Between the hits and misses at the just concluded Guyana Fashion Weekend 2008, Melessa Payne was perhaps the only constant. The 23-year-old model undoubtedly owned the runway, her poise and panache winning admirers including Jamaica’s Pulse Model Management boss Kingsley Cooper, who was so impressed with her that he told anyone within an earshot that she had “The Look”. Melessa has since been screened by the agency. (Another local model Ayanna Harris has also been screened.) She has not been selected as yet, but she hopes she will make the cut. For Melessa, a virtual pageant veteran who won last year’s Miss Guyana-Universe, the attention is nothing new. The success of her modelling career is the culmination of a lot of hard work. She sat down recently to talk about modelling, her life in pageants and how exactly she works up the nerve to wear those tiny clothes.
You look intimidating on the runway. Should people be afraid of you?
Oh no. I am a very fun person. Very down to earth. I like to eat pizza and hang out with my friends. I like kids and I like reading.
What exactly goes on in your head when you walk out on to the runway and you are the centre of attention?
I am just focused. I am trying to display the clothes the best way I know how. I am trying to remember the routine. To actually sell the designer. And to promote modelling in Guyana. So I just look straight ahead, look at the cameras and focus on doing the right thing.
A lot of people–more women than men I imagine–are terrified by the idea of being in front of the public with very little clothes on. Has that ever been a fear of yours or has it always been easy for you?
It was never easy. I came from a different place. I was actually very tom-boyish. So it took some time before I got accustomed to wearing the little pieces, like the swimsuits. But just advertising the clothes and knowing I am doing this to sell and promote the designer makes me feel comfortable. I am scared sometimes of some of the clothes I have to wear, but I just try to picture everybody else in the same clothing. And that helps a lot actually.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think you look good with more clothes on. Scared of any designers in particular, though?
No. I am not scared of any of the designers. I trust the designers because I know that they want their clothes to sell and so they would have my best interest at heart.
So, when you hear you’re going to be modelling for Olympia [Small-Sonaram], that doesn’t-
No. Olympia has some very nice pieces and I think she has grown too, from the pieces she used to do. She has some very mature pieces now.
But do you ever feel self-conscious though about your body when you are out there and the cameras are flashing like fairy lights at Christmas?
No. Because I dance I think I am toned. I try to work out and keep the size, keep the shape that the trainers like, the body-type that they would want to work with. I try to keep on that level. But self conscious? No.
Is staying in shape hard?
No. Thanks to Classique [the Dance Company] I have been able to get that extra workout. And just keep in shape.
Do you ever worry–and this is a concern generally about modelling–about the image or body type that the fashion industry has been trying to sell to women and to young girls?
Well, I think everybody wants to be a part of the big market when it comes to the fashion industry: Milan. Paris. And so there is a required size but I don’t think that anybody should starve themselves or stop eating to get to that place. I am comfortable with my size. I eat healthy and I work out, so I’m thin but not anorexic or anything like that. I talk to girls. I would give advice to my fellow models and just let them know that you don’t have to work extra hard to be thin. I tell them to just stay healthy and to do the right thing. You can keep the size without getting really, really thin.
You are becoming more successful as a model, so is your pageant career now completely behind you?
Umm, yeah. After Ms. Carnivale… I said that that would have been my last pageant but I think I still have room for one more. I am not sure yet. I haven’t decided but I was approached. I was asked to do Ms. Earth.
You once competed in something called Miss Ecstasy. What was that about?
It’s like a normal pageant with a fantasy segment featuring future shock wear, which is basically what you think fashion would look like in the next ten years.
When I heard the name it sounded kind of pornographic. I was trying to imagine what the talent piece could be.
Oh. [Laughs.] I did a soca piece though.
There has been some debate recently about how pageants as a medium exploit women. How do you see it?
I think people looking in from the outside don’t get the general idea or concept of what pageants are there for, but they help young women to have more confidence and to actually learn more about themselves, the country and the world as a whole. You get to meet people, you socialize more, you develop different skills, your fashion taste improves and you are given a voice where you can get involved in a charity, you get community-spirited and help people. So, it does a lot to help women rather than exploit them.
I once read that Tyra Banks has developed 275 different smiles as part of her repertoire. Do you have any secret weapons that you have been working on to help you take over the modelling world?
Well, I was told that I can smile with my eyes. I worked with Fadil [Berisha], who is the official photographer for Miss Universe and I worked with Donn [Thompson, the official photographer for GFW 2008] and he says I have nice eyes and I can smile with my eyes. My secret… I do have a lot of other looks, but the photographer mainly tells you what to do. If you want to be aggressive, or soft, angry, whatever the look is, they would tell you. I am just the model so….
Now, this is the kind of stuff that isn’t going to last forever. Do you think about life after the catwalk/runway?
I have been working towards this for quite some time. But I have also been focused on other things. I have started designing. I am also a certified cosmetologist. I have a certificate in industrial relations and sociology and I am hoping to start a psychology programme next January. I would love to be a child psychiatrist. If I don’t get that, then there are will always be something else for me to fall back on.
Why child psychiatry?
Well, like I said earlier, I love children. I have been working with the Sophia Special School, for underprivileged children, drop-outs. So, we have been doing different things there and I also have a charitable organization for underprivileged children–the Beacon of Hope–which operates out of my house. We provide food, clothing and some amount of medical attention for underprivileged children. Right now we are not doing anything. Our last project was Easter. I hope to get in touch with the members and to start back our regular projects for Christmas. I wasn’t around and some of the members have been busy too. Most of them are pageant people and they are all caught up in different things.
