Taela Aitcheson's entrance into modelling was the sort many aspiring models would happily die for.
The keen rugby player, who had not given a thought to modelling, was walking down the street in Dunedin last year when he caught the eye of a model scout.
At first he thought nothing of it, but then ‘‘sure enough she chased us down in town and she asked ‘what do you think about modelling'.''
The scout turned out to be looking for people to take part in a model search to find the new faces of iD Dunedin Fashion Week.
The Kaikorai Valley College pupil said he thought at first it was ‘‘not my thing'', but then decided to give it a go.
In November, he won the right to model in both the iD Dunedin Fashion Show and the iD International Emerging Designer Awards.
Yesterday, he was modelling the creations of emerging designers at the Dunedin Centre.
‘‘It was both frightening and enjoyable. You're standing there and all the lights are flashing in your face and your knees start to go a wee bit weak. But, yeah, it's good.''
The reaction from his family had been supportive, but some friends had asked what he was doing modelling when the former Kaikorai Valley College fullback and first five-eighth was ‘‘more of a rugby player''.
But modelling was where he planned to devote his energy.
‘‘This season I've given rugby up. That's a tough call.
‘‘I quite like doing this now, so hopefully it can lead somewhere,'' he said.
