Johan Akan: "Being gay and a model is very badly seen"

Nov. 07 2013
by Julien Chadeyron

Two boys kissing on the front page of the Inrockuptibles this week? The bearded one, that's him! But you may have already seen him on the cover of PREF, or TÊTU, naked in the arms of Catherine Deneuve. Johan Akan, model, will not leave you indifferent! For you, we met him, around a coffee.
It is not without apprehension that he delivers himself today in all sincerity to misterb&b. Travel around the world and in the heart of the fashion world. Discover his favorite destinations, and the underbelly of a not so gay-friendly environment.

misterb&b : How did you become a model ?
Johan Akan : In 2005, after my business studies, I took a year off. I was spotted in the street by Fred Farrugia's assistant, a great make-up artist, who was in Lyon for the shooting of "Top Model 2005". He suggested I try my luck, go up to Paris and do some photos, with people I trusted. I said yes. Some time later I signed with an agency and I had won one of my best friends. Dimitri.
I went to Paris and 5 months later my agency called me to tell me that Galliano wanted me on his show, it was my first runway.
My first ad was made a year later. I was lucky that it was a "worldwide" ad, with a rather important cachet. It was a pretty hot experience.

Is that your real name?
Of coursenot. When I was on the cover of PREF for the first time, the website A Cause Des Garçons had mixed my first name with "Akan" which they had probably seen somewhere on the internet, since it was a name I was using in the email addresses. They mixed the two and it became Johan Akan.

You've been on the cover of several French gay magazines, how did it happen ?
The first time was for Pref. There were two covers and people had to choose: my issue was the best seller (laughs). In fact, as it was a gay magazine, my agency had asked me before if I was OK, we are still there, and I had accepted. I did a second cover for Pref later on. For Têtu the agency also asked me... I said why not. They told me it would be nude, I was going to say no, and then they told me it would be with Catherine Deneuve so I said yes. I had never posed naked before, certainly not with Catherine Deneuve (laughs). I understood that it was going to have an impact.

When you say "we're still here" about agencies asking for the models' consent when it comes to gay projects...what do you mean ?
Before accepting this interview, I asked myself if I should answer as Johan Akan, model, or if I should be myself. To accept was to finally come out and throw a spanner in the works. It's not a revelation to say that there are a lot of gay people in the fashion industry and yet, being gay and modeling is very much frowned upon: it's better to be discrete. I am well aware that I took a risk by accepting to answer your questions. Some people still think that being gay can have an impact on a model's ability to play with a girl for example. I find this so incomprehensible. Clients are clearly asking agencies if the models are straight for their campaign. I find it pitiful and hypocritical that the fashion world actively plays this game! I really didn't think that when I came into modeling I would have to hide my homosexuality when I was perfectly fine with it before.

Weren't you "scared" by accepting to be on the cover of gay magazines ?
Thequestion is part of the problem. I remember reading on a forum someone who said, about the cover with Catherine "anyway she doesn't risk anything with a gay man", and someone answered "it's the magazine that's gay not the model"! Sorry, but 99% of the models who make Têtu are not gay. So no, I wasn't afraid, I was flattered because on the cover of gay magazines they put guys whose beauty speaks to most people.

What do you hope to achieve by coming out?
Ifit doesn't harm me, it will show that it had an effect.

The site ACDG places you in the line of Baptiste Giabiconi. Does that make you happy?
Iam not on his voice and I do not think that my career will reach one day his. We have similarities for sure. We are on the same niche, opposite of this movement of new models who do not please the general public. And I think it's great that someone like Karl Lagerfeld has taken under his wing a real hunk that girls like, and that guys like too. Besides being handsome, he's nice and not too polluted by everything he's going through.

After advertising, modeling, other projects ?
I'm 29 this year, even though I look younger, and shaving I look 16 (laughs). I would love to continue because I love the fashion shows for example. But the criteria have changed since I arrived. The boys are younger, taller, thinner ... But I appeal: Jean Paul (Gaultier) if you hear me: I dream of defiling for you before everything stops.
As soon as you start modeling, you have to think about your reconversion. I wanted to work in fashion for a long time but I don't think I'm adapted to this environment anymore. I want it to gradually become a side job and keep only the best: the encounters, the experiences, the trips... So concretely for my projects, we will see. I already want to go back to school next year.

Photo: Matthieu Dorthomb

Are you very active on social networks?
Atfirst, some friends told me to create a Twitter. I didn't really see the point. When I googled my name, I came across sites where people were posting pictures of me. It freaked me out as much as it flattered me. I created my account. Clearly people follow me for my photos, so I quickly associated my tweets with a photo because that's what followers expect.

Outside of Paris, where you live, in which city do you feel at home?
New Yorkwithout hesitation. I actually felt at home in New York before I even went there. After watching so many movies and TV shows, I ended up feeling homesick for a city I didn't even know. I wanted my first trip to be there and it was. Everything speaks to me there, there's such an energy. It's a city where I don't like to go as a tourist. I prefer to take my iPod, put on my headphones and walk, without a plan and I can see where I'll fall... I feel at home here because I don't behave like a tourist.

Are you originally from Lyon?
Ileft Lyon because it lacked energy, it's a big little city and I wanted more excitement. Nevertheless, it's a very beautiful city, quite chic. I think I'll go back there! Maybe even to live there... Today I am starting to appreciate the things that made me leave Lyon: the "calm", a more human dimension, and it is also closer to my family.

Of all your travels, which cities did you prefer?
Buenos Aires. Because I love meat and it's just a killer. There is something quite European about this city, a bit frozen in time: I really like it.
I love Biarritz. Great landscapes and there too a city frozen in time, with a certain English chic. There is also a wilder side, the beach as I like it, not too smooth, and real people. It's a cliché but I love the big waves crashing on the rocks.
And London. It's like New York when you have no money. In London you quickly feel free to do whatever you want! And they amuse me with their queen: I find it as cool as it is old-fashioned.

Your favorite places in the world?
TheMeatpacking district in New York. Sleeping at the Standard Hotel, brunching at Pastis, and eating a good burger at the Shake Shack(see photo below): it's cool.
The warehouse district in Hamburg. It's a lot like the Meatpacking, an underground place. There are a lot of photo studios, artists who have settled there. And all the buildings are red brick, huge. I love it.
Busaba, a Thai restaurant in London. Whether you go there alone or with two people, you share your table. You can make beautiful encounters there.

A city for partying?
Clearlynot Paris. The last time I really had fun was in Miami. I didn't know it at all and it's a real mess: you meet girls, you don't know if they're prostitutes, if they're going to do a peepshow or if they're just going out... It's quite improbable. So you quickly feel guilty for doing anything. They party outside, in clubs, on the beach, everywhere: I like that.

The city where you find the most beautiful boys?
Theguyswho aremore Latin, a bit Spanish or from Southern Europe tend to make me fall in love with them. I have a fixation on low eyebrows and dark eyes, so of course I find them more in the south. It's very strange to answer these questions...

A city to fall in love with ?
Nice, especially in summer, is a beautiful city where I myself fell in love. I had a bad image of the south but I learned to love it. When you leave Nice, towards Italy, it is very beautiful. Eze is magnificent. It's still very wild and there are quieter, less touristy places with beautiful landscapes.

A city to get married?
Ihope it will be in France, maybe next year. I wouldn't like to get married in a place just because it's beautiful. So it would be more on the coast of Nice where my boyfriend's family is.

For a honeymoon?
Somewherewith fine white sand, palm trees and turquoise sea. Because I've done a lot of traveling but never this and I want to see if it really exists. In Nice the water is turquoise but the beach is made of pebbles so it hurts my butt!

The most gay-friendly city?
Barcelona. It's great that this city is so gay-friendly. It's very nice to be able to be with your boyfriend or just to be able to live a normal gay life, like a straight person. Unlike in Paris, where if you meet someone you like in the street, you have a 95% chance that he is straight, in Barcelona everything is possible, it's quite fun. Personally, I prefer the city out of the gay season. I had the experience of the Circuit Festival, and I'm as happy to have lived it as I am to say that I won't do it again. I don't really like the ghetto aspect.

What object do you always take with you when you travel?
Mypassport (laughs) My portfolio because I travel a lot for work. And my iPhone. It's a revolution, you do everything with it, you look at the good addresses, you have the GPS, you are in communication with your family and work, you listen to the music, it's just indispensable!

Your advice for a good trip?
Travelin a jogging suit because it avoids taking off your belt at the airport, you are comfortable in the plane and it doesn't help the package...(laughs)

More of an aisle or a window?
Aisleso as not to disturb people. It never happens because I'm very careful, but if I have to go to the bathroom on the plane, I'll be able to hold myself back for two hours rather than disturbing someone. Just out of shyness.

Your next trip?
Likemost of the time, I don't know! The last time I left I knew it two days before. The next one is scheduled in February, in Thailand: I've never been there. I want to discover its beaches, and a real non-western culture.

The trip you dream of ?
Itwould beAustralia but with more than twenty hours of travel... I think it will not happen for a while. I would have to be able to afford at least the business to support it! (laughs)

Finally, could you share with misterbandb.com users a picture taken during one of your recent trips?
Phototaken this summer on the beach of Eze.