In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes. So said Andy Warhol, famously – and that was before the days of the internet. Still, one viral star who looks set to transcend that time limit is Jeremy Meeks, aka hot mugshot guy. After his police booking photo led to his baby-blue eyes melting hearts across the world, Meeks (now free from prison) has found work as a model.
Yesterday, he made it to the runway at New York Fashion Week, walking for Philipp Plein’s first show Stateside. On brand for the designer, everything was appropriately supersized: from the setting (taking over New York’s landmark Public Library), down to even the casting – which included American rappers Young Thug (presumably, crashing the VFiles runway last season has given him a taste for modelling), Desiigner and Fetty Wap. Last season’s surprise cameo, Paris Hilton, sat this one out on a front row that included none other than Madonna, alongside Kylie Jenner and even, Tiffany Trump. A picture of modern America?
That certainly would fit the theme for this season – a typically unadulterated Plein take on the Land of the Free that featured people dressed as Statues of Liberty greeting guests on the steps outside, Elvis impersonators and Times Square’s famous naked cowboy (because, why not?).
From serving time to walking for Plein and having inimitable fashion editor Carine Roitfeld post a photo with him just before the show, things are certainly looking up for the ex-convict Meeks. Maybe the American Dream is still alive after all.
