Arlenis and her sister at Bocamarina

"Who wants to go to Jimmy Choo's!" exclaimed a mischievous Arlenis Sosa in the lobby of El Embajador Hotel located in nice upscale enclave of Santo Domingo. "Me!", exclaimed TI in full support of the ideal of beautiful girls in high heels. Of course it was 2am in the morning and I was a little puzzled as to why the Jimmy Choo boutique would be open at that time as we all piled into a two separate SUV's before spinning off into the night. Of course it was all a case of my bad Spanish mingled with my fashion programming that had translated "chimmichurri": a local delicacy much like a hamburger, except more excessive, into required model footwear. Even better the local "chimmichurri" emporium turned out to be a parking lot on some random Santo Domingo street corner that had been converted into a makeshift restaurant with practical white plastic chairs and formica tables arranged haphazardly across from the open grills over which some very real Dominican boys were flipping the meat.
I lived for the realness of that as much as I lived for the fact that though in the past 48 hours, after church in the morning Arlenis had hosted a dinner for her family ( in addition to myself and Betty Sze from MDC, Cameron Krone, Eniko and Chris Gay from Marilyn and a team of PR representatives from Lancome)...I loved that despite the fact that she then woke up early the following morning to host a press conference to launch her local charity to raise funds to combat childhood diabetes in the Dominican Republic then went into rehearsals for the Luis Meunier show that beautiful girl's smile, spirits and energy never flagged or slipped. At that dinner at a beautiful pier-side restaurant called Boca Marina , I was seated next to Luis' brother, an architect who filled me in on the island's history, problems and also the legacy of family and celebration that is woven deep into Dominican culture.
Since this was literally my second visit in two weeks the evidence of my fascination with Dominican culture was self-evident. Being from an island myself the air, the climate, the food, the night fragrances, the beat of the night sea against the rocks below us, the sultriness provoked by a humid night all felt very very familiar to me. But I also loved being forced to dance to a different kind of music, to navigate a new set of social codes and to learn a rudimentary Spanish ("Tengo Hambre" has been an all purpose statement all week..and I really won't go into the details of that).
Most of all I love the sensuality and the fluidity of Dominican men and women..the hyper-femininity of the ladies, the absolute sexual confidence of the men, the courtliness of their Spanish and the constant, constant sense of seduction and flirtation that informs everything. I remember meeting Arlenis a year ago, back when we did a little video of her for OTM. She spoke very little English but her smile...it was just so incandescent and warm and enveloping . I was very touched when she insisted I make this trip though I had tried to bow out. Watching her a year later, so poised and comfortable as a beacon for Lancome , so effortlessly elegant in the highest of fashion but never forced, never condescending...I was really impressed to know that a girl could find such extreme success so fast and still retain a common decency. The pride that people have for Arlenis was touching for to watch. Her Mom sitting front row, wept openly with that quiet pride at the end of the Meunier show when her daughter was presented with the kind of simple trophy that will probably be the 1st of many for Miss Sosa. All that emotion and kindness, the tears and warmth was frankly a relief given the cold and glacial fashion stance I'm obliged to live with in NYC. A beautiful girl from a small farming town 5 hours outside Santo Domingo who flies to New York and finds herself at the Met Costume Ball beside Oscar de La Renta , in Vogue and Vogue Italia within weeks and with a Lancome contract and German Vogue and ID covers within months...A girl who then goes back to her country with dignity and humility intact, who speaks with articulacy and real kindness, who wants to share her success...I mean..values like that are what makes Arlenis a true model for what human beauty can represent. She is exceptional and rare.

TI tilts back to catch Eniko in convo with photog Cameron Krone

Night view from Bocamarina

Arlenis in make-up with some poser trying to pass as security PH Cameron Krone