire series on Model Wars.

We've really enjoyed it and we hope you have two

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