Schön!: Tell us a little about how you got your start.
Abiah: I was scouted to be model in Tribeca, then Givenchy was my first runway show in Paris. It was fun. I was pissing my pants. I was extremely nervous, but I didn’t trip or fall.
Schön!: Does that happen often with male models?
Abiah: Less so than with girls. I think their goal is to trip – that one good fall that gets them the attention they need (laughs). They have it planned out.
Schön!: What happened next?
Abiah: I killed it. I did a lot of editorials. My first campaign was a little late. Some people get in the first few months, but whatever, I took a time-out – about a year and half, two years – just to take care of my daughter. She’d just been born. It’s good that I’m doing the modelling now though – it’s on another level. Now I’m getting into acting too.
Schön!: Can you tell us about a couple of your favourite experiences so far?
Abiah: Being painted completely from head to toe – kind of like Avatar – intricate designs, fine details. It was a shoot for Vogue Homme, before they turned into British GQ.
Schön!: Anything else?
Abiah: Just finished up shooting my up my lead role in a short film- it was amazing, exactly what I want to do. It’s made me more comfortable even in terms of modelling although actually now, I’m like ‘Alright, I’d prefer to be acting.’
Schön!: What’s the film?
Abiah: It’s called The Last Days of Hustling. It takes place in Sunset Park [in Brooklyn] and it’s about this kid whose older brother dies, and his other older brother is coming out of jail, and he has to explain to him what happened, and it’s the guilt, that sort of thing. As the guilt piles up, he becomes more suicidal. He doesn’t kill himself but he does take his anger out on this others. It comes out in springtime.
Schön!: What else are you looking forward to?
Abiah: You know, Fashion Week is around the corner, I’m getting my own place when I come back. My parents are selling the loft that I grew up in – it’s gonna be weird.
Schön!: What something you’re excited about?
Abiah: Excited about 2014 – excited about ending this year in a completely different place than where I started.
Schön!: What is the biggest difference?
Abiah: I have to say money. Money definitely is a big difference. I take that back. Maybe money changes people, but I’m still wearing the same baggy-*** clothes (laughs).
Schön!: Can you tell us something a lot of people don’t know about you?
Abiah: Aside from the fact I have a daughter – nobody in my family comes from the same place. If you go back my grandfather, everyone is from a different country in the world.
Schön!: Do you think that’s shaped how you view yourself?
Abiah: Definitely. I was born in Jamaica and then I was raised here for the most part. I identify with Jamaica because that’s the music I was brought up on – it helped shape me but it didn’t define me. I consider myself a really universal person.
