Calling his streak of red hair "violent" and his jawline "sullen", industry bible to young fashion darlings i-D Vice all but announced the arrival of Ferdia Gallagher from Donegal to the fashion bubble of Europe.
The 19-year-old from Gaoth Dobhair already has a sizable online following, with 13,000 followers on Instagram alone, but with his appearance at Celine's first menswear collection on the closing night of Paris Fashion Week, his career seems primed to take off.
"It's no surprise that Hedi Slimane chose to debut his first standalone menswear collection with this kid at the forefront", went the i-D feature.
"The teenager, who’s just moved to the French capital and signed to Banana Models, made his exclusive catwalk appearance on the closing night of Paris Fashion Week for Slimane’s Celine, and has had casting directors asking 'Who’s that bloke?' ever since."
It's the kind of breakneck ascent to fame that we're almost used to by now, but it's always a thrill seeing an Irish face on the world stage. It's particularly impressive given that six months ago, Gallagher was working in his aunt's shop in Donegal, before moving to Paris and signing with Banana Models.
Speaking to the magazine, Gallagher said "I’ve always been interested in fashion, so [walking for Celine] is really exciting to me! To be a part of the industry now just feels surreal."
It's reassuring that in a collection that proved underwhelming for critics and fashion fans alike, our Ferdia emerged as one of the highlights.
Indeed, he has all the qualities of what mainstream, trendy masculinity is morphing into: fine but pronounced features, "soft boy hair" (think Timothée Chalamet's lustrous curls but here a brilliant apricot shade) and the kind of open, searching gaze that screams out for a Nylon cover.
Will he do for Donegal what Cillian Murphy did for Cork, that is, establish it as the font of beautiful people? We'll see. We'll see.
