Neither Josie Nash '10 nor Stephanie Rezendes, a junior at Rhode Island College, walked into the Levi's store on Thayer Street intending to become national jeans models.
Last Oct. 3 to Oct. 5, to promote the opening of their new store at the Providence Place Mall, Levi's transformed what had been the apparel store Cargo on Thayer Street, into a temporary denim shop. When Nash and Rezendes visited, they found a recruiting spot for Levi's college model search, the Levi's Style Search, which was heavily advertised around campus in the weeks leading up to the opening.
Rezendes stopped by the Style Search after finishing a shift at Paragon on Thayer Street. "I just wanted to see what skinny jeans they had."
But instead of quietly hunting for the perfect pair of jeans, Nash and Rezendes - strangers prior to winning the contest - found themselves in a swarm of denim shoppers and model hopefuls.
"It was a little bit chaotic," Nash said.
Rezendes agreed. "It was crazy. People were getting dressed in front of each other," she said.
Inside the store, Levi's employees were asking customers if they would pose for photos as part of the company's nationwide search for new denim models.
Nash and Rezendes agreed to participate in the model search, which also took place at the University of Tennessee, George Washington University and the University of California, Santa Barbara. The purpose of the style search was "to get college-real people," to model the jeans, said Melissa Ladines, women's publicity manager for Levi's.
At the end of the semester, Nash and Rezendes were informed they had been selected from approximately 2,000 entrants as nationwide winners, Ladines said. Levi's flew them to New York City in January for a photo shoot at Milk Studios in Manhattan.
Nash and Joseph Marcos, a sophomore at the University of California, Santa Barbara, were selected as the grand prize winners. The advertisements featuring the winners will run in the magazine Us Weekly in April, according to Levi's.
The girls, along with the other winners, spent over nine hours in the studio for the photo shoot.
"It felt like being on 'The Real World,' being in the photo shoots with people I didn't know," Rezendes said.
"We didn't spend a long time getting ready for it," Nash said. The style was kept simple, with Nash modeling in jeans and a t-shirt against a white background. "It was pretty informal," she said.
"You just have to stand there and look pretty with some jeans on," Rezendes added.
The photo shoot was the first professional modeling experience for both women. Still, neither intends to pursue future modeling opportunities. "It was a fun experience, but I don't have any plans for it," Nash said, and Rezendes, a fourth-generation Cape Verdean who lives in Pawtucket and studies psychology, said her stint as a Levi's model "was just a one-time thing."