Former baker eyes success in modelling industry

Little did Ronaldo James know a slow-motion video he shot on a beach day with friends would catapult him to becoming a SAINT International star. After uploading a moving frame in 2019 to his Instagram account, wading out of the Flavours Beach tide in St Ann, playfully flashing his then-loose curls, James was inundated by encouraging feedback.

"I got a lot of comments on my posts saying I would be fit to be a model, so I tagged SAINT in the video," James recalled.

And, to his amazement, he received a call to attend an audition with the highly regarded Jamaican modelling agency.

For the Clarendon-born James, who at the time was working as a Juici Patties baker in Ocho Rios, he was shortlisted by SAINT CEO Deiwght Peters to vie alongside several male model hopefuls in that year's Fashion Face of the Caribbean competition. James would wind up winning.

"I was overwhelmed and very surprised," he remembered of the fateful March 2019 night his life forever changed with the announcement he had emerged victorious.

"I remember Mr Peters, who was the emcee for the show, repeated my name several times before it sunk in that I won."

The former Edwin Allen High student had secured the top vote of all the visiting North American and European model agents who served as the competition's judges.

The unexpected arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago naturally put a temporary hold on James' journey to the international fashion markets, but it did little to diminish his will and drive. Critically acclaimed British-Jamaican fashion designer Wales Bonner chose James as one of the SAINT male faces to star in a fashion film, Black Sunlight, filmed at multiple locations across the island in February last year to showcase her Autumn/Winter 2021 menswear collection.

Then, just last month, James was on an Italy-bound flight after being directly booked by Peters for Wales Bonner's latest Spring 2023 men's collection. Bonner was invited as special guest to unveil her new collection at Pitti Uomo, the world's most important platform for menswear and accessories, held twice annually in Florence.

"It was an amazing experience being able to leave Jamaica for the first time, and also for my first international show. I got a chance to meet so many people. I enjoyed being able to explore the city and seeing the old-world architecture and experiencing a different culture up close and personal," an enthusiastic James shared.

James, who now works as a call centre agent in Montego Bay, St James, confidently anticipates opening the windows of his modelling opportunities even further.

"I see myself becoming a successful model who is in demand within two years," he declared.

Talking more self-actualisation, he envisaged: "I will be travelling to new places and walking for the world's top labels, and perhaps even creating a fashion brand of my own."