Francina

Francina Díaz Mestre first rose to fame as a catwalk and photographic model in the 1960s and 70s. She later became a successful businesswoman when she started running a modelling school and agency.

Her early years as a model

Francina was born in Albi (France) and at nine months old moved to Barcelona, which she has come to adopt as her birthplace. A chance remark when she was 16 by a customer of her mother’s (a seamstress by trade) made her realise that she could take advantage of her physique and looks to work in the world of fashion. This was all the encouragement she needed to embark on the adventure of entering the world of haute couture. She thus began working as a model for the prestigious designer Pedro Rodríguez. Over the two years she spent with him, he gave her the grounding for her future career as a model. At the age of 18, she entered the Santa Eulàlia fashion house in Barcelona. She worked there for four years and began her career in earnest by modelling for the most prestigious fashion designers in Spain. When she was 20, she moved to Paris where she modelled for Lanvin for one year and thus became Spain’s first internationally recognised model. Over the following two years she pursued her international career by working with the greatest designers of the time. She was also selected by the Chamber of Fashion (which upheld the interests of Spain’s fashion industry and designers) as its representative in countries such as Japan, Belgium and France. She subsequently went to Geneva before returning to Spain to become the country’s first freelance model. This allowed her to take on a wide range of work and to enter into the world of advertising.

Her career as a promotional model

Marçal Moliner discovered her and paved the way for her as a promotional model. Francina’s face became familiar in every household in Spain through her work in advertising campaigns, TV commercials and the most prestigious fashion magazines. During this period, she worked with the greatest names in advertising such as Leopoldo Pomés, Estudios Moro, Tessi, Xavier Misserachs, Gianni Ruggiero and Toni Bernad. She took part in the Risk campaign for Andrés Sardá and appeared in TV commercials, notably La Lechera, Gallina Blanca, Camisas IKE, Tergal, Henkel Ibérica, Playtex and Loewe Joyería.In 1976, she put an end to her career as a model and moved to Italy, where she lived in Florence and Milan.

Francina behind the scenes

On her return to Barcelona in 1982, Francina decided to pass on the skills she had learnt from her professional experiences on the catwalk to future Spanish models. She thus set up the Francina New Modeling School, where she undertook the difficult task of training models. Past success stories include Judit Mascó, Mar Saura, Marta Español, Tammy, Estel, Monica Van Campen and Carla Collado. The school and agency merged, and since 2004 only models trained at the Francina International Modeling Agency are on its books.

Her newly created agency, Francina International Modeling Agency, began securing work for the female models, and later male models, who had trained at her school in 1983. In addition to representing models, between 1984 and 1987 she also explored other facets that interested her such as choreography and the organisation of fashion shows. Since then, Francina has concentrated her activities on representing Spanish models and the world’s top models. Amongst those who have reached acclaim are Fernanda Tavares, Tiiu Kuik, Jeísa Chiminazzo, Petra Kvapilova, María Reyes, Vanessa de Assis, Cintia Dicker, Cristina Guillén, Nicole Jonnel, Mike Nock, Jason and Laszlo. In 1998, in her tireless search for new talent, Francina decided to set up Options by Francina Models Agency. This new venture specialises in the up-and-coming talents of today that promise to become the top models of tomorrow. She has thus managed to fill a gap in the market, ever hungry for new faces.

Francina currently manages and represents the models at her two agencies, Francina and Options.

Recognition of her achievements

In recognition of her lifelong dedication to fashion, at the 2006 edition of the AME (Association of Modelling Agencies of Spain) prize-giving ceremony, Francina was awarded a "Premio Abanico" prize for Spain’s Best Model in the 1970s.She is also regularly invited to sit on juries at international modelling events. Given her experience and her knowledge of the sector she travels around the world to represent Spain in places as far afield as China, USA, France, Italy Canada, Mexico, Peru, Israel, South Africa and Belgium.

See also

Francina International Modeling Agency

External links

* [http://www.francinamodels.com/ The official Francina International Modeling Agency website]