Model of a man

Matvey Lykov is one of the men who makes his living as a human clothes hanger. He speaks three languages,has a college degree in education and is quick to tell you he’s living his dream right now. Travelling the world,appearing in magazines,making some money.

Lykov shared his story—one that took him from scrubbing the toilets of Manhattan to ranking in the top 25 male models on the international circuit. A male model at Lykov’s level pulls down a tenth of what a female of comparable calibre can expect. His average fee of $1,000 a show in Europe doesn’t add up to anything close to a glamorous lifestyle.

According to Lykov,the lodging arranged by a modelling agency means dormitory-style digs,with four to six guys in tiny apartments. “Before my first show in Milan,we were staying in this apartment that belonged to a male model,” Lykov recalls. “I was staying with these Canadians. They destroyed all the furniture,they were throwing chairs and beer bottles out of the window from the fourth floor onto cars. Since then I try not to stay with other models like that.”

During the recent Paris shows,he found himself booked in 15 shows,which meant he needed to hire a driver. “I would get up at 6,get in the car and be at castings,fittings and shows until 3 in the morning sometimes.”

This season,Lykov walked 34 shows in the three major markets of Milan,Paris and New York. Adding it all up being No. 24 on the list of top-ranked male models means making somewhere near $40,000 a year on the runways before taxes. Between fashion weeks,Lykov said,the goal is to do editorial shoots to beef up the model portfolio for the next season.

The men can have careers into their early 30s,but Lykov wants “to earn some cash and go to school in America for the film industry. I want to try everything—acting,editing,producing.” (His father,Aleksandr Lykov,is an actor back in Russia.)

But for now,the model who was plucked from obscurity to be the face of the Jil Sander fall 2007 and spring 2008 ad campaigns says he’s already looking ahead to “campaign season”,when the luxury brands start the search for the models that will represent their labels in the season-long print ad campaigns. “This is where the money is hidden. You wanna do that—that’s your goal.”
_Adam Tschorn,LATWP