One day in the early 2000s at Pier 59 Studios, Steven Meisel gathered a cast of young, up-and-coming models that included Lisa Cant, Diana Dondoe, Caroline Trentini, and Iowa native and then-college student Rob Sand. Brana Wolf styled, Garren was on hair, and Dame Pat McGrath painted the makeup. Grungy styles from Helmut Lang, Prada, and Gucci were on the racks. Titled “Be My Baby,” the shoot explored the renaissance of punkish adolescence on the runways, and while the spread originally appeared in the February 2004 pages of Vogue Italia, over two decades later, the shoot’s legacy has taken on a completely new life.
Last week, we connected the dots that Iowa Governor-Elect Rob Sand was once a high fashion model, walking the runways for brands including Prada and Japanese cult label Number Nine (a recent photo has since circulated of him sporting a sweatshirt from the show that he walked in 2004). Following our post, he took to Instagram with images from “Be My Baby,” with the caption, “I’m disappointed to learn images of me modeling for Prada are circulating. Because this shot from Italian Vogue is much better.”
Steven Meisel photographed the shoot in question. And not long after Sand’s post, the legendary lensman shared the 2004 image of Sand and Trentini to his own feed. We went directly to Trentini to hear her side of the story.
“It was a huge surprise,” she said. “Honestly, every moment I’ve ever spent with Steven Meisel feels like it happened yesterday. I remember everything, the smells, the atmosphere, the music,” she continued. “This was my very first Steven shoot, and I was very aware of the importance of that day.” In many ways, she and Sand were both just kids. “This particular photo was taken very quickly, but it’s also one of my favorites from the shoot. Rob really made the difference because even though we were both a bit nervous and shy, he was really immersed in the story, just as I was.”
Trentini recalls the experience as a defining moment that shaped the rest of her career—any model’s first shoot with Meisel was and is a breakthrough achievement, though Sand’s accomplishment as Iowa’s next governor likely takes the cake for his chosen path. “[Meisel] taught me everything about my attitude, how to carry myself, and how to find my best angle when the camera clicked,” said Trentini. As for the future of her former castmate, “Rob has wonderful values that I share,” she said. “Plus, he might just be the first governor ever to have had the honor of posing for Steven Meisel!”
