“Never Give Up”: Cape Town Man Goes From Selling Firewood to Modelling in Paris

• A young man from Cape Town shared that he went from selling firewood to modelling in Paris, France
• After liaising with his agent and getting callbacks, the model finally booked a gig with a luxury fashion brand and travelled to Europe
• Many social media users in the post's comment section congratulated the man and found his story inspiring

Dreams often take time to materialise, and the path to achieving them is rarely straightforward. A South African man shared his inspiring journey of patience, perseverance and dedication to becoming an international model.

From Cape Town to Paris

Cape Town resident Jaden Hoedemaker shared on his TikTok account (@jadenbutnotsmith) how he went from delivering firewood around the city to modelling for the international luxury fashion brand Balmain.

At first, Jaden had no idea he booked a gig for Balmain as he liaised with his agent and went to castings.

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After finding out, he shared that he drove to the dunes for a photo shoot and said in his post:

"Turns out, the shoot was going to go down in fashion history. It was Balmain x Disney for the 30th anniversary of The Lion King."

Four months later, Jaden went on to model in Paris and signed with "one of the best modelling agencies in the world."

"Never give up," he told app users."

Watch the video below:

Cape Town model makes SA proud

Several members of the online community took to Jaden's comment section to congratulate him on his international success and on representing the Mother City in such a unique way.

A happy @nikkihenry81 wrote in the comments:

"Yes, bra! Cape Town just has the most handsome men, period."

@jesicabosman said to Jaden:

"This is truly inspiring. Stay blessed."

@skywalker_cola, who loved the post, stated:

"A very inspiring story. Congratulations."

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@anotherrandomlady told the Balmain model:

"Oh, my gosh, and you so deserve it. You’re stunning!'

@janinejellars added in the comment section:

"You’re just an internet stranger, but I wanted to say well done and keep pushing. This is only the beginning."

After seeing Jaden's story, @john_bolton420 said:

"Insane, man. It gave me goosebumps thinking about how things changed for you. All the best."

3 other stories about modelling

• Last year, a seven-year-old South African model became a global sensation after her Colombia Fashion Kids 2023 performance went viral.
• In September, media personality and rapper Boity Thulo walked for MaXhosa at Paris Fashion Week.
• Briefly News made a list of the highest-paid models in the world for 2024, with the top model earning an estimated R7 billion.

Source: Briefly News