Maya Gwynn
With KVCR Public Media, I'm Maya Gwynn with Black Perspectives IE, a show where we learn about the amazing things members of the Black community are doing in the Inland Empire. My guest today is model Rainey Forkner. Thank you so much for being here, Rainey.
Rainey Forkner
Hi. Thanks, Maya.
Maya Gwynn
So we'll start at the beginning. Can you tell me about your modeling journey and what inspired you to even want to pursue this career?
Rainey Forkner
I never really wanted to be a model, actually, after being approached for so many years, I was like, you know what? Let me just give it a shot, right? So I was walking home from high school with all of my friends, and this woman in an SUV kind of pulled up. I was like, Oh. My friends are like, Who is this person? And I'm like, I don't know, but I'm so glad you're here with me. So then she gives me, like, business cards and she doesn't actually give me her name, which is so much more suspicious, and she's like, LA Models would love you. Elite would love you. And Next. And I heard of those three agenices. I was like, okay, they're reputable. So then I went to Elite next, and they did a quick look up and down, and they were like, we’re passing on you. And I didn't feel heavily rejected, because I never really wanted to do this, right? So I was 15. And so I went to LA Models, and my agent, you know, the person I was, like, looking to, she, like, inquisitively staring, was like, Okay, there's potential here. I see it. I signed the contract, and I was just the model. I was a model after that which was kind of like mind blowing.
Maya Gwynn
That's amazing. So when you started, were you doing runway, or were you doing print?
Rainey Forkner
I was doing more print and a lot of testing, just to see what type of range I can have. And it was like, commercial, it was editorial. Then after a year of shooting in Los Angeles, as soon as I turned 18, they told me I should go to New York, and when I was there, that's when I took off. And it was really exciting.
Maya Gwynn
Oh, that is so exciting at 18. The fashion industry is famously a tough business all around - that's an understatement. What early challenges did you face in your career and what motivated you to want to keep going?
Rainey Forkner
So the early challenges were having like tough skin, taking rejection and playing this game, and in the early 2000s all of the clients, or all of the designers, or whoever it was casting directors, they only wanted the blonde, white models. That's all you saw everywhere in the early 2000s so it was really hard for any model of color to break into a higher fashion world where that was your competition at the time, and I had complicated arguments with my agents at the time where I wanted individual style, but they wanted like the leather jeans, the skinny look, the military boots. So trying to find your space in a world so vast that everyone wants to look the same.
Maya Gwynn
What changes would you like to see in the modeling and fashion industry to better support black talent?
Rainey Forkner
One of my good friends, Marcellus, was a stylist for a long time, and was kind of having his issues in the industry. And then he came out with coffee books. It's called Supreme Models and Supreme Actresses. And Supreme Models was the very first one of all black models that have, you know, blazed a trail for all other girls of color. So with all of that circling in the media, a lot of clients are like, okay, it's a social movement, so we're going to catch up with the times. Yeah, it actually has helped a lot, because now in the Gen Z era, so many young people are speaking their minds. And then so all of the older-ish Millennials are now kind of like cool. I now have a voice, and I can say something. Me and my best friend, we are older millennials, and we have all this trauma from having our talents and our individuality hidden or like, suppressed. And then now we can.
Maya Gwynn
It's tough to navigate that now because I totally relate to feeling like the skills that you thought you had, people looked over and then now, all of a sudden, people are paying attention to it. It's like, but I've been the same the whole time. Yeah, on your Instagram, you can see beautiful photo shoots you've been a part of and amazing runway shows that you've been in all across the world. When was your first pinch me moment?
Rainey Forkner
That moment was probably when I saw my face at the Ralph Lauren flagship store in Manhattan. And it was me doing the thing that I loved the most, which was riding motorcycles. I actually like dirt bikes, and so seeing all of the gear in the helmets, like on these bikes, and I'm like, Oh my God. Or anytime I see my face on a billboard or big I'm like, little old me from Ontario, like, just out here. So, yeah, that's a really big pinch me moment.
Maya Gwynn
So we're gonna move to our rapid fire portion. So just the first thing that comes to your mind, there's no wrong answers. If your work had a theme song, what would it be?
Rainey Forkner
There's like, this niche of music called phonk, that that type of music.
Maya Gwynn
Yeah, I love that. And if you had to teach a master class to give a TED Talk and a random skill that you have, what would it be?
Rainey Forkner
So if it were like a TED Talk, it would honestly be how to navigate long distance relationships, and then the other one would just be showcasing my skill like, I know how to sew, knit, crochet, I know how to bead. I know how to do a lot of things. Make jewelry, shoes.
Maya Gwynn
Wow. And what's your favorite IE restaurant, or a landmark that reminds you of the Inland Empire?
Rainey Forkner
The Ontario Mills. That’s the greatest mall.
Maya Gwynn
All right. And how can people keep up with your work and support you.
Rainey Forkner
Honestly, follow me on Instagram. It's @rainystarforkner
Maya Gwynn
Thank you so much for being here.
Rainey Forkner
Of course. Thanks so much.
Maya Gwynn
Rainey Forkner is a model born and raised in the Inland Empire. Support for this segment comes from the Black Equity Fund at IECF, advancing racial equity and supporting long term investments in black led organizations and Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Join us again next week for Black Perspectives IE. For KVCR Public Media, I'm Maya Gwynn, thank you.
