Well Pulse Entertainment holds its annual Caribbean Model Search live finals this Friday and I thought I’d let you in on former winner Oraine Barrett, what has the competition done for him?

Oraine Barrett grew up in rural St. Elizabeth, Jamaica loving football. That’s what his life was about mostly until he kind-of collided with modeling. I asked him how he ended up entering Model Search in the first place:

actually my brother’s girlfriend was the one interested but she was shy to go to pulse and give it a shot so my brother asked me to give it a shot so that his girlfriend can have someone to flex with. it eventually paid off. i was 19 at the time. when i entered the competition i was still in high school but i didn’t let many people know that i entered because i did not want anyone to give me negative reactions. i only told four persons at my school, my best friend, my gym partner, one of my coaches and my then girlfriend. i wasnt considering model because that wasnt my dream. football was the ultimate. I was offered a [football] scholarship [from a US college] but my papers went through too late so i couldn’t get to continue my education. that summer of 04 i was confused because i didnt know what i was going to do and modeling was the only other option which i didnt have any clue about. that was one of the most difficult periods in my life.

Seems like luck had Oraine on its mind because he went on to win Male Face of Jamaica and the Caribbean that year. He flew to the US right after, in search of a model agency and was scooped up within a month. Oraine has done campaigns for Abercrombie and Fitch, Pepe Jeans, Target, Payless and a wide array of magazines. He describes life as it is now as “pretty good,” filled with castings in the days and football after. Traveling all the around the world to pose on beaches and mountain tops doesn’t hurt either. I asked him about his picks for male style, he says he loves Armani Exchange and 7 jeans. Sorry ladies, this hot 20 - ”likkle bit” year old is already married! Doesn’t stop you from looking though…enjoy these pics from 2007 Caribbean Fashion Week where Oraine dons J’can designer Bill Edwards and Trini-NY Designer Francis Hendy (blue outfit) or link with Oraine at myspace.com/orainebarrett

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