CAREER CONVERSATIONS: ADONIS BOSSOON LONGEVITY, MALE MODELS & FATHERHOOD

CFDA - Before his face became familiar to the masses, Adonis Bosso was flipping burgers as a 17-year-old when he got his first chance at modeling thanks to a former girlfriend. He spent the next four years flying from Canada to NYC to Paris, hoping to get signed. Unfortunately, his luck was short due to the 2008 financial crisis, which essentially shut down model jobs, especially for Black talents, a harsh reality explained to him. He worked at H&M when he signed with DNA Models in 2012; three months after signing, he landed his first job, an H&M Campaign forcing him to quit his retail job.

In 2015, Bosso moved to Los Angeles, and his career blew up, cementing him as that top model with the septum piercing seen basically everywhere. In 2018, the Ivorian Canadian French-speaking model from the Ivory Coast became a father, sharing a son with fellow model Slick Woods. During the pause of 2020, he rejoined his parents in Toronto, where he was raised, and is now based in Montreal.

I read you were discovered accompanying a former girlfriend to a modeling agency. Tell me more about that experience and how getting signed on the spot works? 

This is true. My girlfriend then asked me to come with her to a casting. Once we arrived and met everyone, the agency said, “we want to sign you right now.” Looking back, I don’t know how that’s legal; it couldn’t have been because there weren’t any lawyers present. I was a kid signing this 18-page document without having anyone look over it. Luckily, I had been researching, so I knew a little bit via Models.com and Model Mayhem, but no one tells you how things work. You’re basically signing your life away to these people, but I wanted to do it, so I read it over and signed it before telling my parents because I didn’t want them to shoot my dream down.

It’s not as easy as people think because, sure, you get paid a lot of money, but 20 percent goes directly to your agency, and if you’re a foreigner, you pay your taxes immediately, which is about another 20 percent, so you’re losing almost half of what you make.

You’ve been modeling for over a decade now. Did you think it would last this long?

No, definitely not. I’m still surprised it’s been a decade. I can’t say that time went by fast, but it has been a pleasant journey. Believe it or not, I felt like a struggling model for a good 10 years. It’s a recent occurrence of me feeling like I’m good financially. I can take care of my son and provide a great lifestyle for us.

What or who do you accredit your longevity to?

Hm. I can’t give all the credit to one specific person or entity, but I have a fantastic team. Shoutout to Tony Craig, who’s at DNA. He was my friend before he even joined the agency. I must mention Idris and Tony because if I had any mentors in New York back in 2013, it was them; these two taught me a lot about photography. Shooting for SSENSE also gave me an upper hand; being an eCommerce model teaches you a lot about clothing and material, and you start to understand when something does or doesn’t look good.

It’s not 100 percent about how cute or attractive you are as a model but about the clothing. The business of fashion is selling clothes. Now, my mother agent is incredible. Nadia Canova at Montage signed me, I am still with her; it feels like a family, you know. She has my back and best interest and has seen me grow from essentially a boy into a 32-year-old man and father.

If you weren’t a professional model, you’d be doing what?

I’d be working in schools and centers. I was studying Special Care Counseling in Montreal back before modeling blew up. I worked with children who had mental and physical impairments. One of my brothers has autism, so I was interested in working with disabled kids at camps. I do also believe I would have also ended up in music somehow. I sing; I was in the Glee Club. I also landed a record deal while out in Los Angeles.

I always reference Tyson Beckford as the last Super Male Model of yesterday and then there was Lucky Blue, Alton Mason is killing it, and then you as the familiar faces. Are famous male models not in favor, or do you think it’s something else?

Fashion, explicitly modeling, is one of the only industries where women make more money than men. That affects the stardom of things because you see the beautiful girl, and she’s a star and she’s rich. In the male model world, it’s more of a dream being sold, which can be seen as less authentic. That impacts the male model because there are already heartthrobs from the boy bands, actors, and athletes. Furthermore, you barely hear from male models because we are often super young. Sure, we may look like 25-year-old men, but we’re 18, and people have instructed us not to talk too much because it could affect our jobs.

I wasn’t vocal and didn’t start doing interviews until after I hit my mid-twenties. People also wanted to avoid hearing from me, a man making money because of his beauty or looks. Things have changed since 2009; when I started social media didn’t exist as it does in 2022. Today, you see male models talking because brands now recognize that personalities sell.

How would you describe the life of a male model? 

A life of uncertainty. It’s a gambling game. It’s a business, but the business is yourself. You have to make sure you look good and stay healthy. Rejection is a massive part of our lives, and if you don’t have thick skin, then it’s not for you. It’s like acting with no words because, like actors who go to auditions, we go to castings only; we usually aren’t talking.

What about a Black male model? The numbers are smaller. Does this help or hinder your success?

It depends; there’s a side to both. There were few of us when I started over a decade ago; 2009 seems like a lifetime ago but from my perspective, after Black Panther came out and became one of the top-grossing movies ever and almost exclusively featured Black people. Brands saw “oh, Black does sell,” so fashion started putting more models of color and darker skin folks in their campaigns and shows. Who knows if it is genuine or not? On the flip side, there aren’t many jobs, especially for Black models. There are usually 25-30 of us going after the same job.

A misconception about being a model that you constantly have to explain or debunk.

It’s not fast money!! And even if it were, it takes three months to get paid. Most people do not know this, but every one of your jobs is Net 90’s. So, you could die before that 10k you made from whatever campaign deposits into your bank account, ha-ha.

How do you balance your jet-setting schedule plus the duty of fatherhood?

I’m pretty lucky that I have a village with me. My family is large and super supportive and will help whenever I need them, especially when I have to leave.

Your son has started appearing alongside you in campaigns, as seen with Zara Kids, Fear of God, and H&M. Do you think he understands what his dad does for a living? 

Oh my gosh! Saphir really gets it. He actually loves it. We first shot together for a Zara campaign during the pandemic. Since we couldn’t travel, Zara shipped the clothing to my parents’ house in Toronto and told me to shoot it. My friend Sophie, who shoots amazing films, shot the campaign for us. The second time we shot with them, the world had started opening up, and this time we were in a studio, and he got his hair done and was getting all this attention, so he was into it. He had seen me and his mother, Slick Woods, in magazines and campaigns before, so he understood that his parents take pictures. He even asks to go work with me now and even has his own routine of looking good.

On a deeper level. What runs through your mind when you’re sharing these moments with him on camera? What does it all mean to you?

It’s beautiful to me because I adore that he will be able to look back at it when he’s older and forever see these images. I don’t have pictures from my childhood because our house burned down when I was younger. I can see the pictures in my head because I remember them, but I know they no longer exist in the physical. Modeling also allows me to provide him with a lovely childhood and not be scorned by anything, and if he ever decides he’s not into it anymore, then I support that.

Seeing how you were discovered by chance, what advice would you offer to the young boys wishing they could follow in your footsteps?

My greatest tool was research. It helped me get to where I am today as I spent time learning. First, you must understand how the agencies work. Then, visit Models.com and learn about the models you see there and how they started their careers. It looks glitzy and glamorous, but it’s a whole career, and it’s going to take about two years before you start making any money. It’s also a different industry now; you don’t have to be 6’0, 175 pounds. Social media has changed much of that.

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PHOTO BY BY GREG SWALES @GREGSWALESART (TOP) AND JUSTIN WU @JUSTINWU