Sosheba - Trench Town Girl Rocks International Runways

In less than two years Sosheba Griffiths has moved from being a simple girl in Trench Town to a well-known international model.

She has been featured in a Victoria Secret catalogue and has had to grapple with the realities of racism in the international market.

Sosheba was discovered in 2005 by Deiwight Peters, the CEO of Saint International, while attending Denham Town High School. She was groomed by the agency and entered the Fashion Face of the Caribbean model search, which she won in 2006. She finished school that year and this gave her the opportunity and time to fully launch her career as a model.

During her short time on the fashion scene, she has already been featured in several overseas publications and campaigns. So far she has been on campaigns for Moschino, has graced the covers of Vogue Knitting, Japan's Luire, Ibiza Style, had six pages in Chinese Bazaar and editorial appearances in Teen Vogue, Trace Magazine, Vogue Gioella, The Guardian, Seventeen Magazine and WIG Magazine.

The dizzying pace has also landed her the high-profile campaign for Erin Fetherston and she has appeared on the runways of New York, London, Paris and Milan. She has also made appearances for leading clients including Chloe, Van Cleef and Arpels (London), Sportsmax, MAC (Milan).

Sosheba is also featured in a 12-page spread in France's Jalouse Magazine, which is currently running.

With all these achievements, she says the biggest one since the start of her career has been her appearance in the Victoria Secret catalogue within two months after she won Saint International Fashion Face of the Caribbean.

"The Victoria Secret catalogue had lots of girls and I, the only black girl in the competition, won it. It went well with the photographer and I liked it. It's tough for black girls 'cause only one or two will burst out. So you have to work hard for it to come true," said the excited Sosheba as she recounted her experience.

Faced with racism

She says she has already faced some level of racism as the black models have to work harder than the other models to get jobs in some of the magazines or modelling agencies that traditionally employ Caucasian models.

While racism has been her biggest challenge yet, she says that she misses her parents and the rest of her family but due to her drive to succeed in modelling, she says she is willing to make the sacrifice.

"I have to wake up really early in the mornings to go to castings and photo shoots from eight in the mornings to 10 in the night. For the Erin Fetherson campaign, I start photo shoots from two in the day and go 'til the following morning but I don't complain like the other girls," she said.

She says the other girls complained about the lengthy hours but she loves what she is doing and remembers her humble beginnings.

Diewight Peters, who has guided Sosheba's career thus far speaks very highly of her.

"All the clients also report on her warmth. She is also very personable and has a great spirit. In the pressuring world of fashion, sometimes it's hard for girls to remain personable and friendly under pressure, not Sosheba."

Confident individual

She also has attributes which she believes make her easy to work with. "I am very confident in myself, outgoing, like to work a lot, friendly, meet different people, like to travel and be myself," Sosheba said.

At only 18 years old, she says she has at least another 12 years in the industry. Peters, however, says he believes she has more than 15 years left. He believes she has a 'timeless' look that can almost guarantee her a place in the industry for decades like Lauren Hutton, Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss, Iman, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista and Tyra Banks.

Sosheba has her role model in sight as well. "I want to be like Naomi Campbell. She is a supermodel. She has been in music videos and she has given to charity," she said.

Sosheba is also planning to give back to charities and to kids, hospitals and her alma mater, Denham Town High. Her aspirations for modelling are high, but she is aware that they are not guaranteed as she intends to pursue a career in midwifery when her modelling career ends.

But those concerns have been neatly stashed away as she is enjoying every bit of her golden opportunity. She will leave London within three weeks for New York for castings, photo shoots, shows and fittings. She will be in Milan by February and then Paris by March to participate in a 'Ready to Wear' fashion show.

Source: The Jamaica Gleaner

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