Krista Henry, Staff Reporter
Oraine Barrett in 'ab'-solutely good form. - Contributed
Pulse model Oraine Barrett is oozing sex appeal from the pages of Italian Vogue, which he recently appeared in. The model has also nabbed a campaign for the immensely popular brand, Babyphat, and has done billboards for Target.
Oraine's shoot, which spans over 20 pages, will be published in September's edition.
Hailing from St. Elizabeth, this Munro College past student won Pulse's Male Face of Jamaica and Pulse's Caribbean Model Search in 2004. Since then, Oraine has not looked back, doing editorials for Arena Homme and was the star of campaigns for Abercrombie & Fitch, John Bartlett, Roc A Fella and Pepe Jeans.
The deal with Italian Vogue was one that came by surprise for the model, as he told The Gleaner. "They called me and told me that I have a huge casting. When I went on casting, I didn't know it was for Italian Vogue. The day after, the editor called me and told me I got in."
For Italian Vogue, Oraine was shot for a multispread page by the famous photographer Steven Meisel. Meisel has shot some of the most celebrated faces in entertainment - Madonna and Janet Jackson among them - and is credited as a supermodel maker. Meisel's résumé speaks volumes of his importance to fashion. He is the preferred photographer for the campaigns of high fashion brands Versace, Valentino, Dolce & Gabana, Calvin Klein and Prada.
A fantastic experience
Working with Meisel was an honour for Oraine, who described the whole experience as fantastic. From the reactions Oraine got from Meisel, he could tell the photographer liked his work.
The extensive shoot, which took place over three days in New York City, featured Oraine alongside models Agyness, Julia and Raquel. "It was a great experience working with these top models. The legacy of Italian Vogue and shooting with greats such as Steven (Meisel) will have a huge impact on my career," says Oraine.
According to a press release from Pulse, the model will also be doing a shoot for French Vogue. The release said: "A few weeks ago, Mario Testino, another globally acclaimed superstar photographer, placed him on option for French Vogue, a shoot which is also quite likely to happen."
Barrett's Italian Vogue spread comes on the heels of another exciting project, shooting the latest Baby Phat campaign in L.A. for hip hop diva Kimmora Lee Simmons. Barrett stated that Kimmora was at the shoot and it was a huge deal for him.
Oraine is also now showing off his strong physique on billboards for Target all across the United States. The model just came back from Trinidad, where he did a shoot for Abstract Magazine. According to Oraine, "To me this is just a beginning I can much farther."
