Dannyka Manangan

Kelsey Merritt shares how her modeling career in New York began

Article (news)

E. Kristhoff Cagape

Push Team

<p>Kelsey Merritt took a trip down memory lane and recounted how her modeling career started.</p><p>In an interview on the <em>Not Alone</em> podcast by Valeria Lipovetsky, Kelsey admitted that initially she was not familiar about the fashion industry.</p><p>&quot;It was really hard because I was from this really small town in the Philippines, not even from Manila. I had not heard of a fashion industry,&quot; she recalled. &quot;I didn&#x27;t know about modeling.&quot;</p><p>Kelsey&#x27;s modeling journey began when she was first scouted in Manila. While still in college, she was later discovered through social media and offered the opportunity to model in New York.</p><p>&quot;I was discovered by this New York director for Wilhelmina Models at that time on Instagram. I remember I was a sophomore in college, and I was doing a paper and I got an email. And it said &#x27;Modeling in the Big Apple,&#x27;&quot; she recalled.</p><p>The Filipino model was 17 years old when the New York director reached out to her. &quot;It was really this legit guy who discovered Coco Rocha. My dad talked to him for two hours because he was telling me to go to New York on my own. My dad wouldn&#x27;t let me. I was like &#x27;I&#x27;m good, I&#x27;m old, I can do it.&#x27; But now in hindsight, I&#x27;m like okay, that was fair,&quot; she shared.</p><div><br/></div><div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DJnMezVS30U/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA=="></a></div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-10" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/DJnMezVS30U/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=540&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A10%2C%22os%22%3A4940550.8%2C%22ls%22%3A53007.09999999963%2C%22le%22%3A53669.39999999991%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="880" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-10" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><p>Reflecting on her experience modeling in the Philippines and New York, Kelsey shared: &quot;What was actually fascinating [was] in the Philippines growing up biracial, I was always the white girl. And then I get to New York and I was always the Asian girl. It was discombobulating to me because I grew up being the white girl and now here I am the Asian girl, so it was just really weird to like experience that.&quot;</p><p>In the same interview, Kelsey also shared her investments in recent years which includes a house in Los Angeles, California. Kelsey relayed that modeling and content creation on social media have paved the way for her to make big investments. &quot;There&#x27;s so much money to be made in digital media. So the combination of both, the modeling and digital media, I&#x27;m just very grateful to have both,&quot; she said.</p><p>Kelsey is the first Filipino woman to walk in the Victoria&#x27;s Secret Fashion Show and to appear in the<em> Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue</em>.</p>

<p>Kelsey Merritt was 17 when she was offered the opportunity to model in New York.</p>

Kelsey Merritt was 17 when she was offered the opportunity to model in New York.