TAO FERNANDEZ CAINO
TAO - The art of redefining yourself.
Tao was born in Goya, a small town in Argentina. Growing up he loved music, acting and art. At a very young age, Tao got introduced to the fashion industry. His twins aunts were models and while walking for local brands, they would bring Tao with them who then started doing kids’ shows. He then got discovered and moved to Buenos Aires to pursue his modelling career, while also studying architecture and acting. He got a scholarship allowing him to act on TV. Eventually, he got discovered by a brand who did a campaign displaying all over Buenos Aires. This kicked off his career. Tao got sent to Paris at 18 years old, where his international model career began. His first job, after 11 months and a lot of hard work, was a shoe catalogue shot by Karl Lagerfeldt. This gave him the launch in Europe that he needed.
Tao travelled around in Europe while working and got the opportunity to work with John Galliano, for their first men’s collection. At the time, Tao had long hair and a very androgynous style. Mr Galliano decided to take Tao under his wings and used him for the entire collection for many seasons. Eventually, Tao started working for Saint Laurent and director Stefano Pilatti, and later on Louis Vuitton and director Marc Jacobs.
While working for Louis Vuitton, Tao became close friends with designer Fabrizio Viti. One day, Viti overheard Tao singing and decided to help him in the music industry. He started to take singing lessons and smaller projects which eventually led him to work on projects with Opéra Bastille in Paris. The timing was wrong for dedicating fully to music, and Tao shifted his 100% focus to hs modeling career.
The time came for Tao to move to NYC and try out the American market. He stayed for seven years, working both as a model while doing other side-projects like working in a vintage furniture store. He started to miss Europe and eventually moved to Milano, Italy. The Milanese way of living is a mix of the Northern Europe together with the soul and passion of the South, and Tao immediately felt like home.
Two year passed and then Covid-19 hit Italy. During lockdown Tao decided to get involved with different projects to help other people, care-takers and hospitals. He used his social media platforms to motivate and inspire other people. He also created The Ateliér Scouting, a scouting company helping potential models with their first steps in the industry.
Tao is convinced that nothing is impossible and that his life is a testimony to that. He has throughout his life faced an infinite amount of challenges, but decided to face them with a continuous effort to keep trying to reach his goals. He believes that in order to live your life to the fullest, you need to master the skill of constantly redefining yourself.
Through his experiences, he wants to be a reference for the dreamers that feel that they might not be understood, the outcasts, the ones that don’t feel like they belong, and show them that through hard work your dreams eventually do come true. By learning how to be open and to see the good in everything, those dreams come to life in many different ways.
Text: Ebba Deijenberg Skiöldebrand
Photographer: Ràfael Voguera
IG: iblameraff
Wardrobe Stylist: Tatiana Carpignano
IG: tatianacarpignano
Makeup Artist: Federica Pisu
IG: fede_pisu
Hair Stylist: Vasile Longhi
IG: vasile_longhi
Male Model: Tao Fernandez Caino @ urbnmilan
IG: taofernandezcaino
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