Can you remember when and where you were scouted? How old were you?

I remember it was something progressive. I started in a small agency in my hometown, cause my mother brought me there to see if I could give it a try and see if I liked it. I then signed with an agency in Barcelona, and I was scouted there by the scouter of Next models. Then they asked me to try the London market, and I moved there for a few months, I was still in high school, so I couldn’t really stayed as much as I wanted. I went back to finish high school, and then a few months later I moved to Barcelona to study. Then I was  scouted by another agency in Barcelona, and they became my mother agency until now, and I guess everything kindda started from there. I was 17.

What is the earliest memory of a model  burnt into your mind?

I think the first time I saw what a model was, it came with Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford as fashion icons around my 16yo or 17yo. The next I remember was the boom with Cara Delevigne, by that time I was living in London so I remember her as a super model that was everywhere and the first one that I thought: “She’s kindda different”, I liked her style, mood, charisma and strength in front of the camera. Later on also Binx Walton comes to my mind.

Can you tell me an iconic model whose work you got very fascinated by? — What did you feel when looking at images of them?

Nowadays, I would say still Binx Walton and Grace Hartzel. I think I got fascinated by their work, their androgyne poses and unique faces. The passion they showed, the strength and fierce and how good they moves where in front of the camera and how easily they made it look, specially Grace in video. I admired also the fact they were, in my believe when I discovered them, less objectivized than what I used to see in magazines, I remember thinking they were in an in between line where what you could see portrayed was her magic and strength above all else.

Do you think the “male gaze" is a myth?

Like in Zoolander? Haha I have to say that I always paid more attention and have been more captivated by female models rather than male. But I do think there was a time when the stereotyped male model had that face expression with yes, that seductive male gaze everywhere in any kind of situation. I think nowadays it has evolved, now you can see other different vision of what a male model can do and can represent, you can see vulnerability, nudity from another point of view, different faces, different emotions and different gazes haha

What was your first fashion shoot?

The first fashion shoot I remember, was in London, some lookbook for Vivienne Westwood with shoes in my head, like a super tall cake haha a part from the first test shoots to recollect material and build a book that you always do at the beginning.

What do you love most about being a model?

That is a difficult question, I think I grew up while working in this industry, and what I appreciate and love about this job has changed through this years. What I love now, looking back, about this job is the life experience that has given me. Everything I learned traveling, living and working by myself along all this years. All the situations I’ve been in, all the different people I’ve met, has given me perspective, knowledge, and an amazing background that I can use in other situations and moments in my life. I acquired a lot of independence and strength, responsibility and how to maintain myself economically and emotionally, learning how to get better in my work, how to get better as a person and to appreciate what I find important today in my life.

What do you most hate about being a model?

Well when I started I was very young and unexperienced and I loved everything about working as a model, I found a bless everything that was happening to me and felt so grateful for the opportunities I was receiving and gaining. You are fearless at that age and you haven’t got much to compare yet I guess. But later on, I started to discover I guess the other side of it, which, don’t get me wrong it exists in everything. But I suppose in fashion that other face is more evident perhaps when you compare it to the bright side, and it falls easier on the sexual side maybe. It also bothers me what and where people sometimes place me directly and very fast when they know I work as a model, and most importantly the fact that at the end despite of the personal actions I take in my daily and personal life, I’m contributing to one of the most polluting industries of the world and probably one of the most sexists, and that confronts my me to myself.

How do people react when they find out you are a model?

Haha it is funny. I can tell there’s a big difference if the person who asks belongs to the industry or is related somehow than when it is someone out of the fashion, image, advertising, or let’s say arts world. Mainly what I see is a lot of prejudice at first. What I am most asked about in the first place is if “they” make me be on diet, when I tell them they don’t, then straight I got asked why I am this skinny, apparently they get worried about my health haha. 

Also, what type of model I am and how this world works, If brands contact me personally and ask me to travel or move to another city for a while or if I have a manager that does all the moves for me.

As they ask, they mainly seem impressed by this work and interested in it. 

I have to say that usually I’m very shy when I got asked what I do in my life, cause if I explain I work as a model I think I get placed somewhere straightly.

So mostly I first say I’m finishing my law degree, and that I do this or that and then sometimes I explain my work and sometimes I don’t. If I would start the other way around, I feel they don’t really take me seriously with what comes next (but it doesn’t stop being annoying sometimes, cause you don’t need to be studying law or medicine or any other degree to be considered intelligent or prepared, right? It shouldn’t be at least, but when they know you’re a model sometimes it seems you have to prove that there’s something else inside your head, you know what I mean?).

What is the most common question you get asked as a model?

If I’m obligated to be on diet and which brands I’ve worked with and lately with the influencers world gaining place, if the brands contact me directly or if I do have an agency and what they do for me and how an agency works.

If you would start out now what would you be doing, how would you go about // who would you work with and where would you be aiming?

If I would start modeling now? I think I would focus more on the profession, I mean, during these years I was enjoying this job as it was coming I didn’t have a specific goal to achieve within this job, my focus was more on travel and life experiences while studying and discovering life. I would schedule my travels regarding the countries I wanted to live in for some months, the places I wanted to see and then find an agency there if I felt that way, without thinking whether ot not those places would help or not the career. I guess now of course with all those experiences lived, I would focus better in the career.

Statistics show that only 1 in 10 of the big money jobs i.e. womenswear- beauty and perfume campaigns are shot by women. Is there just no qualified female fashion image makers out there?

Oh, not at all. There are a lot of female fashion image makers, female photographers, female directors, female DOP, a lot of them fucking talented, with newer and different visions, cause so far the main vision for the entire industry and the stories were told by males. But as in most jobs in this society it is not easy to make yourself a place, or even have the opportunity, being a female, so there you have the statistics.

How does it feel to be shot by a female photographer vs a male photographer — is there a difference, if so how?

I wouldn’t like to stigmatize, but it is true that at first without getting to know the photographer, it is more comfortable being shot by a female photographer. It is more comfortable because instinctively you don’t see “danger”, or you are not that much in alert in case what the “hetero male” photographer asks you is with ulterior motives, if they are flirting in between lines, I guess you are more relaxed.

Or for example I am usually friendly, spontaneous and I have fun at work, sometimes they would ask you at the end of the shooting to go and have some drinks or if you want to take some pictures any other day and that’s cool, but at first if it’s the “hetero photographer” who’s asking, you think it twice trying to understand from where he’s asking you. If the photographer is a female the first thing you do is not overthink all that. Of course, then you get to know the photographer, and it always depends on the person, doesn’t matter the gender, and I connect with the human being if there’s connection, I always feel comfortable.

If I would have to find a difference, I firmly believe that it always, always, depends on the person, I don’t typecast humans by their gender but maybe I would say regarding the results, if each photographer is different what they can portray or what they see in you when they photograph you, in general they can be different depending on whether they are male or female photographers.

What makes you feel comfortable in front of a camera?

I don’t really think much when I’m in front of the camera, I just do what I feel, I move how I feel, and it comes alone, it’s all about feeling.

Besides modelling what do you do?

I am studying law, almost finished, I’ll start the practices next year. I’m being brave and finally trying to go 100% with acting, and I guess it has been always something that I do apart from everything else, but I guess now it is taking another form, I write, I’m writing different things at the same time which I’m not sure it is very effective haha but I’m writing down an idea that has been in my head for a few years now, I guess as a short film? I actually don’t know, at least as a story played in front of a camera, because I imagine it very visual, and some other less pressure personal projects haha.

One says it takes 10’000 hours to become a master of a craft, how long in hours/days/years did it take you to feel like a master of a craft?

Haha I don’t feel a master of a craft in anything, but it is true that while modeling I feel you learn something new in every project everyday, you learn things about yourself, about how you express yourself, about how you move, how you talk, and at the end of the day when you take a look at some of the results you always see something you would improve, you would change and do it different the next time, experience gives you almost everything and the freedom of you proposing, taking risks or trying new stuff gives you the rest.

Who is your female fashion image maker icon and who is your the one to watch?

My one to watch now: Arale Reartes.

My female fashion image maker icon: Annie Leibovitz and Zoey Grossman

Who is your female designer icon and who is your the one to watch?

I don’t think I have an icon, but I guess it would always be Coco Chanel, I would say also Miuccia Prada, and some Isabel Marant and Vera Wang collections and Stella Mccartney when working in Chloé.

What do say about the charge that all fashion imagery is predominantly sexist?

Well we live in a sexist society, fashion is not less. It is true as I said that the creativity is changing but still there is a lot of work to do.

There is a big surge of feminism at the moment - do you think that will affect fashion image making?

I hope so, I think that in recent years the feminist movement has gained more strength and visibility and I think that it is making a place itself in society and as well in the work world, I think in fashion will be slower and more difficult but I’m sure it has affect and will do much more .

When I look at your work as a model, my favourite is the shoot for HysteriaHappySocks. What is yours?

I think at the moment, the last Diesel video campaign, you don’t even see me that much cause we were a huge cast of people haha but the shooting, the experience, the roles we played, the team it was so much fun and I keep it in a very special place.

What was your relation to design/fashion prior to modeling? Has it changed?

I had no relation, I would like to dress as how I felt but I didn’t really like going shopping and I wouldn’t knew any name of the industry, any models or designers, never bought a fashion magazine. Now I have a bigger idea and a bigger image about the industry, I’ve developed new interests, my taste has changed and also the way I dress, still don’t know what is trendy that season, so still dressing how I feel or how I am, but as me I guess it has grown up.

What qualities do you value in an agent or booker?

Communication and honesty. I do think this is a job of both, so I feel that both need to communicate about the next steps, about goals, dreams and how to work to get there, create a comfortable relationship. Partnering is essential for me.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you were ever given and what advice would you have wished for earlier on in your career?

The most valuable piece of advice I’ve ever been given was, don’t take rejections personally, be aware of what people say to you and from where it may come and don’t build anything from adulation, flattery or good words regarding your physique, if you receive them, cause that’s not reality.

And I guess I would give the same advises, in a job where mainly is your physique what brings you forward and what is ahead, don’t obsess over something you can’t change and don’t ever take it personally, people mostly speak from their own fears, experiences… so focus on what you know you can do or you want to be. Be yourself and remember your values and principles, and try to not be moved by the industry from one place to another, remember to be on your side.

https://www.5thmodels.com/modelo/mariona/