Papis Loveday

Papis Loveday (born 3 January 1977) is a Senegalese model and fashion entrepreneur. He gained fame through a United Colors of Benetton worldwide campaign in 2003. In 2011 he founded the brand Papis Loveday, which includes a fragrance line, champagne brand and denim and jeans collection.

Loveday was born in Dakar. His mother was a diplomat and his father a medical doctor. He has 6 siblings and 19 half-siblings. He graduated from a private high school in Dakar. As a teenager he pursued a career in athletics and was most successful in the 400 metre sprint. With the support of a national sports scholarship, he moved to Paris, where he studied computer science. Loveday was discovered by a sport photographer during his preparations for the athletics world cup.

Loveday began modelling in 2003. He signed a contract with Riccardo Gay Model Management in Milan. A few weeks later, United Colors of Benetton booked him for a worldwide advertising campaign which was photographed by Oliviero Toscani. Shortly after, he was featured in a campaign by Italian footwear label Debut together with supermodel Natasha Poly. Further contracts with the agencies Major Model Management in Paris, DNA Model Management in New York City, AMCK Models in London and Louisa Models in Munich followed. From 2005 to 2008 Loveday was considered the most booked black male model of the world. He worked for the houses of Dior Homme, Valentino, Armani and Vivienne Westwood among others. He walked the runways at Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks for Lanvin, Thierry Mugler, Givenchy, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent.

In 2009, Loveday switched to Milanese agency Joy Model Management. That year, he appeared in a worldwide campaign for Etro. Loveday was featured on the covers of several fashion magazines, including Ibiza Style Magazine,The Untitled Magazine, Style Up Your Life!,Hype,Posh and The Trend Issue. He was also featured in editorials of magazines including GQ, Vogue hommes, BMM, Cosmopolitan and Collecioni. Loveday was voted “Best Model of the World”, by Turkish TV station TV8 in 2009. The readers of German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung elected Loveday as “Munich citizen of the year” in 2012.

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