Little did Jamaican model Winston Lawrence know that his recent trip to Greece for fashion assignments would make him a viral TikTok star.
En route to the southeastern European nation in May, the SAINT International stunner mused at high altitude, “Why don’t I just start vlogging every day when I am there?”
That decision to document his take on Grecian life and culture with daily posts proved to be a smart move. Lawrence quintupled his online followers on the strength of his ‘Jamaican Living in Greece’ video uploaded on June 19. His outsider observations on Greek fashion, women, and love of food were nuanced and insightful and coloured with ample helpings of an islander’s wit. It captivated over 390,000 views and became a buzzy summertime conversation piece that was widely reshared.
It’s after 10 on Saturday night at the AC Hotel Kingston, where SAINT hosted its recent 25th anniversary Fashion Face of the Caribbean and Jamaica Avant Garde Designer of the Year finals.
The Portland-born Lawrence has flown in from New York, where he currently resides. He’s back to lend support to the agency’s legacy and to SAINT head honcho Deiwght Peters, who launched him into the international fashion industry six years earlier with an exclusive Gucci runway booking at Milan Fashion Week.
During intermission from the show, Lawrence is a bona fide celebrity. Patrons inside the hotel’s Rocksteady ballroom and model contestants backstage alike make a beeline, excitedly greeting him. There are repeated handshakes, photo requests and tales of how much they love his TikTok posts.
“In creating content, I like to put a smile on people’s faces,” he explained to The Sunday Gleaner as we retreated from the ballroom to an adjacent passageway – away from the fan-adoring crowd – to talk. “People get some joy from the thing; it really stimulates their dopamine. That’s how I would describe it. How do I go about making vids? I do not plan anything, it’s just my daily lifestyle… . I record every little thing and put the videos together and do a voice-over.”
There’s no textbook method behind his creative process as he relies on spontaneous activity to drive the narratives of his posts. “I have literally no approach, but I maintain consistency and post every day. I always say to God, ‘If I am to be known for something, let it be something positive,’ because I don’t like the negativity. I am pushing positivity straight,” shared the Port Antonio High grad whose TikTok followers grew from 9,000 to more than 49,000.
Raised in Anchovy, Portland, by his educator mother, Sophia Richards, alongside his twin siblings Kaydeen and Joedeen, Winston was scouted in fifth form on a walk home from school in 2018 by SAINT model Aneita Moore.
“She walked up and was telling me about the agency and asked if I would be interested,” recalled the six-feet-two-inches-tall model. “She took my picture and sent it to Deiwght there and then. He was astonished by the photo and responded that he wanted to meet ASAP.”
While initially interested, an adolescent Lawrence’s mood shifted when the appointed day to travel to Kingston came.
“I remember I woke up and didn’t feel like going again. My sister Jodeen was really the one [who] pushed me to attend that meeting. She was ready before me and was like, ‘You can’t let me get ready for no reason,’ and pushed me to go, so big up my sister. But Mummi was open to it as well, she said: ‘Gwaan man’.”
The lanky teen’s face-to-face with Peters had resonance. “He was a different person. Well-spoken, bold and confident. I had never met anyone like him before. I remember he told me he was going to turn me into a superstar,” Lawrence recounted.
Indeed, a brand new world was the model ingenue’s oyster.
The exclusive Gucci booking “was my first time on a plane, but we missed the flight … luckily, Deiwght was there with me travelling, so it was good.”
Landing in Italy made its own mark, too.”Everything was just different. I saw trains, development, buildings me never see so big in my life. Then, it was in fashion, so everything well festive. I am there seeing all these models who have a different look and from different races, and I can communicate with them and learn something from them. That’s what I really loved.”
Post-Gucci, Lawrence enjoyed a fantastic reception from the industry. He scored global advertising campaigns for European luxury fashion houses Loewe and Dunhill, as well as for Jamaican-American designer Edvin Thompson’s Theophilo label.
Then came a super-long list of runway jobs for the big guns. Among them, Thom Browne and Marni at New York Fashion Week. Lanvin, Off-White, Rick Owens and Amiri in Paris. Wales Bonner in London.
There have been unexpected historic achievements along the way for the self-professed ‘country-boy’ who relished dressing up in the latest urban menswear and sharing Portie-shot visuals years before he would become a runway staple on catwalks across the world.
He was the first black male model to cover Vogue Hommes’ Spring/Summer 2020 edition. In the midst of the global pandemic, he was also directly requested by fast-fashion Spanish retailer Zara to execute a self-shot editorial for their newest collection. They shipped it to Jamaica, where Lawrence had returned in the lockdown era to be with his immediate family.
Work-wise, we direct a query as to which tips more in his favour: runway versus editorial?
“The thing I like most about the runway is [that] it full a excitement. Agencies prioritise [the] runway more than anything else. You could have a shoot tomorrow, but if you book a runway show, they are going to make you do it. With editorial shoots, I like that you can never know what to expect on a shoot. They can bring you to the desert, the beach, a river; they are creative and I like that about them.”
As to why he carries a torch for fashion, the 24-year-old’s answer easily rolled off the tongue: “You can be yourself, create and be stylish. You can put on anything you want and feel comfortable. You can really be who you are, unapologetic.”
A mainstay in the biz for more than half a decade, Lawrence told The Sunday Gleaner that other pursuits outside of modelling satisfy his creative soul. He has been at the ones-and-twos, deejaying internationally since 2022.
“I started in Paris at a place called Serpent à Plume. I was doing a photoshoot, and a guy there had a bar, so I asked if they had live DJs. We connected, and I brought a crowd. From that, I played there three times. Then I did a set in the UK and also in Jamaica. Now I am in New York and play at Miss Lily’s on Fridays. Me outside for the summer.”
Continuing, Lawrence amped up the story behind his beloved pastime. “I am really passionate about music because it makes me happy. Mi enjoy the melodies, and I really do have something special in terms of skills,” he further noted. “Most DJs don’t play like me and are not as quick. I am versatile because I can mix any genre, because to me, there are no rules. It’s fun for me, and I’m building a career because music is forever. People always want to party and celebrate, so being in that industry is definitely a must for me.”
Elsewhere, he’s ventured into merchandising and is presently e-retailing T-shirts with catchphrases he’s used in his TikTok vids.
“I collaborated with African designer Hamed Cisse, who founded the label Freemind US. I give ideas to him and he brings them to life,” he shares of their partnership. “People a support the thing. They like the words I have been using from my sense of humour, ‘ Blaze Up That’ and ‘Two Plus One Equal Murda’. The feedback has been good from the shirts I have released already, but in the comments, they stated other words they want to see on t-shirts. So, I am currently working on that with the designer, and we are going to put out new shirts soon.
Life’s next chapter, according to him, depends on what the Man upstairs has in store.
“I put all my faith and trust in the Lord. I live by the day as Matthew 6, verse 34 says, ‘Do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will provide for itself.’ Mi noh worry bout tomorrow. But what I can say is I have faith that tomorrow will be great,” he professed. “I feel that everything is aligned. When you are putting out positivity, when you pray, when you read your Bible, when you manifest, things work out. Put God first, and he will guide you along the way. Pure success and pure development.”
