AFTER her big break as a finalist on Make Me a ZALORA Model Cycle 4 in 2019, Callie L. De Wind saw an increase in demand for her presence as a model for several fashion companies. Prior to that, she had only modelled for a year after being scouted by a magazine.
“Before I started modelling, I was, and still am, working for a foodie company. I write and do marketing for them. Basically, content creation. I only started modelling in 2018. Before that, I was studying Fashion Design until 2016.
How did you get into modelling?
I started when I was approached by FEMALE magazine. They wanted to feature me in one of their beauty spreads after finding me on Instagram. That’s how it started. Slowly, fashion companies wanted me to model for them.
As a child, you see all these girls and you’re just like: “Wow, I want to be like them!” It has always been something I was interested in. When they came up to me and asked if I was interested, I was like: “Hell yeah!”
Things really took off for me after I became a finalist in Make Me a ZALORA Model Cycle 4.
Were you always as confident as you currently are, or was it a gradual process?
It was definitely a gradual process. Even when I began modelling, I was still conscious and not very confident. As years went by, I started surrounding myself with people who were very accepting of me, that’s when I started gaining confidence. I realised that being around people who love you for who you are is very important, because the more you are with negative people, the more they ‘seed’ you with thoughts are not very healthy for yourself.
It took me a while to get used to being in front of the camera. I’ve sort of developed this attitude where I do not care what people think. Before I come on set, my mindset would be: “You’re doing this because you enjoy it, so enjoy yourself. Do not think too much about what’s happening around. Just be yourself”.
Do you see body image acceptance lasting a long time?
I would hope that it’s a thing that would be going on forever. Body positivity should not be a fad that comes around for a few years and dies down. It should be a continuous thing, because everyone struggles. I feel like everyone should love themselves and accept their bodies.
Have others approached you on your views about your positive body mindset?
I have had a few younger girls coming up to me about this. Sometimes, I even get DMs on Instagram with girls saying: “I love your confidence. How do you do it?” I’ll try to help them as much as I can because it is still a journey for me, especially in loving myself.”
How do you feel about the term “plus-sized”?
There’s a lot of sides to this. A lot of people say “plus-sized” is like a whole different category, but I would like to put it as just a “model”. Because why would you want to separate everybody? There are petite models, plus-sized models, catwalk models. I don’t agree with the term “plus-sized”, but it’s the most recognised term at the moment.
If I were to just say “I’m a model” people might respond with: “You can be a model at this size?” But if I were to say: “I’m a plus-sized model”, they would be like: “Oh, okay.” I definitely don’t agree with the term, but it’s what society accepts right now.
Maybe in future, it will slowly move out of that category and be identified solely as “model”.
