And short of it with Candacy Subrattie

until she got her first job. Then a neighbour, Asha Pieters, a former Miss Guyana Talented Teen, took the responsibility of dressing her for work. According to Candacy, it would be the first time she wore heels and a skirt and it felt awkward. Slowly she began descending the stairs trying to walk properly in the heels. As careful as she was, she still tripped but that didn’t discourage her; she went to work that day in heels, and the day after that. This was the beginning.

As time passed people would often say to her, ‘You should become a model’ and she would always wonder what it took to become one.

Three years prior to the first time Candacy stepped onto the catwalk at Pegasus for GFW 2016, she was out shopping with her mother at Fogarty’s. She vividly remembers that she was wearing a green dress that day and an elderly woman approached her and began pulling at it, checking it out. A bewildered Candacy asked the woman if she could help her. Her speaking startled the woman who said she was sorry adding that she thought she was a mannequin. Again, thoughts of modeling crossed her mind.

One day while at home in Bartica, Candacy said, she saw an ad on Facebook for a casting for models, but it was after the casting date had already past. The following month in March she saw another ad for a casting and called to express interest. The dress code for persons auditioning was black leggings, black vest and a pair of heels. Candacy did not know this but coincidentally she did wear a black vest and took the initiative to wear heels. But instead of leggings she wore a green skirt. Nevertheless, they gave her a number, took her measurements and sent her into the judges. All went well until one of the judges said, ‘Okay, raise your vest now’ so they could see her abdomen – part of the requirement. She was never confident about revealing her skin but did it anyway. Candacy was then requested to walk and surprised one judge who thought she did a good job walking in heels having never modelled before.

The next day she got an acceptance call and then began rehearsing with the other models. There was a second elimination process overseen by Richard Young, but she was chosen.

She said that she once watched an interview with model Victoria Beckham who said modelling stole her smile. “I don’t quite agree. There are times when we need to be fierce yes.” According to the young woman, she keeps her composure by finding someone in the crowd sitting directly in front of the runway and makes that person her target, keeping her eyes on him/her as she walks. But before getting on the stage, she is usually nervous, almost as nervous as she was the first day she modelled. To help with this, she takes deep breaths before stepping out.

‘Must be humble’ Being a model, she said, is not always about a particular look. These days, designers cater for people of different sizes and this allows for models of