W

hen a New York-
based model and 
talent management 
agency asked Sammy Pandolfi 
if he was interested in mod-
eling after seeing the videos 
he posted on the social media 
platform TikTok, his first 
thought was, “this is a scam.
” 
Pandolfi, an 18-year-old 
Berkley resident, researched 
the agency and then called the 
New York phone number. It 

turned out that the message 
from Soul Artist Management 
was legitimate. Due to COVID-
imposed travel restrictions, the 
agency turned to social media 
as a scouting platform instead 
of going to Europe. 
“They were interested in 
talking to me, and my feelings 
went from skepticism to pure 
excitement,” says Pandolfi, who 
signed a contract with the com-
pany at the end of January.

In March, he traveled to 
New York to personally meet 
his new agents and have his 
first professional photoshoot. 
The pictures were for an online 
portfolio, which is being used 
to promote Pandolfi to mag-
azines, designers and others 
looking for models. 
“He has an incredible face,
” 
said Sarah Hamilton-Bailey, 
Soul Artist Management agen-
cy director. “He’s also a perfect 
size. Our clients are responding 
extremely well to him. We’ve 
had major, major brands 
inquiring about him. He con-
firmed the YSL (Saint Laurent) 
show which is really unheard of 
with a brand new face.
“Now we have a lot of edi-
torial magazines from all over 
the world that are shooting in 
America asking for him as well. 
He’s got the attention of fashion 
stylists, art directors, designers.
” 
In the few months since 
his March trip to New York, 
Pandolfi has already been in 
Vogue, had castings — audi-
tions — with some major 
designers and traveled to 
Europe twice. 
One of those trips was to 
the South of France, where he 
spent a mere 41 hours before 
returning home because he did 
not get the modeling job. 
“He handled it all with 
incredible grace,
” said his mom, 
Stephanie Pandolfi, about his 
two-day trip to France. “When 
I asked him if he was OK, he 
told me, ‘I had a great expe-
rience. I learned what these 
castings are all about, I met 
some great people, and I got 
to come home to my beautiful 
girlfriend.
’”

The second trip was more 
successful. Pandolfi was 
selected to appear in the Saint 
Laurent Spring Summer 2022 
menswear collection runway 
show in Venice, Italy. 
The iconic fashion company 
flew him to Paris to make sure 
he was a good choice for the 
show. There, he met Anthony 
Vaccarello, YSL’s creative direc-
tor, who liked his look, and 
Pandolfi got the job. He was 
one of 54 models in the show. 
From Paris, Pandolfi flew to 
Venice, filling nine days with 
photoshoots, sightseeing and, 
of course, walking the runway 
sporting some very expensive 
designer clothing.
Pandolfi, who had no prior 
modeling or acting experience, 
is more of an exception than 
the rule.
“We have new faces that 
come in, and we test them, and 
sometimes it doesn’t work out,
” 
said Hamilton-Bailey. “Sammy 
has a face that the camera 
absolutely loves. He’s kind of a 
natural.
”

OTHER PURSUITS
Pandolfi graduated in 2020 
from an online school and 
decided to take a gap year 
before college. He was sup-
posed to backpack around 
Europe, but COVID put a 
halt to those plans. Instead, 
he found ways to earn money, 
played video games and spent 
time at a skate park. He still 
plans to continue his education, 
but he will pursue expanding 
his modeling career for now. 
Aside from being a natural 
in front of the camera, he 
also has a talent for playing 

Local teen enjoys unplanned 
modeling career.

“SAMMY HAS A FACE THAT THE CAMERA

ABSOLUTELY LOVES. HE’S KIND OF A NATURAL.”

— SAMMY’S TALENT AGENT, SARAH HAMILTON-BAILEY

22 | AUGUST 12 • 2021 

 In 
Vogue

OUR COMMUNITY

JENNIFER LOVY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Sammy 
Pandolfi

MARK ARROYO

