BIGPersonality
Made In
New York Dilone, the face of DKNY’s newest viral ad campaign, gives us a glimpse inside her crazy, busy, joyful world. BY CHARLES MANNING FA S H I O N W E E K D A I LY. C O M
What’s your earliest memory of DKNY? My sister had a lot of clothes from DKNY, but I think my first memory of their campaigns was when Cara Delevingne was standing on the taxi. I thought that was awesome. What do you like about your own DKNY campaign— is there anything about it that feels different from other work you’ve done? It’s just a lot happier, which is really nice. Fashion can be really serious a lot of the time, but this campaign was just about expressing yourself and letting that shine. I thought that was cool. How did you become interested in fashion? I watched America’s Next Top Model religiously, but I didn’t know anyone in fashion until I met my cousin. My uncle passed away, and she lived in the city and came out to Long Island for the funeral. She was a stylist and told me I should be a model. How did the reality of modeling differ from what you had seen on TV? From watching America’s Next Top Model, I kind of expected it to be difficult. I never expected it to be easy in any way. You hear so many horror stories. I’m grateful that I haven’t had any bad experiences. I’m really tough, and I’ve been working since I was 12 years old, so I’m like, “Eh, it could be worse.” I’m probably more shocked than anything at how great it’s been. What job were you doing at age 12? You weren’t modeling yet, were you? All my brothers and sisters worked at a restaurant, and during the winter, they needed a coat check girl. I could barely reach the coat hangers, but I got paid like $300 for the weekend. For a 12-year-old, that’s pretty great. What did you do with your earnings? I’m not the best with money. I really believe that money comes and goes, and if you give it away, it’s always going to come back. My sister wanted to buy these stud earrings for her boyfriend, so I gave her the money. Your modeling career didn’t take off right away—and you even walked away from the business at one point. What made you decide to give it another shot? I was with a different agency at the time, and they didn’t really believe in me. They teased me for my Dominican curls, and then they let me go. I was working as a
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