Bakay Diaby has made a name for himself. When you ask people about him, the answer mostly comes back, “the Gucci boy, right” since he gained popularity from working consistently with the Italian luxury brand. Not a bad description to have, but this wasn’t in the cards a few years ago for the 22-year-old French model with roots from Guinea. In speaking about the future, he probably would have told us about running on a soccer field and not walking a runway.With plans of being a professional soccer player, Bakay’s career took a turn after an injury four years ago, which occasioned a visit to Bananas Models where he was signed immediately.
Diaby, has built a long list of clients since being signed. The list includes Ermenegildo Zegna, Givenchy, KENZO, Lavin, Martin Margiela and Missoni. June 2017 made it the 6th season he had been on the catwalk of Boris Bidjan Saberi and Paul Smith, and as for fashion editorials, he has worked with the best, and the biggest. His most recent, the cover of Another Man’s Fall/Winter issue.
Inspired by the Cabral brothers, he sees himself working as a model for as long as he possibly can and later on working in another position within the industry. The best advice he has for other models in the industry: “Don’t take yourself too seriously and don’t take being denied too hard. Many models get cancelled right before the show. It is what it is”. Bakay and fellow model Keiron Caynes are the current faces of Gucci’s Pre Fall 2017 men’s campaign which exclusively featured black models.
