Nando & Glamo

When you think of fashion models and runway shows you think of the scene as trendy and stylish. But do you ever wonder how it all comes together? Thanks to Tyra Banks’ America's Next Top Model television show, we get an inside glimpse and see that everything that shimmers isn’t always gold—and I’m not talking about Tyra's forehead (thank God someone told sister-girl to wear bangs!). Runway Coach Ms. Jay Alexander might be the authority on how to “work” the runway on ANTM, but on MTV's MADE, it’s all about the Glamo.  

Mayra: You have to interview Glamo, he’s the runway coach/stylist that I worked with on the episode of MTV's MADE.
Nando: But Mayra, I don’t really do interviews, I just blog about my life.
Mayra: Does that pay the bills?
Nando: What’s his number?

After I took some great advice from Mayra Segovia, the Hair Goddess, I decided to upgrade my way of thinking—just like Beyoncé taught us, and take my blogging to the next level. It was my new mission in life to interview MTV's style coach, Glamo.

I unearthed that Glamo played a major role with Eva Pigford, the winner of America’s Next Top Model, Season Three. Along with being chosen to coach the three girls in MTV’s MADE episode that is scheduled to air November, 1st (three young girls wrote to into MTV and asked to be MADE into fashion models), he’s also the creative force behind The Glamore Deluxe Company. I started to feel inferior and wondered how would I conduct this interview? What would someone named “Glamo” be like? I imagined he would toss around phrases like, “You better work it bitch!” or “Honey child, you are looking fierce today!”  

We agreed to meet at a Starbucks in West Harlem located on 118th Street. Being new to the area and feeling out of touch with my surroundings, I spotted a statue of a large Black woman dressed in green. Something was familiar about this figure. As I moved in closer, I realized I was standing before a colossal statue of Oprah Winfrey wearing a green dress along with a matching head wrap. And just as I was about to take a deep breath and bow before my goddess, a woman in a wheelchair almost ran me over which caused me to leap to the left where I noticed a sign corresponding to the monument that read: Harriet Tubman. I should have known it wasn’t Oprah—they wouldn’t dare build a Popeye’s Chicken next to her.

I was the first to arrive. Glamo, a tall, lanky guy in his mid-twenties arrived a few minutes later and took his sunglasses off to search around the coffee shop. There was something about him I didn’t trust, was it his fashionable sense?  Or his friendly mannerisms? Maybe it was the bible he was carrying? Whatever it was—it was my job to uncover it. Lucky for me, I had just completed watching the third season of Charlie’s Angels so I pretended to be Kelly Garret—undercover—posing as a reporter. (I know, Sabrina always played the reporter, but my hair was extra shiny and bouncy that day and Kelly was the only way to go)


Glamo: Nando? I’m so sorry I’m late but I just got out of church.
Nando: Oh, no worries, I just got in myself. (Checking out the bible he sat on the table, I thought to myself, “Oh he’s good!”)


Glamo sat down, flashed his pearly whites in a friendly and genuine manner and waited for my cue.

Nando: So how did you get the MTV MADE gig?
Glamo: An acquaintance of mine from BOSS Models referred me and I went in and nailed it.
Nando: What exactly did you do for the show?
Glamo: Three girls wrote into the show and wanted to be MADE into fashion models. By the end of the show, only one girl could be chosen as the winner. So I gave them a crash course to the fashion industry from model etiquette, to finding their individual style to teaching them to walk the runway.  


His responses were filled with passion and love for the fashion world and as he went on about the girls, I sensed that he truly cared for them. Glamo had invested not only his talents but had a genuine interest in the outcome of each girl’s future. I had to dig deeper.


Nando: What made you so qualified for this role?
Glamo: I used to be in the Ballroom competitions and walked for the House of Chanel.


This reminded me of two things, Madonna's Vogue video and my friend Chelsea who speaks about her days in New York during the 80s where she, “worked the Ballroom and won an award for strutting my white ass across the dance floor while all the queens rooted for me.”

The Ballroom competitions involved contestants, "walking" the catwalk (like in a fashion model's runway) and being judged on criteria such as the "realness" of their drag, the beauty of their style and their dancing ability. This also sounded like my sister’s coming out party—but that’s a whole other story.  


Glamo: I was winning prizes and getting recognition for my technique so I decided to turn it into a money maker. I eventually launched my company in 2007 and have quickly distinguished myself in the industry.
Nando: What was your experience like working with Mayra?
Glamo: She was wonderful. When I met the girls, I began to envision their makeovers in my head and when I consulted with Myra, she had the same vision that I did. That rarely happens. I remember thinking to myself, Myra ‘gets it,’ so I felt 100% comfortable leaving my babies with her. They looked amazing!
Nando: What did you learn about yourself through this experience?
Glamo: That I need more patience. I’m old and set in my ways; to remain in the industry you have to be flexible and adjust to various factors.

I decided to kick my interview into high gear. I needed dirt, I wanted mud to be flung, and I wanted celebrity gossip.

Nando: So you’re MTV’s Ms. Jay, how do you compare yourself to her?
Glamo: I don’t. I respect Ms. Jay and pay homage to her, knowing that without her I wouldn’t be around. She opened up the doors for me and for that I will always have respect.
Nando: Do you know her personally?
Glamo:I will tell you this, my mentor and Ms. Jay are BFF’s. And I will leave it at that.

It was obvious—had I been on the Angel payroll, Charlie would have fired me or at least demoted me. I’m sure he would have called me into a meeting where I’d stare into the speaker box that his husky voice roared out of as he said something like, “Nando, you’re no longer an Angel because you can’t interview, so I need you to stay behind and vacuum the office and rearrange the furniture every third episode.”


Nando: What projects are you working on now?
Glamo: I just shot my show’s pilot this past spring and I’m shopping it around to the networks.
Nando: What type of show it is?
Glamo: It’s a reality show, with the theme being, ‘Will the Glamore Deluxe Company be able to survive?’ Shooting it was very exciting for me!

And as the interview came to an end, I decided right then and there that I did trust him after all as I wanted to be on his reality TV show when it got picked up. We shook hands, kissed good-bye and promised to stay in touch. Isn’t it funny how trust forms between two people in a Starbucks while discussing the GLAMO-rous life?



For more info on Glamo and his fabulous fashion talents and services please visit here.

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