DIVINE WILL
story by Dalton Higgins
photography by Steve Carty
styled by Donovan Whyte

Model Tyra Banks rules. And so does Naomi Campbell. These cold, hard facts are not debatable. What is curious is how the often-times fickle modelling industry has undergone wholesale gender adjustments since the early 90's. Clearly, the introduction of the male supermodel has had something to do with that. When hip hop hotties from Barrie, ON to Brooklyn, NY salivate regularly over Tyson Beckford-like beefcakes in print ads, rap videos, and on runways, it's not surprising, given that these models embody North American male ideals of toned bodies and diamond-cut facial structures. Either mistakenly or unknowingly, however, many of these same fashionistas tend to leave Will Lemay out of that equation. And just when you thought the best thing to ever come out of Ottawa was the Senators or comedian Tom Green, guess again.

The Source-subscribing hotties worship him. One world reknowned sexpot that shall remain nameless sweated him. Sean John-wearing thugs study him. And six years ago, every reputable modelling agency, with the exception of Ford, dissed him. At a mere 25 years-young, Will Lemay is really his own creation, a completely self-made stud who, since moving to America in 1995, has become one of the fashion world’s most requested male models of colour.

Born in Ottawa, the son of a French-Canadian mother and an African- American dad, Lemay's childhood years were somewhat nomadic and uncertain. His mother, he admits "didn't exactly have what you'd term a stable job,” and he spent much of his youth shuttling around small towns, trying to fit in.

"From the age of three I moved around to a lot of small towns in Ontario because my mother was young when she had me," says the six-foot tall Lemay, in town for Toronto Fashion Week. "My mom was somewhat of the black sheep of her family. She was out of the house first, the first one to have a child, an ethnic child. So she was working odd jobs to pay the bills and to support us."

The Lemay clan ended up moving a total of eight times before finally settling back in Ottawa in 1990. It was during these formative years where Lemay got bitten by the modelling bug.

"Not knowing exactly how things operated in the fashion business, I just did what everyone else told me I should do, which was go to modelling school," he says. “The school basically didn't help me at all. It was all that fundamental stuff, which was walk down the runway, how to pose, stuff they really can't teach you in my eyes."

By the time he turned sixteen, Lemay left Ottawa after some minor skirmishes with the law and decided he’d go to Toronto to channel his juvenile energies into something more fruitful. Call it ‘divine intervention’ but, while searching for an agency that would take him on, a woman named Mercedes informed him about the Armstrong modelling agency that was having a competition at a local mall where the winner would receive a one-year contract. In true storybook fashion, he entered the competition (where Shemar Moore from the Young and The Restless was a celebrity judge) and was awarded the top prize. After test shoots and the agency’s full support, Lemay's diamond-cut jawline started popping up in local editorial spreads, catalogues, and even full-scale Santana Jeans campaigns across Canada. By the time Armstrong was about to conduct a national modelling competition at the Guvernment in Toronto --which he won hands down--it didn't take a PhD candidate to figure out that Lemay had outgrown the middling Canadian fashion scene.

“I decided that I have to go to New York to see if I could do it there, on that large level,” he says. “If you can do it there, you can do it anywhere.”

Sure, it reads like Sinatra sings it. In 1996, Lemay, his booker, and two other models set off on a twelve-hour bus trip to the city of lights, home to the Late Show with David Letterman, those underachieving Knicks, and legions of hopefuls who fell short of their Broadway dreams. Initially, after schlepping around for rent money, it looked like Lemay could just as easily join them in the soup line.

“I arrived there, went around to all of the major agencies and showed them my book, thinking that I pretty much had it in the bag,” he says. “But no one was feeling me.”

After being turned down by nearly every major modeling agency in New York, the last agency on his list, Ford Models, took him on after reputable talent booker Steven Watkins spotted him. We can chalk it up to divine intervention number two. However, Lemay was getting antsy signing on and, after a full six months, there were still no bookings. Finally, designer John Bartlett asked Will to open his 1997 Fall/Winter New York collection, and from that day forward Will's career skyrocketed.

Lemay's industry portfolio is now littered with a who's who of accomplished designers and photographers. Esteemed photographers Walter Chin, Bruce Weber, Steven Meisel and Terry Richardson have all had their lens capture his sexy, sullen glare. He's the hunk featured in Fat Joe's chart-topping single "What's Love" featuring Ashanti. And he’s been showcased in ad campaigns for clients from the Gap to Perry Ellis. From sharing the runway with the likes of Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss to being whisked off to Italy to do Gianni Versace runway shows. And in case you haven't noticed, he's the go-to model du jour for P-Diddy's Sean John clothing line and is featured prominently in their current ad campaigns. So, exactly how does a small town slickster end up rubbing shoulders with P Diddy?

“When Puff was planning his very first show ever, he asked me to open it and I did it,” he explains. “And it was a large success. I mean, he put one million dollars into the production of the show, which is unheard of. It was different than just your average fashion show. There was a light show, a big screen behind us, he choreographed it with music and visuals. After that blowout, he asked me to do his campaigns. There were other models on board to do the campaigns as well, but I think I was more on the forefront. One of the reasons I'm still doing it now is because I think the clothes are actually good. Good materials, nice cuts.”

His deal with Sean John is not exclusive and so his agencies - New York Model Management in New York and Sutherland Models out of Toronto - are continually peddling what he understands to be rugged, chameleon-like good looks.

“I like to believe it's my versatility, ability to convey any emotion in front of the camera and come off like this little boy or a thug, that gets me work," opines Lemay. “I also think that with clients it's the classic look that I have, the right height, I'm not too skinny, and I guess they consider a chiselled face a good looking guy, instead of just a guy who's got a look. That gives me the advantage...even though I'm probably not the most visual guy in fashion like a Tyson Beckford.”

Beckord is single-handedly viewed as the stud who broke down the gates for male models. Never mind the fact that he makes the undergarments of both sexes cream up. If it hadn't been for Beckford, there would be little to no discourse surrounding the male model. Catapulted to a popular, iconic status, Beckford’s rumoured six figure exclusive deal with Ralph Lauren back in 1993 set the stage for models like Lemay and Chris Collins. But Lemay hasn't really had one of those Linda Evangalista-like days when there's no point in getting out of bed for less than $10,000.

“Male models don't get paid that well and the days of Tyson Beckford contracts are rare,” he says. “He got that once and that doesn't really happen anymore. The money doesn't flow too well for male models, especially now after September 11th. Most clients blame the recession for rates going down and it's not something I can prosper off of.”

With special investigative reports filed by fellow model Veronica Webb in Essence Magazine and Fashion TV's Jeanne Beker on the fashion world’s discriminatory hiring practices, the picture might look even more bleak. But Lemay doesn't necessarily see it that way.

“Modelling is a hustle like anything else,” he says. “If you look at it one way, maybe my success can be because I'm ethnic. But then I might be more successful if I wasn't. I can't really judge that. It could work both ways. I’m gonna be real with you. A good payday to me now is a lot different to what a good payday was five years ago. Five years ago I was very happy with Santana Jeans when I would get $2500 Canadian dollars. I was like ‘Yo, this is great’. Now, honestly, I don’t wanna work a whole day for anything less than $2000 U.S. for catalogue clients. The only reason I’d do a catalogue client for $1500 to $2000 a day is because they’re gonna rehire me to do more work. The sad thing is that for runway shows, if it’s a huge client, they can get off without paying sometimes, because their names are so big.”

In fact, one deep-pocketed, big name client who Lemay won't name recently cut his rates down - post 9/11 - from $3500 to $1000. He’s annoyed by this shabby treatment and, if he could change one thing in the modelling industry, it would be that pedigreed male models should get compensated more.

“If it's a big client they should be coughing up the bucks,” he says, “not saying 'our budgets low because we're working with so and so photographer' and then selling you on getting exposure. I don’t wanna hear exposure anymore. Money talks. Sure, I’ve had good paydays where I was a very happy guy, but nothing to make me wanna jump up and call my parents, friends and say 'hey, we’ve got a meal ticket, quit your job'. That's why I gotta expand my hustle, y'know.”

Part of that hustle is breaking the misconception that models can’t act. In hopes of diversifying his portfolio, Lemay has been taking acting lessons. And while he has his interests also set on the music industry, it’s the big screen that’s his genuine dream. Yeah, yeah, we all know that most athletes, singers or models who have made the move into acting suck big time. But Lemay’s hopes of one day hooking up with master thespian Robert DeNiro might not be any more far-fetched than leaving Ottawa to join the New York fashion glitterati.

How far Will Lemay can take his good looks is anybody’s guess. Will he end up like the fictional Derek Zoolander, international superstar with a string of Male Model awards? Or will he just maintain the steady, consistent career he's built up from ground zero? Nobody knows for sure. But in the end, being a single, well paid babe-magnet has too many perks for him to shut down shop now.

“There’s a misconception over how people throw themselves at me,” he says. “A lot of times when I see a girl I'm attracted to she might be a high status girl or an entertainer or celeb. And a lot of people don't understand that we're not gonna get a chance to hook up a lot of the time because, I don't wanna say ‘ego issues’, but both parties may be reluctant to approach one another. Girls can definitely show their appreciation for me by running up on me in the streets and asking for autographs. Yeah, there's been instances where women get a little emotional. But it’s not on a level like Will Smith or anything like that.”