In Vogue

OUR COMMUNITY

MARK ARROYO

Sammy Pandolfi

In Vogue

Local teen enjoys unplanned modeling career.

JENNIFER LOVY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

When a New Yorkbased model and talent management agency asked Sammy Pandolfi if he was interested in modeling after seeing the videos he posted on the social media platform TikTok, his first thought was, “this is a scam.”

Pandolfi, an 18-year-old Berkley resident, researched the agency and then called the New York phone number. It turned out that the message from Soul Artist Management was legitimate. Due to COVIDimposed travel restrictions, the agency turned to social media as a scouting platform instead of going to Europe.

“They were interested in talking to me, and my feelings went from skepticism to pure excitement,” says Pandolfi, who signed a contract with the company at the end of January.

In March, he traveled to New York to personally meet his new agents and have his first professional photoshoot. The pictures were for an online portfolio, which is being used to promote Pandolfi to magazines, designers and others looking for models.

“He has an incredible face,” said Sarah Hamilton-Bailey, Soul Artist Management agency director. “He’s also a perfect size. Our clients are responding extremely well to him. We’ve had major, major brands inquiring about him. He confirmed the YSL (Saint Laurent) show which is really unheard of with a brand new face.

“Now we have a lot of editorial magazines from all over the world that are shooting in America asking for him as well. He’s got the attention of fashion stylists, art directors, designers.”

In the few months since his March trip to New York, Pandolfi has already been in Vogue, had castings — auditions — with some major designers and traveled to Europe twice.

One of those trips was to the South of France, where he spent a mere 41 hours before returning home because he did not get the modeling job.

“He handled it all with incredible grace,” said his mom, Stephanie Pandolfi, about his two-day trip to France. “When I asked him if he was OK, he told me, ‘I had a great experience. I learned what these castings are all about, I met some great people, and I got to come home to my beautiful girlfriend.’”

The second trip was more successful. Pandolfi was selected to appear in the Saint Laurent Spring Summer 2022 menswear collection runway show in Venice, Italy.

The iconic fashion company flew him to Paris to make sure he was a good choice for the show. There, he met Anthony Vaccarello, YSL’s creative director, who liked his look, and Pandolfi got the job. He was one of 54 models in the show.

From Paris, Pandolfi flew to Venice, filling nine days with photoshoots, sightseeing and, of course, walking the runway sporting some very expensive designer clothing.

Pandolfi, who had no prior modeling or acting experience, is more of an exception than the rule.

“We have new faces that come in, and we test them, and sometimes it doesn’t work out,” said Hamilton-Bailey. “Sammy has a face that the camera absolutely loves. He’s kind of a natural.”

OTHER PURSUITS

Pandolfi graduated in 2020 from an online school and decided to take a gap year before college. He was supposed to backpack around Europe, but COVID put a halt to those plans. Instead, he found ways to earn money, played video games and spent time at a skate park. He still plans to continue his education, but he will pursue expanding his modeling career for now.

Aside from being a natural in front of the camera, he also has a talent for playing

“SAMMY HAS A FACE THAT THE CAMERA ABSOLUTELY LOVES. HE’S KIND OF A NATURAL.”