BEHIND THE BOOKING: DEHONNEY FOR ELLE

by Jeremy Danté

the road of redevelopment that we’ve embarked upon together has been one of trust, and delicate pathways of faith. remaining in constant communication regardless of how far we were from each other, my relationship with dehonney is one that i now use to exemplify all other relationships in my life, truly. seen through the lens of jacques weyers, through the editing of elle south africa’s fashion director, dime alara, my first model dehonney is seen in the latest issue of elle south africa’s november issue.

for veteran readers, editorial features are nothing new in this space. but things began to feel stale, and fashion is about moving forward. in the past five years, i’ve taken long strides to get myself to a different place that i didn’t even expect. i never thought i would go to new york city to become an agent, but i did. and it was there that i met dehonney. revelation of process and explanation of terms is what this space has always been about. it’s been about education, it’s been about elevation. in this newly formed series, i wanted to share portions of our process that it took us to get to this point. in the game of modeling, it’s about more than just getting the shot, and each model featured has a story, behind the story you see published. this is the real story behind the booking.

every element, from the simple use of color in her book- we fought for. the release of contract- we fought for. money- we fought for. and we’re still here fighting, behind the scenes, each step of the way. what i’ve learned personally is the importance of knowing when to sit up and fight, and when to sit back in silence. it’s taught me so much about myself, as a mother agent, and inversely; in my own private emotional exchanges as a man. it’s beyond editorial, ladies and gentlemen. the process of development is truly a purpose and, beyond that can allow you a unique experience of transcendence. it’s a battle of outer versus inner. a challenge of control and release, emotion and performance; of silence and solitude. one of extreme patience, intense faith and elevation of faith. we were blessed to be placed in the south african market, while reviewing placements in new york city, and the south african interest for placement was a response that took six months to even come through. the process of fashion and how to bring a girl to a certain level is not one that is ever certain. models must understand this before they even think about entering the arena. dehonney is a master of this.

when we got to south africa, dehonney started working immediately, she was seeing clients and booking nearly off the damn plane. we entered into this market, having a goal to shoot with elle, seeing other girls who had done similar and returned to the states to make a killing in the new york city market. that was our goal. we always function from the mantra, “let’s see what GOD allows” — having a full understanding that all blessings in this industry granted to us are, just that, allowances. we function from a frequency of reveling beauty to receive it. and for just a three month stay, as soon as you come off that plane- the clock is ticking. clock is ticking on your visa, it’s ticking for how much time is left to see clients, and how much time you got to kill every frame you got; because soon enough, the stay is over and you’ll return home with a full book a couple coins, or you’ll return thinking about what you could’ve done and why you’re in the negative after you leave. we’re smarter than this, and came equipped, emotionally and energetically to ramp up to the highest heights possible.

the president of our agency took dehonney on, as a main focus, after i went back and forth to tell dehonney’s story. this proved to be the perfect layer of understanding needed to push through to the other side. she made the call, urging the editors of elle to see dehonney, despite her not being requested. they seen her, loved her and soon enough we got word that she was booking the main fashion editorial, styled by their fashion director. bookings are numbers- if it’s not about the rate, it’s about the exposure- if you can hit both, that’s ideal. for us, elle was at the top of our list, and obviously we wanted to land the cover. which we’ve seen done in this market, so we ramped up. all the creative elements worked perfectly for us in this case, the images came out beautifully and dehonney shot twice with this same photographer while in this market, this past summer. she was also photographed for south african cosmopolitan. the photographer loved her, and the energy and capturing of dehonney’s beauty is evident.

no girl should be forgotten or left behind, and it is something that happens frequently in fashion. we understood the importance to continue to push, and never give up. we continue to push but love that we are able to share the evidence of our elevation here with you. to graduate from producing content that supports the industry, to sharing works that support the evidentiary elements of our own personal success is the top. we didn’t get the cover this time, but we got twelve pages and reached a goal. there is surely more to come, but our shared message to all the girls of the world is- never. give. up.

dehonney is represented by LITA mother agency
she is available for bookings in new york city
email LITA@jeremydante.com