Photo-illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images
We all have memories from our college years that we’d rather not be recognized for – but, for most of us, that list doesn’t include the Prada show in Milan. While I would certainly cherish this story, Iowa Governor-elect Rob Sand seems determined to put his modeling career behind him. Unfortunately for him, Getty images are forever.
Photo: Davide Maestri/Penske Media via Getty Images
On Tuesday, Sand became part of the blue wave that swept the country, becoming Iowa’s first Democratic-elected governor in 20 years. Sand’s resume demonstrates that he is a man who takes serving the people of Iowa seriously. He graduated from the University of Iowa School of Law in 2010 and later worked in the state attorney general’s office and then as the Iowa state auditor. But before that? Well, everyone has to pay the bills, and for Sand, that meant putting her striking face to good use.
In a 2007 News week In an article about then-Senator Barack Obama’s chances in the Iowa caucus, Sand said he missed Howard Dean’s caucus in 2004 because he was otherwise busy as a model in Milan. “It had to be one or the other,” Sand said. “And I chose to go to Europe.” In a New York Times 2019 profile, the newspaper noted that Sand “doesn’t like to talk” about his modeling stint, which took place while he was a student at Brown University.
Well, a lot of other people would love to talk about it. According to VogueSand has appeared on the catwalks for designers Number (N)ine and Giuliano Fujiwara in addition to walking several times for Prada. How was his walk? Based on the images from the Prada spring/summer 2003 men’s show, it was pretty decent.
Throughout this year’s gubernatorial race, Iowa Republicans have attempted to use Sand’s history as a template against him. When Sand criticized Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn for not living full-time in Iowa, Lahn said Sand was “putting on a suit,” which “shouldn’t be a surprise, he was a male model.” Lahn’s campaign also released an attack ad using Sand’s history as a “European model” as a sort of insult.
But it turns out that having an incredibly posh past doesn’t make you ineligible in Iowa. Now that he’s over that hurdle, maybe Sand could open up more about his modeling days? Some of us are just a little curious.
Gn entert
