Photos by Andy Armano
Originally from Keizer, Oregon, Trevor Cross now lives in Miami, Florida signed to Mega Models. Judging by the night life alone, being a male model in Miami is very comparable to being a gangster in the movie Goodfellas.
“You’re treated like a celebrity out here. I haven’t paid for a drink since I got here. I’ve never had to wait in line, I just walk right in. The first week I was here I shared a VIP table with Leonardo DiCaprio. Two days later I was at a different VIP table with Super Bad’s McLovin.” He continued, “Last week I shared a VIP table with Russell Simmons. It’s just endless. It’s kind of a status thing, they want the models at their table. It’s just a different world, I never thought that It would be anything like this.”
Fortunately this is where the comparisons between Trevor Cross and Henry Hill stop.
As far back as he can remember he didn’t want to be a male model.
Being a model was an option that others had approached him with but the offers were never taken seriously.
“I would just throw people’s cards away. But one of my buddies was modeling for Nike and made $1200 in one day just for doing a runway show,” he said. “I was like ‘okay if I can get some free clothes and get a paycheck with it? I’ll give it a shot.”
He originally signed with Portland agency Q6 but decided to follow advice from a friend and female model, Kacy Owens, and move to Model Mayhem. Cross contributes this change to a lot of his success. Naming his agent Nina McLaughlin specifically as a mentor.
“(Kacy) said to me ‘hey, you gotta get with these guys their awesome.'” Cross continued, “The first time I went in there they were brutal. I walked in and met with Nina. She looked at me and said, ‘Okay first of all your hairs too short. There’s no way you could be a model with your hair that short. It makes your ears stick out further than they already are and you have strong facial features so your hair makes you look like a rat. Your skin is too dry, under your eyes are too puffy.’ She just went off on me. But then she goes, ‘but other than that we like you.”
Fortunately Cross took the criticism constructively, allowing his new agency to push him and propel his career to its current level of success.
“The biggest markets in Portland are Columbia Sportswear, Nike, and Adidas,” he explained. “Those were the things I was doing, but Portland’s market is so small that that’s all that there really is. My look is more of a fashion look, if I wanted to do any fashion I had to move out of Portland.”
Miami isn’t quite the high end fashion market he is reaching for but since moving to Miami he has become the face of Defyance Clothing (http://defyanceclothing.com). He’s also been able to work with some of the best photographers in the industry which has helped him in improve his portfolio.
Cross currently has agents in Portland, Seattle, Miami and Los Angeles. He’s hoping to be heading to Capetown, South Africa or Bejing for the Spring.
“Capetown is a huge modeling place right now. A ton of clients are going there because it hasn’t been hit like Miami has. There are so many people that have shot in Miami that it’s hard to find anywhere new.” He said, “I’m suppose to find out this next week where they’re going to send me next. But it could be very last minute. You just never know. It’s tough, because you’re just hanging on a limb. You don’t know what to tell your family, you don’t know what to tell your friends. ”
But he is enjoying the ride and not taking anything for granted.
“When I first started modeling I never thought I’d go this far and now that I’m here I’m not honestly satisfied. As you move up and get better you just wanting to keep getting better.”