S prawling across a bench in Washington Square Park wearing black cowboy boots and Miu Miu sunglasses, Luis Miguel Ibarra embodies New York City’s latest generation of models: stylish, eager, and confident in front of a camera. With only a few months of city living under his belt, the West Coast native dedicates his days to laying the groundwork for a successful modeling career — and he’s doing it all alone. After spending the summer of 2024 in New York learning the ropes of the modeling world, Ibarra fell in love with working with the city’s photographers, expressing himself creatively, and growing his independence far from home.
“When I went back to California, all I was thinking about was New York. I was like, ‘Why don't I just move to New York? Everything is there, everything that I need is there.’”
Within days of moving to the city, Ibarra booked a gig with Leak NYC, a Brooklyn-based gender-neutral lingerie designer popular in queer nightlife circles. Often dressing their models in intricately-designed mesh and knit pieces, Leak styled Ibarra in a black, insect-wing bodysuit paired with a pleated micro-skirt layered over grommet-lined basketball shorts. Ibarra relished how the shoot aligned with the brand’s campy, editorial image, and that he’d so quickly involved himself in a project close to his heart.
“I really love things that are out of the box, and I feel like editorial tells more of a story. You can put a series of photos together, and tell there's something flowing.”
move to New York?
everything that I
need is there.”
Ibarra credits his confidence in advocating for himself to his experience as a field trainer at 787 Coffee, a Puerto Rican coffee chain. He got the job shortly after arriving in New York, and has enjoyed teaching baristas proper customer engagement styles aimed at making genuine connections. The role makes talking to strangers, in and out of work, easier. He finds himself increasingly more confident messaging photographers to inquire about shoot collaborations, understanding that getting rejected or ignored is just part of the process.
“If one person says no, someone else is going to say yes. It's just not being afraid of what people are going to say because in the service industry, they're not going to think about you once they walk out that door. As a model starting out, you face a lot of rejection; you get ignored a lot, and you just have to not care, because that's part of the work, that's part of the hustle.”
Growing up in Palm Springs, California, Ibarra spent his teenage years as the subject of his mother’s photography projects. What began as a nuisance slowly inspired the model to delve further into creative work: thinking intentionally about styling, composition, and developing relationships in the art world. By the time he turned 19, Ibarra worked closely alongside his mother as both a muse and creative partner. In their first shoot under his direction, he laid in the middle of the road wearing a flowy white button-up with his arm extended out towards the camera. Drawing inspiration from the role of the wanderer, Ibarra’s pictured holding a subtle look of uncertainty as though searching for something. Working with his mother gave Ibarra a sense of creative control that many young people don’t get to experience so early in their careers. Instead of merely serving as the face in front of the camera, he learned how to execute editorial concepts and synthesize the critical communication between poses, styling, and characterization. This access to creative agency pushed him to seek active roles in all projects he took on. His protectiveness over his image and strong self-advocacy has proven essential as he navigates his line of work as a solo queer model in New York.
“With gay photography, these male photographers sometimes want a certain image that I'm not going to give them. I know what I'm comfortable with and I know what I'm not. I'd rather stand up for myself than have a photo I don't like or that's inappropriate go out and I’m not comfortable with it.”
Amidst the long days at 787 and flashing lights at each photoshoot, Ibarra keeps his focus fixed on one goal: to one day shoot global campaigns with his mother, bringing her touch into the editorial world and onto a SoHo billboard. Until then, he continues collaborating with brands and photographers that align with his inclusive values and capture his image as a sultry, chic, club kid in pursuit of the spotlight. ∎
