Born in 1977, Andres Velencoso grew up in Tossa del Mar, a small town near Barcelona, Spain. He is the picture perfect image of a young Spanish man: dark brown locks of hair, a debonair and elegant smile, and dark mysterious eyes. Now Andres Segura stars in Fall 2003 highly anticipated Louis Vuitton campaign. The campaign, which was shot by photographer duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot, will feature the Latin hunk opposite international star Jennifer Lopez.
Growing up in Tossa del Mar, a small seaside town outside Barcelona, Segura finished school before venturing into a Spanish modeling agency, Group Models Management. But his journey to success was filled with frustration and rejections in the beginning. A buzzed haircut and a muscular body didn’t seem to be the ideal image that European market demands. When Andres went to Milan, almost every agent thought that he was too big and goofy.
Natalie Kates, an agent from New York based Q Model Management opened the door to Andres Segura. With his newly grown long hair, Andres finally landed in New York in the early spring of 2001.
Undeniably gorgeous, yet unpolished and speaking no English, Andres Segura traveled overseas for his first time to New York City. Within days of arriving he found himself on the set of a shoot in East Hampton, New York. Despite the hardships of a language barrier, he caught the eyes of some of the industry’s most famous photographers including Francois Nars, Michael Thompson, Hiro and Greg Kadel.
In the Spring 2002 his first campaign for Banana Republic made him one of the most recognizable men in fashion. His handsome smile brought him from a small village to a billboard at the top of Times Square.
For a year following, he continued his modeling when photographer duo Inez and Vinoodh and stylist Joe McKenna chose him to be the subject of French Vogue’s first male model profile. The issue, which debuted in April 2003, launched him to the eyes of fashion and catapulted him to become the new male icon.
His sharp good looks have now matured into ultra-sexiness and his English is swept with a sharp charming accent that makes him the new definition for male beauty. The stunning black and white editorial in French Vogue caught the eyes of Louis Vuitton creative director Marc Jacobs who hand-selecting Segura to star in the Fall 2003 Louis Vuitton campaign while rumors of Jennifer Lopez’s involvement began to swirl. Ben Affleck was allegedly hanging around on set to make sure they behaved themselves.
It wasn’t until the final call sheet appeared at Q Management a day before the shoot, which confirmed Lopez’s appearance, that the world outside of fashion would begin to know Segura’s name and now it is not soon that they will forget it.
He has followed up his Fall 2003 campaign for Louis Vuitton, with appearances in Citizen K, The Face, and the upcoming Brioni and Exte Campaigns, along with television profiles on Entertainment Tonight and EXTRA.
