From modeling to couture, Paul, originally from the Dieppe region, wants to make a name for himself in fashion

“Initially, I didn’t pay attention to fashion. It was my mother who bought my clothes,” confides Paul Lagente, all smiles. The 24-year-old young man, originally from Ambrumesnil (Seine-Maritime), has changed a lot since then.

In fact, he made fashion his vocation. However, this former high school student from Neruda did not set out on this professional path at all. He left Dieppe for Paris, “to make films,” he explains. He studied in this field for a year, but did not see himself continuing.

The young man then turned to theater to become an actor. But once again, he wants to explore other horizons and continues his studies in 3D animation. During this year, he met several fashion students who were doing fittings, trying on clothes by models, so that a stylist or designer could make alterations before a show or event.

A first step in an agency

One of the students offers to be her model and to participate in a shooting in 2022. There, Paul Lagente meets a model who works for a fashion agency. “He asked me if I was interested in being an agency model. I told him: why not! “, he recalls.

This is how it all started with a contract signed at the end of 2023 with an agency. “I was very happy at the beginning, it was a new experience for me,” he says. He then discovers test photo shoots which allow him to build his portfolio to make himself known.

Ambrumesnilais also participates in pre-castings for prestigious brands during fashion week: Louis Vuitton, Prada then Dolce & Gabbana some time after fashion week. At that moment, “I made a bit of a film in my head: I’m in an agency, I’m showing for Louis Vuitton,” he says.

But very quickly, he returned with his feet on the ground and even mentioned having experienced a sort of emotional elevator: “After Louis Vuitton, I told myself that it wasn’t going to work, I did my self-criticism, I am questioned,” he admits.

The months go by and Paul Lagente thinks about stopping the adventure with his agency. It is ultimately she who will call him not to renew their collaboration. “I was very happy, I told myself that I was going to be able to work on my own,” he confides.

Taken a passion for sewing

Paul Lagente then decided to dive back into studies and enrolled at the IFM, the French Fashion Institute, with training in sewing. “If I’m contacted for modeling, that’s good, but I have to find something of my own to bounce back,” he says.

He dreams of showing for Yves Saint-Laurent, “for its history”, for Gucci, for its notoriety, or even for Egonlab, the brand of his first luxury pants in which he feels good: “It’s with this purchase that I saw the whole psychological side that there can be when you wear a piece of clothing,” he explains.

At the same time, opportunities present themselves to him.

He is contacted by an agency which saw him during a modeling competition in 2024. She decides to sign him and again, Paul Lagente carries out test shoots. For the next fashion week, scheduled for this month of January, the young model has been requested. “But I refused the offer, because I favor my studies in fashion. I want to do something without having to wait for someone. I love modeling, but you have to wait a lot,” he says.

The apprentice tailor was passionate about his studies: “I was the first to arrive at school and the last to leave. I fell into it and I love it.” His wish: to create clothes that bring well-being to those who wear them.

As for modeling, he is not closing the doors: “I know there is fashion week in June, I told the agency that I was available.”

Next year, Paul Lagente will continue his studies and embark on a model design bachelor’s degree, still in the same establishment.

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