Stay tuned as BNJ tracks and feature the career of fashion model Le Jeune (featured in the center). He can be emailed @ amalemodelsmanager@gmail.com Below is his most recent ad for Kinesio Tape (worn by star Volley Ball Payers Missy May and Carrie Walsh in the Beijing China Olympics. Feature Article below)
A BNJ Original Exclusive Article: Collaboration and editing by Judith A. McGee and Steve A. White.
According to the North American Modeling Association, Artists models earn $10-$12 per hour; models for school photography class earn $12-$15. Professional Photographic Models earn $150-$250 per day, and a small number earn as much as $500,000 plus a year. According to NAMA, steadily employed models earn from $30-60,000 a year. Top fitting models might earn $250-$450 per hour in a major design house. Models in television commercials earn between $2000-$3000 for an eight hour session and may also get additional pay called residuals.
The story you are about to read is about fashion model Le Jeune Bryant who has gone through the stages of most of these categories, as you will find out as you read this article.
BNJ researched the top male fashion models, and we found that only the top 50 are recognized. Of the 50 male models recorded, we saw no statistics on the number of US male models and how much they make in comparison to female models. We saw only two male models that have the same qualifications of Le Jeune Bryant.
There is a Pandora's box that people seem too scared to open on what secrets are in the fashion world. Whatever the problems are in the fashion industry, you can't tell it by the young and super talented fashion model Le Jeune (featured center in Kinesio Tape Campaign Ad above which is 1 of 3 to be released this summer and BNJ will show you the Sneak Preview before the as hits the magazines. Celebrity Volley Ball Players Missy May and Carrie Welsh wore) in the Beijing Olympics).
Le Jeune commands the runway and has walked in over 1000 runway shows wearing top designs by John Varvatos French Connection, Prada, Von Dutch, DKNY, Phat Farm, Carolina Herrera, Perry Ellis, Guess, and Diesel, just to name a few. He even modeled on the Fox News wearing clothes of John Varvatos. Le Jeune also appeared on Good Day LA. His colleagues agree that he controls the runway and gives the clients/designers exactly what they want. He displays the confidence, elegance and style that the designers want to see, so that their garments are purchased by consumers all over the world. Likewise, when he does his photoshoots Le Jeune has the natural ability to deliver for the designers.
Le Jeune's fans want him to be # 1 Male Fashion Model in the world. If he did, it would be for a cause, not for ego. This young man wants to give back to the community and teach his children to do the same. Being a top ranked model in the world will afford him more time to be with his family and mentor young people of all races and ethnicities, so they can live their dream.
LeJeune wants to open doors that were not available to him in 1997 and rid his profession of issues that he still has to come to grips with. When one door closes, he and his mother/manager RB White work to open another. That is the power exhibited by this mother and son team. LeJeune will be sharing his techniques and strategy regarding the fashion world industry in his upcoming book.
Born in 1975 in Denver Colorado, Le Jeune who is Multiracial (Red, Black and Brown) loves to river raft, go to movies, eat and cook good food, snow board, ride dirt bikes, mountain bikes, and motorcycles, but his first love of sports is in tennis.He loves playing with his daughters Kiarah and K'Lynn. It's in his blood. Raised in Los Angeles, LeJeune spent most of his teenage and young adult years in South Bay in Southern California. Le Jeune became a leader to young people and his works reflect leadership to this day. He graduated from Washington Preparatory High School in Los Angeles. He won a tennis award in 1993, while enrolled at El Camino Community College and playing on their tennis team.
LeJeune enrolled at El Camino College after winning a scholarship from Chick Fil A Restaurant to attend college. In 1997 he transferred to the Otis Arts College in Westchester, CA to pursue a degree in Digital Media Design (which includes knowledge in computers and technology). It was Otis that started the quest that changed this young man's entire life.
LeJeune is no newcomer to the cameras. He grew up in the midst of TV cameras, not only of those coming to his home for interviews, but appearing with his parents on TV talk shows and newspaper interviews. He and his siblings participated in various Hollywood acting classes and workshops. LeJeune appeared in a Dr. Pepper Commercial with the cast of Beverly Hills 90210 and Jennifer Love Hewitt. He was bitten by the acting bug, but his sister said he should become a fashion model.
One day, while at Otis, LeJeune was pulled out of the lunch line by an Art Teacher who had been observing him. She said that he would be the perfect person to be a still model for her art students. She stated that he would be paid and that helped in him to make his decision. Le Jeune soon became a star in the class and was frequently asked to come back to model for other art classes as well. Since it seemed like this is what he was destined to do, his mother accompanied him out to see what was to be his first signing to a Modeling Agency, Morgan Agency in Orange County California.Le Jeune's first photoshoot hooked him into making modeling his career choice. That is when LeJeune fell in love with modeling.
Le Jeune started getting work, and one thing led to another. He did fashion shoots for companies like Pacific Sunwear, and others. Then he went to New York and did the Bridal Magazine Photo Shoot. Le Juene branched off from there and went to Germany to model, and signed on with "Bond Model Management"( as in James Bond). The modeling industry started changing, or it seemed the modeling industry was different in certain markets. Ruth was about to find out just how much.
For a while LeJeune was gathering more agents than modeling jobs. You ask how's that possible. It's a mystery that is starting to be unveiled. How come with all of this experience, his agents can't keep him frequently working? It seems that you have to keep up with the change of what the industry demands, no matter what you've done in the past. It also seems that certain markets that have the same clients in them do different things. So we talked to agents from the North to the South and East Mid-West and especially the Northwest and Southwest and found that it's simple, because they are not the decision makers on who ultimately gets the job. That is as it should be, but there's something more to this. What do I mean? It's the person who has the power to cast or book a model for a job that has the real power, right? Those people are the company, the Marketing or PR Director or the Designer themselves that make the choice on which model they choose.
The people on the streets (men and women) don't know the ins and outs of the fashion industry, they just know they want to see Le Jeune on the Cover of GQ, and Men's Health and other top respectable magazines. When Le Jeune lived there, people would stop LeJeune on the streets and ask him "Are you a model?" or they would say, "You look like a model; You should be one." If you know the reputation of New Yorkers, they don't talk to anyone on the streets, so this up and coming fashion model must have felt really good to hear those encouraging words.
I was wondering what the hold up was. After 1000 runways and countless photoshoots, LeJeune should never have to worry about work in this business. If you do a good job with the same materials on runway, do you have to have something different for print or commercial? It seems so. OK ,We can work with that. It may be that we think he's too good. Even if that is so, Le Jeune keeps his spirit high in spite of any opposition he may encounter. This young man was raised to have a good disposition no matter the occasion, yet not to let others take advantage of him and to be able to recognize it if he thinks that is occurring. Le Jeune is not only savvy about the fashion part of the industry, but the business part too, so if he feels he's being blocked in one door he will go through another.
Agents love Le Jeune because they know Le Juene has style, edginess, elegance, grace, personality, and the look. He has the health, ability, determination, and desire to work long hours, so, one would think they can keep him working a lot. A model can have everything going for them, but work can be kept from him for a couple of reasons and both can be true combined or separately.
Ruth says " I remember taking Le Jeune to a very respected modeling agency in Hollywood before he got signed to his first agency. There were about 30 male models and not one had black skin, and they all looked the same. They had Blond Hair and Blue eyes. They looked like they were a cloning factory instead of a modeling agency. Over the years and after speaking to many agents on behalf of Le Le Jeune, the one thing I didn't want to come to grips with its the obvious. Le Jeune is Black and there are some who will not work with him no matter how classy he is because of that fact. This is not a hallucination, it's a fact and has been confirmed by agents who reluctantly admitted it."
The first agent who confirmed this is from the Northwest and will remain anonymous. BNJ wanted to know why with LeJeune's agents working hard to get him work in the Seattle market why he was able to get work in Portland, but not a single look see in Seattle Washington market. That was extremely unusual, since some of the major clients up there include Macy's and Eddie Bauer and are the same ones the agent worked with in the Southwest. Something's shaking in the Northwest, however. There's a new Sheriff in that part of the Country, Option Model Management in Portland, Oregon, headed up by Kit Garrett and Nina McLaughlin. Option may change modeling in the Northwest forever, and they seem to be way ahead of the other modeling agencies. Option is to models what Motown Records was/is to Music Artists. Option takes only a few experienced models and launches their PR, at no cost to the models (beyond the regular fee). The agency makes sure the models' photos are up to date, and prepares their models thoroughly for what the clients want.
Option uses a well known photographer who has shot ad campaigns for heavyweight designers such as John Varvatos, Ralph Lauren and many more. Option also makes sure their models are represented in all of the markets in the country and even abroad. With Le Jeune being a part of that team, expect to see him reach his goals. RB White says: "If it were up to me, designers and company's that hire fashion models who get any tax relief from American Taxpayers would have to make sure that #1 the clients are qualified and #2 they would have to be racially diversified."
Ruth says she read an article about Tyson Beckford's Manager Ms. Bethann. She was speaking at a fashion conference and agents answering questions were saying that the clients didn't want Black Models. 'I've heard some say that there are not enough Black models, so that's why they don't have them. I hope we can eliminate the first reason. It seems with all of the talk about racial diversity and all of the slobber over our new Biracial President these professional should not be able to operate in America, keeping people from reaching their dreams and benefiting off of the taxpayers (which may include the same models they are rejecting ).
These professionals should be racially diversified in every way," says RB White. As I understand it the Black Models are out there, but they are being blocked from reaching the level of success as Tyson. There's room for all of them of all races.
Do these decision makers ever think about the backlash that could happen is consumer activist group thought they could smell blood? If activists got wind of this, many could start asking companies if they are racially diversified when hiring their models to promote the designers they represent. It's about the money and power, and consumers give business that power. If the companies lose sales, then they will sit up and take notice. We don't want things to get to that point. Consumers are really the ones who can control sales figures by purchasing from clients who are racially diverse.
The one thing models probably know more than I, are the code words, which she picked up on from speaking to Agents across the country who passed on Le Jeune. They said " Our Clients are looking for the Boy Next Door." That's their code word for a White Fashion Model. Le Jeune fits the description of the boy next door by the very life he lives and has lived every since he was a little boy, except one.
There is so much hypocrisy in all of this. Children are told to get an education then follow their dreams, but when they do these things, these same people are the first ones to slam to door in their faces. Make no mistake about it, thousands of young people's lives and success have been lost this way.
Just because people say you should get an education does not mean they want you to get one and doesn't mean they want you to succeed. That's because after you receive that education and are ready to take on the world, the very people who tend to hold you back are the ones who say that they marched with Dr. King or say that "some of their best friends are..." These people argue that everyone is the same until you apply for a job or long for a career that makes you a threat to them. So, what they originally said is actually BOLONEY (I meant to spell it like that).
For example CNN is a true equal opportunity employer. They are the only cable news station where one can see racial equality and diversity with their journalists, anchors and producers. CNN has what other cable stations only talk about about . This is 2009. Some say there is not enough diversity in many careers professions, and occupations, but what are they doing to eliminate the problem?
Not everyone is this way. The late Gene Roddenberry of Star Trek began the real racial diversity in the entertainment field, and there are those who say they want racial equality in this field, but they really don't. They talk racial diversity with their mouth, but really want failure.
Ruth -Le Jeune's personal manager and mentor- has the credentials to back up this article. She knows all too well what this article is about. In Hollywood, she was Coordinating Producer with Women In Film for "The Post Oscar Showcase" which was sponsored by Universal Pictures, and endorsed by heavyweights in the entertainment field such as Carl Reiner, Henry Winkler, Andy Garcia, Robert Townsend, Susan Sarandon, Jane Seymour, Beau Bridges, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Steven Bochco. Ruth's work in Hollywood earned her the 1997 Changing Images In America Award along with legendary Gene Roddenberry's wife the late Majel Roddenberry. The showcase was designed to cast Directors, Actors ,Producers and Writers according to their ability to pull off a role, never on race or physical handicap. Sadly, there still has not been many changes in these areas, but at least there has been a start.
Last but certainly not least Ruth is Co-Founder of A Place For Us National (a support organization for Multiracial families ) and the first official 2008 Presidential Candidate running as an Independent
If Heidi Klume, Kimora Simmons, Sean John, Russell Simmons, Tyra Banks, Tyson Beckford, Oprah Winfrey, and others would come together one day a week to showcase an upcoming models in the fashion world (like Ellen, Oprah, Tyra and other shows and magazine publicshers do for celebrities promoting their new book, excercise video, or new movie), we would see changes like we are experiencing in the television and motion picture industry. This would help the fashion industry grow tremendously, would give the models the exposure they need to succeed, and would benefit the consumers as well, while earning good ratings for their shows.
This article is published on the Webcasts and Features session of Breaking News Journal LLC website www.breakingnewsjournal.net To respond to this article, go to breakingnews@breakingnewsjournal.net and check out the other news of your choice.
Breaking News Journal LLC
