Joan Smalls: From Rags to Runways

“I was like, this is my time, and this is my moment to shine.”

Model, Joan Smalls has been taking over the runways since her 2010 debut into the modeling world, while working with Italian fashion designer, Riccardo Tischi, for his haute couture fashion show. Since then, Smalls has been the face of numerous campaigns such as Gucci, Lacoste, Gap, H&M, Roberto, Cavilli, Giambattista Valli, Chanel, Fendi, Calvin Jeans, David Yurman, Mercedes-Benz, and many other popular brands.

This past summer, the Puerto Rican native was found on the cover of W Magazine in their July issue stealing all of the ooh-ahh’s FRPM from Emma Stone’s Vogue Cover. Since her entrance into the modeling world, Smalls has also been found on the pages of Vogue, V Magazine, Glamour, British Elle, GQ South Africa and many more. In 2011, cosmetic company, Estee Lauder signed Smalls to their top line-up of global ambassadors becoming the first Latina face of the company. “Joan is a modern beauty with elegance, style and confidence,” said Aerin Lauder, a former senior vice president, and current style and image director of Estee Lauder.

The story of Joan Smalls’s journey into stardom is even more beautiful than her magazine covers. Born in Puerto Rico to a Puerto Rican mother and a father who is a US Virgin Island native, Smalls grew up on a small farm in Hatillo, PR with her two sisters. “We had our own banana-trees, mango trees, orange-trees, avocado-trees, and so many different animals. Peacocks, chickens, ducks, pigs, dogs.” says Smalls in an interview with JBRANDJEANS.COM, an online magazine. As a young girl Smalls had an early interest in pursuing modeling. She entered many modeling competitions in Puerto Rico but was never successful. “I was told I was too tall, too thin and too dark,” says Smalls. She neglected all signs directing her away from her journey to stardom, and used every setback as a set-up for success.

At the age of 19, Smalls relocated to New York City to live with her aunt and signed with Elite Models. “I had to take a bus to then take the subway to then go in the city, so I wanted to be as comfortable as possible. I think that had a lot to do with it, and especially at the beginning, having to go 10, 15 castings a day, you want to be as comfortable as possible,” says Smalls in an interview with CNN. Until her big break with Riccardo Tischi, Smalls focused on catalogue work for companies such as department store Nordstrom, print advertising for Anouck Lepere, and campaigns for Liz Claiborne. Smalls also became the face of Ports 1961. In just four years Smalls was able to rise from department store catalog modeling to walking for the likes of top company representatives, Jason Wu, Donna Karan and Tory Burch at the New York 2012 Fall Fashion Week. Talk about famous over night.

Joan Smalls continues to rip the runways in addition to gradually becoming the face of almost every major magazine in the fashion world. She is definitely on the verge of becoming one of America’s next top models. Whether she’s on the cover of Vogue, walking down a runway at New York’s Fashion Week or on her way Joan Smalls continues to show the world that she has mastered the part of remaining completely fierce in whatever it is that she is doing.