GILLIAN — a model against the odds

Gillian Stoute was brought into the spotlight by Simpli Smooth Productions (SSP) modelling agency for her “lankyness”. She had the right “street” attitude and a strong personality that runway models required. She also had the perfect height, 5ft 11 inches, the perfect weight 115 pounds and her statistics (bust, waist and hips) were workable — 35 1/2-26-36. Full-lips, even skin tone were pluses in her book. But looks were secondary. If only she had listened to the negative comments that came at  her from every direction time after time, Gillian would’ve quit a long time ago. “You’ll never amount to anything because you have riders; you doh look anything like a model, no one would support you with that, yuh too dark!” her friends told her. It was her dream to become a runway fashion model from the age of three, so nothing was going to shake her determination, certainly not any comments by friends who had little confidence in her and didn’t share her dream. “If it wasn’t for Mr Deron Attzs/SSP CEO, my confidence level would have gone through the roof,” she said. The 22-year-old from Marabella joined the SSP team in 1997 and since then, has been a hit at many fashion extravaganzas put on by the fashion outfit in San Fernando and throughout the country.

There, she was exposed to members of International model agencies who visited Trinidad to field models for shows abroad. In 1999, Gillian was one of 20 local models out of 90 women, selected by one of the US top model management houses Elite, in a model search hosted by Coco Velvet International. Though she wasn’t top model at the show, being selected over 70 people meant the world to her. “I was advised by Elite scouts that I should take advantage of the US and European market because they felt that I have what it takes to be a force in the fashion industry,” said a vibrant Gillian. She has worked with top fashion designers and models in the industry including Sharon Imbert, Claudia Pegus, Radical Designs and Wendy Fitzwilliam. For 1999/2000, Gillian was Simpli Smooth Productions Fashion Model. “That was a great achievement,” she said, “for a girl who idolised super model Naomi Campbell and was glued to the television and fashion magazines to keep upbreast with the fashion world.”

In 2000, Gillian gave birth to a baby girl whom she named Naomi, and thereafter was back on the ramps. She fell right back on track with the SSP team. Maintaining her weight was never a problem. “I can eat anything and everything and not have to worry about putting on size,” she said. Currently, Gillian is a part-time clerk and “just a girl trying to develop my modelling career”. She’s also a folk dancer with the Embacadere Best Village group. She lost her mother — her “mentor” and “support”, three years ago. Her mother was one who shared her dream. She knows the road ahead  is far from easy. Getting in and out of swimming pools 100 times to satisfy her employers who “must get the right shot”, sweltering in the heat of the sun, day in and day out, she said, is only “part” of the process. “There are the bad days. Yuh pelting the food, slamming down the phone when you’re tired. At the end of the day it’s just an expression of frustration,” Gillian added. The end result, however, is “well worth it.”