⁄Country Strong
Robbie, a chiseled fresh face from Elite Models, compliments Kathleen on the Summer cover of OTM.
The young man of 17 stumbled into modelling about a year ago. “I was at a Rihanna concert, some lady came up to me and asked me if I was interested in modelling. I figured I’d give it a shot, it’s been pretty fun,” he explains.
Since, he’s been doing creatives and attended lots of castings, and signed with a couple agencies overseas. “In March I went to New York for a week, I didn’t find it much different from Toronto, just more intense,” he says. Robbie was born and raised in the country in a small town outside of Newmarket, “The population is like 2000.”
In a place where everyone knows everybody, Robbie’s modelling efforts are well supported. “My parents think it’s awesome. And my friends all know. There’s always jokes made, you know, it’s going to happen,” he smiles.
Outside of modelling, Robbie is heavily involved in sports. “I play in a town hockey league, and for my school I play football and rugby,” he says.
I inquire about how he balances his time, “Not easily,” he laughs, “A lot of jobs want to get stuff done during the day, so it can be tough.”
The weathered question of post-secondary plans comes up. “I’ve always wanted to take a year off to travel, now that modelling has come up, it may be for that.
After, I want to go to university for marketing. I had a couple of classes in it and really enjoyed them. “
When not travelling in and out of the city, at school or training with his teams, he likes to be at home. “Where I live everyone’s so close together, we hang out all the time. I can see myself moving somewhere else but not a city. I couldn’t see myself living in New York, even Toronto is a little overwhelming for me,” he explains.
So after a self-confessed country boy’s year of modelling, what does he think of the fashion world? “It’s really different, it’s brought me so many cool opportunities.
I like the whole Abercrombie look, I’m not too into the whole fashion thing but I’m learning.” His unbridled patience, dapper looks and quiet willingness for absurdity, Robbie’s potential paves his future for many more years of modelling.
