IN CONVERSATION WITH YERAY MEDINA

interview by JANA LETONJA

Spanish model Yeray Allgayer has built an international career that has taken him across fashion’s major capitals while keeping him closely connected to the places and people that shaped him. Since his breakthrough in 2022, he has walked for houses including Dolce & Gabbana, Maison Margiela, Balmain, Emporio Armani, Dsquared2, BOSS and Dunhill, while appearing in campaigns and editorials for Gucci, Rabanne, COS, Massimo Dutti, and Audemars Piguet. His rise has also earned recognition from a Breakout Star nomination to Model of the Year nominations and a place on its Money List. Yet behind the pace of an international modelling career is someone drawn to a very different rhythm. Yeray finds his balance in art, the people he considers family and, above all, the ocean — a constant presence that has shaped the way he thinks about movement, change and finding his own path.

sunglasses GUCCI
trousers MANS CONCEPT
vintage silk underwear

You’ve spoken about finding your own path quite early in life. Was there a particular moment when you realised the conventional route wasn’t going to be yours? 
It happened when I was young. I experienced so much through my imagination and dreams, but not much beyond that. I still needed to find my own way.

Modelling constantly asks you to inhabit someone else’s vision. You’ve described it as creating and destroying versions of yourself. Do you find that process liberating, unsettling, or both? 
Recreating yourself is part of life. As a model, coexisting with so many minds and creatives makes that an even greater task, as thoughts, ideas, and visions constantly enter and shape your idiosyncrasy and persona.

top and trousers DOLCE & GABBANA
shoes NIKE P-6000
belt TOM FORD

In an industry built around transformation, how do you recognise the parts of yourself that should never change? 
It’s not about change, it’s about enhancing.

Working with John Galliano and the Maison Margiela team has been one of the highlights of your career. What made that experience particularly meaningful? 
Living with personas that believed and aimed for their world. A whole year allows you to see many details if you pay the right attention. 

jacket DIESEL
shirt ARKET
trousers SANDRO
belt vintage

You’ve worked across runway, campaigns and editorials. Where do you feel you have the greatest opportunity to contribute creatively rather than simply embody someone else’s idea? 
With small teams, passionate about what they’re doing. You get infected by their love.

jacket and trousers DSQUARED2
shoes MARNI
belt TOM FORD

Models.com recognised you early as a Breakout Star, followed by Model of the Year  nominations and the Money List. How do you relate to external markers of success? Do they change anything internally? 
No. If anything, it just makes me work harder. It drives me crazy, makes me happy, and brings out a whole range of other emotions.

You’ve said that sometimes you wish the care you give to people in the industry were reflected back at you more. Has success made you more protective of yourself and of who you allow close to you? 
Not success, but love did.

cardigan and knitwear DOLCE & GABBANA
sunglasses MIU MIU

The ocean seems to be much more than a backdrop to your life. What have you learned from being close to it for so many years? 
Solitude, fear, respect. Light in the dark, and darkness in the light. The ocean has taught me to surrender, to it and to life. Because if you don’t, you could die.

jacket, shirt, pants and tie MARNI

You mentioned wanting a “future little forest.” What does that image represent for you, and what kind of life do you imagine building beyond the momentum of modelling? 
My little forest is becoming more real day by day. It gives me strength and faith in myself. It’s a safe place for me, no thoughts, just open your eyes and the answers are there.

So this little forest isn’t only physical, though it is that too. It’s something more internal, something psychological. In a way, my life has always been there, waiting for me to walk through it. Modeling holds my hand, just as surfing does. The forest has always been there, and always will be.

coat MANS CONCEPT
top and jumpsuit CARLOTA BARRERA
shoes BOBBIES
socks FALKE

If the ocean has taught you to catch the right wave rather than fight the current, what wave do you feel you’re waiting for, or already riding, at this point in your life? 
I don’t catch waves, nor do I fight the current. It’s a constant dance with love and pain, with both, not between them. A dance shaped by emotions, encounters, and whatever life brings.

cardigan and knitwear DOLCE & GABBANA
sunglasses MIU MIU

TEAM CREDITS:

talent YERAY ALLGAYER MEDINA at NEW MADISON SPAIN
photography INÊS SANTOS
styling JUAN LUIS ASCANIO
makeup and hair MARIA TATTAGLIA
styling assistant DANIELA PUELLO and RENATA ITO
production ARIADNA IGLESIAS
retouching TENDER RETOUCH
studio ESPACIO WASABI
editor TIMI LETONJA
interview JANA LETONJA
cover design ARTHUR ROELOFFZEN