Ford Models Inc. Allison Arredondo, now
a Ford Agency model, was a UCLA women’s basketball team member from
1993-96.
By Scott Schultz
Daily Bruin Staff
If the top fashion modeling agencies in the world united to form
a basketball league, former UCLA forward Allison Arredondo would be
their Larry Bird.
“I’d kick ass,” Arredondo said, laughing.
“I’ve always wanted to come into the office and find
out we’re having a team.”
Before the 6-foot-1 Arredondo, who works as a model for the
eminent Ford Models in Manhattan, was posing for photographers in
exotic locales around the world, she was running lines and shooting
threes under the championship banners inside Pauley Pavilion.
Arredondo played small forward for the Bruins from 1993-96.
Primarily a perimeter shooting role player, she still holds the
UCLA freshman record for three-point field goal percentage when she
shot .522 percent. She also ranks fourth among all UCLA players in
career three-pointers made and sixth in three-point field goal
percentage.
Arredondo said she took a few modeling classes as a teen in
Orange County, but she was really inspired by television specials
on the modeling industry that aired regularly on the E! Network in
the ’90s and MTV’s House of Style.
Arredondo said that throughout college she always thought
modeling would be a fun job, but that it was more of a pipe dream
than a legitimate career choice.
After graduation she mailed her portfolio to the renowned Ford
Agency on a whim, not expecting to hear from it for weeks, if ever.
Within days, Ford was urging her to fly out to its Manhattan
offices. After being signed to the top agency, Arredondo moved to
New York City, figuring she’d give modeling six months. More
than two years have passed since then, and she’s still
there.
Arredondo specializes in print modeling, which includes
catalogue, newspaper and magazine ads. She models lingerie and
active wear.
Manhattan is the main location for print modeling, as compared
to Los Angeles, which specializes in commercials and filmwork.
Since Arredondo works primarily in print ads, she intends to stay
in New York City for the near future.
A fitness junkie, Arredondo works out several times a week, but
said she has to remain cautious about altering the muscle tone of
her body.
Bookers strongly discourage models from making any changes to
their physical appearances, and even the smallest changes can
affect their marketability. Arredondo even has to concern herself
with not becoming too tan when she visits her family in sunny
California.
James Charles, who works in development and scouting at Elite
Models, another top agency, said that top-flight athletes often
have difficulty making the transition to fashion modeling because
of their propensity for adding muscle mass.
“Often because they work out so much, they get too
muscular to fit into clothes properly,” Charles said.
“For example if they run too much, they can build muscles
that enlarge their hips and buttocks, which makes them too large
for printwork.”
Arredondo is pleased with her steady career progression so far,
but she said sometimes the lapses between assignments can be
stressful.
“The hard part is wondering where the next job is coming
from.”
Arredondo receives inspiration by following the career arc of
her favorite model, Cindy Crawford. Both Arredondo and Crawford
were valedictorians of their high school class. Arredondo is most
impressed with Crawford’s ability to use her modeling career
as a springboard to a career as a multi-media star.
Arredondo, who graduated from UCLA with a degree in
communications studies, would like to someday channel her
experiences and energies toward a career in television as a news
personality or as a correspondent for a channel such as E!, where
she can use all her talents.
She said that the bookers, who deal directly with the models,
play roles similar to those of her old basketball coaches. She said
these similarities made her transition to modeling easier.
“Our bookers take care of us. We can cry on their
shoulders if we need to. We call them for advice or to gossip,
which is something the coaches did for us,” Arredondo
said.
One difference between modeling and basketball is the way the
two measure height. Arredondo, who said she is 6-1, was listed as
6-2 in the basketball media guides, but at the modeling agency she
is listed as 6-0.
UCLA Head Coach Kathy Olivier recalled that in Arredondo’s
freshman year she entered with another tall, blonde freshman,
Zrinka Kristich. The two players added a lot of glamour to the
team.
“We had these two pretty blondes taller than 6 feet. They
got a lot of attention and I think they enjoyed it,” Olivier
said.
She added that on the court Arredondo played hard and physical,
yet off the floor she was a lady.
“She was very impressive off the floor. She’s very
bright,” Olivier said. “Some people find that cool,
because people ordinarily think of basketball as a physical,
grinding sport.”
Olivier recalled a time a year after Arredondo graduated when a
player brought a newspaper photo of her to practice. They hung it
in the locker room for a couple weeks. Olivier said that success
stories like Arredondo’s remind the players of the numerous
careers available to them aside from basketball.
Arredondo, who turned down academic scholarships from several
Ivy-League schools to attend UCLA, said that she is still satisfied
with her school choice and wouldn’t change a thing.
“I’m so grateful that I was able to use basketball
to go to college at UCLA. It taught me so much about life,”
she said. “One of the benefits of my UCLA degree is I know
nobody will ever be able to take advantage of me.”
Arredondo doesn’t expect to be a professional model her
entire life, so she is enjoying the ride while it lasts. She has
travelled the world, and she loves living in Manhattan, the city
that never sleeps. She believes that any UCLA student who has
dreams of modeling should pursue it.
“If you have the look, the desire and the energy to go for
it, do it.”