LONDON — Louie Chaban, a veteran mannequin agent, has died at age of 69.
His dying was confirmed on Instagram by the British mannequin and founding father of the Bathtub Style Competition, Jade Parfitt.
Chaban was liable for the breakthrough careers of Adriana Lima, Erin O’Connor, Karen Elson, Maggie Rizer, Missy Rayder, Agyness Deyn and Parfitt.
Agyness Deyn, Anna Sui and Louie Chaban in 2009.
Patrick McMullan by way of Getty Picture
He held a number of completely different positions at modeling companies, particularly, Ford, The Lions, Elite, DNA, and Girls. He represented Doutzen Kroes, Raquel Zimmermann, Cameron Russell and Jamie Bochert.
In September 2020, he returned to Ford Fashions, the place he was named director of U.S. Girls’s enterprise, directing the New York Girls’s Division and overseeing the ladies’s enterprise throughout the U.S., reporting to Decio Restelli Ribeiro, president of the group with places of work within the U.S., France and Brazil.
In an interview, The Lions managing companion Ali Kavoussi stated that the company had been open for 12 years and within the first eight of these years, Chaban was “one among my companions and mentors.”
“He taught me a lot about mannequin administration, however past that, his ardour for artwork, design, structure, and furnishings was infectious. These have been his true loves,” he added.
Kavoussi describes Chaban as having “deep, real friendships” within the trend business with lots of these relationships present lengthy earlier than he began his profession.
“He was one of many funniest individuals I’ve ever recognized, and I’ll always remember the profound function he performed in my life and within the lives of all who beloved him so dearly. He was delicate, sturdy, and I really feel so fortunate to have shared a decade of labor, laughter, and friendship with him,” he stated.
Parfitt wrote on her social media account that “Louie was the actual deal, the most effective, the good and very unlikely agent I ever had. Earlier than changing into a mannequin agent he had labored every kind of jobs together with being a doorman on the Mudd Membership in its heyday.”
“This intelligent, wry man from Queens by way of Cuba regarded completely misplaced once I first met him at Ford Fashions within the ‘90s; we turned quick associates, in addition to him pushing me for jobs solely he knew I may get. He taught me find out how to play pool, took me to take heed to the Strokes, to discover the marvel that’s Coney Island; we went playing, to enjoyable festivals, however largely beloved to take a seat and chew the fats and giggle in regards to the loopy world we discovered ourselves in.”
Francine McGivern, Missy Rayder, Louie Chaban and Maripol in 2006.
Patrick McMullan by way of Getty Picture
Chaban labored arduous to get Parfitt again into the style scene after she broke her ankle.
“He labored so arduous for me, getting me again as soon as once more into rooms he was positive I must be in. Way more than my agent, my chosen household,” Parfitt stated.
Style photographer Liz Collins commented on Parfitt’s publish saying, “I’m so sorry to listen to this tragic information of the world’s lack of one of many good ones. Louie was all the time such a help to you women.”
Chaban’s entry into the style world began by manning the door on the New York membership Mudd within the ’70s. It’s the place he befriended the likes of Steven Meisel, Anna Sui and Paul Cavaco.
Within the ’90s, he was working for Sui till Meisel steered that he work at a mannequin company.
The photographer launched him to Katie Ford, the daughter of Ford Fashions founder Eileen Ford.
He was at Ford Fashions for over a yr till transferring over to Elite, the place Elson, Rizer, Parfitt and Lima adopted him.
Chaban stayed at Elite for 4 years and constructed a reputation for himself as being robust and overprotective of his fashions.
He left the mannequin company to hitch DNA, the place he labored with Maryna Linchuk and Deyn.
Chaban was a prolific mannequin agent, all the time leaping from one company to a different with the help of his friends and fashions.
He was adored by all his fashions with lots of them calling him greater than an agent in interviews.
