Meet the Model in the New ASOS Crop Top for Men
By Curtis Ashley, Music Director & Editor
On August 22, ASOS announced a new crop-top… for men. Fronted by fragile masculinity and otherwise confused consumers, some people on the internet shrieked at the sight of it. Others seemed to be pleased by the inclusion of men regarding an item that, traditionally, is reserved for women (maybe they will give women’s jeans better pockets now). Images of the crop-top spread across the internet, ranging from Daily Mail to LADBible. A group of panelists even discussed the article of clothing on Fox News.
With that said, meet Dimitry Calixte, the model seen sporting the crop-top for ASOS. The 21-year-old from Allentown, Pennsylvania has only been modeling for 10 months, but thanks to his second shoot with ASOS now, he has seen his face on more websites than others can imagine. In addition to the London-based clothing company, he’s modeled for North Face and a bunch of Brooklyn/New York-based brands. In an interview with HangTime Magazine, Calixte discusses the entire ordeal from his perspective.
HangTime: How’d you feel when you first got casted for the ASOS shoot?
Dimitry Calixte: “I remember I was talking to my friend saying that I had a casting at ASOS. They were saying I could definitely get it, but I wasn’t thinking much of it. I went in for the casting, and I guess my personality outshined others, and they liked that. They asked me if I had ever been to London before, I said ‘No.’ I had never been out the country until then. Right when I walked out the room, my agent said I got it. I was pretty hyped.”
HT: Outside of modeling, do you like the clothes offered by ASOS?
DC: “I like a lot of their clothes. It’s really dope. They have a lot of different styles. I like them personally.”
HT: You said you never left the country before. How was your first time outside the states?
DC: “I didn’t even have a passport. I was excited at first, and then when it was closer to the date, I was nervous because I never really traveled by myself, especially outside the country. I never even really traveled like that; I haven’t been on a plane in ten years until then. Then suddenly I was getting on a plane for an eight-hour plane-ride, to land in a whole different country. I felt under-prepared.”
“When I got there, it was nighttime. The code to my apartment didn’t work so I was outside for a while. I saw someone upstairs on a terrace smoking and I was like ‘Yo, yo, let me in.’ He let me in, but it was really sketchy at first. I was just watching the movie Taken, so I had all those ideas in my head. It got better throughout the week. I found out there was another model that I met in the airport staying right behind me, so we started chilling and it turned out fun. I had a good first time for sure.”
HT: Fast-forward to the actual shoot: Tell me about your first impression of the crop-top when you saw it.
DC: “They mentioned it earlier, and I thought it was a joke at first. Then I came time for me to put that on. Obviously, everyone was laughing. The other models were like ‘Oh my god, what is that?’ Even the stylists were like ‘What?’ Everyone was peeing their head in the room. So I already knew it was gonna get a reaction, but I didn’t know it was gonna be as viral as it was. It was weird at first, but I was like ‘Hey, I can do this shit and sell it.’”
HT: You mention that reactions from people in the room indicated some indifferent feelings toward the top. DId you ever think it would escalate from there?
DC: “I expected people to send it to me when they saw it and make jokes about it, but I didn’t expect it to blow up. I remember I was talking to my girlfriend and my boys, and they were like ‘Yo, it’s going to be archived, nobody’s going to see this.’ Then literally the day after, I wake up, and my phone is blown up. My girl was like ‘You should just run with it.’ I was like fuck it, and I did.”
HT: How did it feel to wake up and see yourself all over the internet and on TV?
DC: “I thought it was sick. I thought it was so dope. I knew people were going to hate it. But honestly, that’s so much exposure, so I was like ‘What’s wrong with this?’ I thought it was funny how long it kept going. It first started off with that Facebook post, then it kept going. I kept getting messages: ‘I found you here,’ ‘I found you there,’ ‘You’re on the news,’ ‘You’re on this show.’ I didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal, but I was on the news I was on Snapchat. Like, for two days straight, that was the topic of discussion.”
HT: I understand you make music. Which one are you more vested in, modeling or music?
DC: “Music is my passion, modeling is my hobby. I’m using modeling as a platform to introduce my music too. Modeling is like a joke gig for me. They’re almost related to each other in a way, so it works out for me; they’re both in the entertainment industry.
HT: What if modeling picks up more than music? Would you consider switching their roles in your life?
DC: “I’d manage both, but I’d always do music no matter what. That’s never going to go away. That’s my passion. I still feel like I need to accomplish that.”
Getting your attention with either his looks or his sounds, make sure to keep your ears clear and eyes peeled for any future content from Calixte. Follow him on Instagram and SoundCloud for the latest updates.