Danica Magpantay: God is the X factor

Other models would do all sorts of things to develop that magical X factor that would take them to the big leagues.

Ford Supermodel of the World 2010 Danica Magpantay would rather recall what her mom, former supermodel Lala Flores Magpantay told her: “Let God be your X factor.”

That winning aura and the unmistakable glow will easily follow.

“Nagbabago ang physical aspect,” she told a handful of writers at an interview sponsored by Globe Telecom, whose Tattoo@Home broadband brand she endorses.

But you cannot discount that look, that arresting presence that would make people remember you.

“Yung expression na pinapakita mo ang pinakaimportante,” she says.

In Danica’s case, that glow on her face stems from an overriding faith.  She believes that it is God who brought her to where she is now, the first Filipina to bag the coveted  Ford Supermodel of the World title. This gives her the confidence to hold her head high before an international audience.

Her self-assurance comes from within.

“I don’t conform to people’s expectations,” she asserts.

After all, the towering Danica (she stands 5’9” tall) has long accepted the fact that “there will always be people who won’t like what you’re doing.”

So, just like the UP Fine Arts professor who taught her to draw as she–not others–see fit, Danica listens to her heart and follows what it says.

It has taught her that someone like her who never thought she could make a career out of modeling can do so–and make the world sit up and notice.

Empowering

“I got into modeling to inspire and empower young women,” Danica muses.

Inspiring also means showing everyone that not all models are just slim bodies and pretty faces. They can be smart and not-that-fair-skinned like her.

“You don’t have to be just pretty,” Danica explains. “You can be just a UP student like me. And it’s real, it’s empowering.”

She looks up to Tyra Banks as an example of an empowered model.

“She’s not just a beauty icon,” Danica observes. Tyra, as we all know, is a businesswoman and popular media person too.  That’s how Danica sees life as it should be. You can be anyone you want to be, as long as you keep your eye on the ball.

If there’s a will…

“Pag may gusto ako, linalaban ko talaga.  If there’s a will there’s a way.”

So she bore the loneliness of being away from her close-knit family for ten months to be the only Asian in an apartment she shared with 10 other models in New York.

Fending for herself  miles away from home, Danica discovered things she never would have learned in school.

“In school, you’re more concerned about grades,” she revealed. “Now I know that it’s not everything. Natutunan ko what life is.”

Be that as it may, Danica is not shunning school forever. She was only a freshman toting cartolina and other drawing materials with her when modeling beckoned. So Danica plans to resume her rudely-interrupted studies by taking an online course and thereby get a degree. 

That’s the best thing she can do considering her mobile lifestyle.

Danica will fly to Singapore in March “to explore things there.”  She goes back to the Philippines in April for the Philippine Fashion Week. Late this year, Danica will be leaving again to pursue her modeling career once more.

Forever a Pinay

But she will always go back to the Philippines, “where my heart belongs.”  She knows that’s where she got the dusky good looks that is now literally and figuratively taking her places.

Well and good, considering that the modeling community is following the rest of the world in turning to Asia  for many important things.

Danica agrees that China is the next big thing. This means the demand for  Asian models will rise steadily. 

Danica, homegrown values and matchless experience behind her–will be ready when that time to shine even more comes along.