Cappuccino Thoughts 107: On The Most Famous Model You’ve Never Heard of: Inside the Wacky, Wonderful World of Hand Modeling
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As the granddaughter of two concert pianists, I’ve always been very conscious of my hands. Whenever I get my Russian manicures, the technicians always comment on how long my fingers are. I wondered what it would really take to become a hand model. I became completely intrigued by the world of “parts modeling” and wanted to learn more about it. Here’s what I found.
“I was the hands of the brand. But when I walked in, nobody knew me.”
Jorge Torres is the most famous model you’ve never heard of. His hands have been in ads for McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Walmart, and Olipop. Every day of the year, his hands have a starring role in national ad campaigns.
Yet, when he walked into the Chobani Cafe on Spring Street to see his hands plastered across every sign and postcard, the staff had no idea who he was.
“It doesn’t really bother me. At least you don’t have to have your best face on all the time,” he said of his anonymous fame.
Welcome to the strange world of parts modeling. Parts modeling encompasses specific body parts, primarily hands, feet, and legs. Think about the last ad you saw for a coffee company. Odds are the coffee cup was front and center, held by a beautiful hand with long fingers and a perfect manicure. You may not realize it, but parts modeling is everywhere. Yet, it’s a niche world where everyone knows everyone. In the US, it’s based primarily in New York and Los Angeles.
Most parts models are multi-hyphenate players. They are usually some combination of actor-model-musician-artist. A few are able to make a full-time living from parts modeling. None ever thought they would make a career of it.
Avisha Tewani worked as a fashion stylist for 12 years before discovering hand modeling. “I always assumed they were using regular models for these shoots.” During Covid, she helped her cousin’s husband, who needed to photograph some engagement rings. Her hands looked so beautiful in the photographs that her friend encouraged her to submit her pictures to an agency. With those pictures, shot in a backyard, she got her first agent.
“People assume that I got scouted while holding a coffee on the street or something. But you just have to do it yourself. Occasionally, people do reach out, but you just need to shoot your shot.”
Jorge was working as an actor and saw a job posted to shoot an anti-texting-while-driving ad for BMW. On a lark, he submitted himself as a hand model. Midway through the audition, a photographer shooting his hands stopped and said, “My god, those are some beautiful hands.” The next day, the BMW people called him and said that they had auditioned hundreds of people, but they couldn’t get his hands out of their minds. He immediately rang his mother. “I was like, Mom, why didn’t you ever tell me I have beautiful hands?”
Ultimately, he didn’t get the part, but it sparked his interest in hand modeling. He’s been working steadily in the field for the past twelve years. Now, it’s his primary source of income.
So what could possibly require so many sets of hands? Avisha said, “People's first thought is you work with jewelry, but it’s also watches, skincare, a lot of food and beverage, nail polish. You could be holding a burger. I did a mayonnaise commercial where I was dipping items into a ramekin. I once had to hold a chicken nugget still for an hour.”
“The hardest job I ever had was for an ale company. For a week straight, I shot 5-6 commercials for this company. I was stuck in a room with one other person shooting animated commercials. I would draw something and it would be animated. I had to move my hand half an inch at a time,” Jorge said. “You do have to have some arm strength to hold positions. It was tedious and long. But the company was really great. They actually saw how I would keep stretching between shots, and, on the last day, they got me a masseuse because of how sore my arms were.”
So what’s the secret to being a good hand model? “It is ultimately about how your hand looks. Not everyone has genetically nice hands. You can’t have any scars. It helps to have no hair on your hands. And ethnically ambiguous skin tones like mine are really in right now,” Jorge commented.
“You need a really flexible schedule,” Avisha said. “You never know where you’re going to be the next day. And you do have to be willing to accommodate the lifestyle. I used to box, but I gave that up to protect my hands. I stopped biking because I broke my wrist once. I always wear gloves to the gym and I have to really strategize when to do my dishes. You also have to get manicures 2-3 times per week.”
Multiple manicures don’t sound so bad. “It’s probably the most stressful part of the job actually,” Jorge informed me. “I have my regular people I know and trust in New York, but if I’m somewhere else, it’s hard to find someone who does it exactly the way I like it. I stopped telling manicurists I’m a hand model because they get nervous. I carry a manicurist kit as part of my work bag and, if it doesn’t look quite right, after the manicure is over, I might take out my own tools and fix it up.”
So what are the secrets to keeping hands in top model shape? “I do wear gloves a lot, especially while washing dishes,” Avisha said.
Jorge takes his hand care regime equally seriously. “I moisturize daily. I do cuticle cream, cuticle oil, hand cream, which is different from hand lotion. I get fresh manicures for each shoot unless they’re back-to-back. I am the first person you see in the winter with gloves on. I have 10 different pairs for different occasions and I carry work gloves in my backpack. I also walk through crowds with my hands in my pockets or tucked up under my armpits because one time someone’s shopping bag grazed me and left a scratch.”
All that for photos in which the model is not even recognizable. Jorge said, “I don’t mind the anonymity. I think it’s kind of cool. You can work with competitors, like Coke and Pepsi. You can have multiple agencies. And they might not realize it, but everyone in America has seen my hands.”
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I like how geometric this man looked. Sometimes even a neutral-toned outfit can leave a visual impact. The olive Off White puffer jacket is given a sleek look with slim brown pants, tan beanie, and white tote bag. The white spiky shoes add a different textural note. And the long black hair is almost an accessory itself.
I don’t usually include books I didn’t finish, but I did want to review Didion & Babitz by Lili Anolik since it’s been popping up everywhere. I want to save my dear readers time by saying it is not a good read. I was super excited about this book because, like any good daughter of California, I love Joan Didion. I was therefore disappointed by how biased this account was. The author previously wrote a book solely focused on Eve Babitz and she makes her adoration of her clear from the start, while writing Didion off as a heartless ambition-obsessed viper. I was shocked by how gossipy and exaggerated the tone was (on the first page, she advises “reader, don’t be a baby”). I also dislike when authors write nonfiction about a place and time they weren’t part of, yet insert themselves into the action anyway (I’m thinking of Glossy). Anyway, I read 100 pages and then had to mark it as a DNF.
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This week I am celebrating my birthday! Happy Pisces season to all.
All my best,
Happy birthday! Just celebrated mine on Saturday with a fun day out in Paris :) Hope you have wonderful time!