Man of steel: Paolo Roldan

MANILA, Philippines - Paolo Roldan came by modeling unintentionally. Three years ago, he was in New York as a fashion buyer when David Bossman of Boss Models, the agency behind the world’s first male supermodels, asked him if he could come back after his appointments for some test shots. Since then, Paolo has built a stellar portfolio. He was an exclusive model for Givenchy for four seasons and has walked the runway for Michael Bastian, Frankie Morello, and Vivienne Westwood. He’s also appeared in editorials in GQ, i-D, Hercules magazine, and Vogue Paris (his first and only nude shoot, photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott).

He’s now the latest addition to the roster of Bench models and recently walked the clothing brand’s Philippine Fashion Week underwear show. If you haven’t seen his four giant Guadalupe billboards, you’re either a bum who stays at home or in dire need of an eye doctor.

Supreme recently had the privilege to work with this supermodel and we talked to him about being part of the Givenchy family, disproving model stereotypes, and his close encounters with death.

SUPREME: What are some of the things you learned from Givenchy creative director Ricardo Tisci?

PAOLO ROLDAN: Be humble. Be yourself. Be nice to everybody. I had more than just a working relationship with Ricardo, he actually became a friend of mine. And those were the things that we would tell me, to most importantly be myself and not care what everybody else thinks. Just don’t lose yourself.

How was it being part of the Givenchy family?

It’s exactly that, it’s a big family. Every time I go to any city, I’ll run into people who work for Givenchy or have worked for them in the past and we’ve always maintained a family-like relationship with each other.

You showed some pretty rad dance moves in Justin Wu’s Boys of Fashion Week videos. Is music or dancing something you could fall back on if you’re not modeling?

Not necessarily fall back on, because I’m not a pro dancer, but I do love dancing. That’s just the Filipino in me. I’m pretty sure you could get down as well, most Filipinos can.

What’s the model stereotype or myth that you proved wrong in your years of work?

(Laughs) There’s a lot. Have you ever seen Zoolander? That’s pretty much what we had to deal with every day. But I guess there are times when that kind of thing happens. It’s natural. It’s not like people are going around and acting like that. You do have mental lapses sometimes just from being tired of traveling. I’d (also) like to think I’m smarter than what they say models are. (Laughs) I guess that’s it.

You’ve done a lot of print campaigns, but are you still freaked out or weirded out when you see yourself blown up on a big billboard like the one in Guadalupe?

Well, that one in particular, yes. I’ve had one pretty big before and I’ve heard some things about stuff in Dubai for the Givenchy campaign, but I’ve never actually seen them. So when I saw this one in Guadalupe, I was like “Whoa, that’s just massive.” They look like big buildings with this dude. It’s kind of dope, though. I kind of like it.

In your interview with New York magazine, you said that you felt like you had nine lives because you’ve had too many close calls. Is that something that’s still happening now or you’re just set on living dangerously?

I’m trying not to think about that anymore. I was like, “Why did I even bother saying that?” But it is kind of true because I’ve had some close calls in my life, starting from since I was born, actually. I was born with my umbilical cord wrapped around my neck so I was pretty much almost lifeless when I came out. And I had another run-in when I was still in the Philippines. My dad told me this story; I was running around with my brothers and sisters playing. There was a plate of food on the table and apparently I had taken a piece of fish head and just chowed on it and tried to swallow it. My dad was like “Paolo hasn’t been coming around in a while.” So he started looking for me and found me behind a door just passed out and purple. So he pulled the fish head out and I started breathing again.

Are you comfortable when people call you a “supermodel”?

Hmm… (Laughs) I don’t know, I mean people have branded me as that, but I certainly don’t think of myself as that. But I don’t feel uncomfortable about it. I’m just shy. I just don’t really know how to react to it.

You’re a self-confessed fashion junkie. Has it ever come to a point where you wanted to take home the clothes you were wearing on runway or in the shoots?

All the time. I just did with Bench. They were nice enough to take me to the store prior to the show and pick out some things and I came out with this ensemble which was this black blazer — really well made, super fitted with leather lapels and leather details, a pair of really slim black khakis, the normal Bench T-shirt that they always put out there, it fits really nice and I’m glad I got to keep it. I was actually just having lunch with Ben Chan and a few of the other guys like Noel Manapat, and Miguel Pastor and they just gave me a bunch of gift certificates to go shopping. So I think we’re gonna do that after this shoot. (Laughs)

Aside from dancing, what’s the most Pinoy thing about you?

My love for food. I love isaw. (Laughs) That’s so crazy, but I do love it, even my two friends, who are from the UK. They’ve been willing to try everything. I love rice. As much as I love rice though I gotta stay away from it, but since I got here I have been chowing on rice pretty often.

What are some of the most played songs on your iPhone?

A lot of Bob Marley, man. I’m a very Zen guy so I play a lot of Bob Marley. Reggae and old school hip-hop.

Aside from your work, what are the other ways you express yourself creatively?

I like to sketch. I do that quite often actually. When I’m bored, I just sketch. I have a sketchbook. And with my friends Sebastian and Tom, we just randomly come up with, like for example, this Philippine thing we’re documenting. We’re gonna put out a video for it sometime soon. And Sebastian and I had just finished working on a hair salon campaign in Toronto, which should come out in a couple of months. We’re just finishing editing it.

What’s your most humbling experience so far?

It’s here. Right now. It’s just crazy how the people get here in the Philippines, most especially after the show last night. It was super humbling. Everybody is so nice. I’m really still shocked about it. I can’t even speak about it.

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