LONDON — Louie Chaban, a veteran model agent, has died at age of 69.
His death was confirmed on Instagram by the British model and founder of the Bath Fashion Festival, Jade Parfitt.
Chaban was responsible for the breakthrough careers of Adriana Lima, Erin O’Connor, Karen Elson, Maggie Rizer, Missy Rayder, Agyness Deyn and Parfitt.
Agyness Deyn, Anna Sui and Louie Chaban in 2009.
Patrick McMullan via Getty Image
He held several different positions at modeling agencies, namely, Ford, The Lions, Elite, DNA, and Women. He represented Doutzen Kroes, Raquel Zimmermann, Cameron Russell and Jamie Bochert.
In September 2020, he returned to Ford Models, where he was named director of U.S. Women’s business, directing the New York Women’s Division and overseeing the women’s business across the U.S., reporting to Decio Restelli Ribeiro, president of the group with offices in the U.S., France and Brazil.
In an interview, The Lions managing partner Ali Kavoussi said that the agency had been open for 12 years and in the first eight of those years, Chaban was “one of my partners and mentors.”
“He taught me so much about model management, but beyond that, his passion for art, design, architecture, and furniture was infectious. Those were his true loves,” he added.
Kavoussi describes Chaban as having “deep, genuine friendships” in the fashion industry with many of those relationships existing long before he started his career.
“He was one of the funniest people I’ve ever known, and I will never forget the profound role he played in my life and in the lives of all who loved him so dearly. He was sensitive, strong, and I feel so lucky to have shared a decade of work, laughter, and friendship with him,” he said.
Parfitt wrote on her social media account that “Louie was the real deal, one of the best, the coolest and most unlikely agent I ever had. Before becoming a model agent he had worked all kinds of jobs including being a doorman at the Mudd Club in its heyday.”
“This clever, wry guy from Queens via Cuba looked perfectly out of place when I first met him at Ford Models in the ‘90s; we became fast friends, as well as him pushing me for jobs only he knew I could get. He taught me how to play pool, took me to listen to the Strokes, to explore the marvel that is Coney Island; we went gambling, to fun fairs, but mostly loved to sit and chew the fat and giggle about the crazy world we found ourselves in.”
Francine McGivern, Missy Rayder, Louie Chaban and Maripol in 2006.
Patrick McMullan via Getty Image
Chaban worked hard to get Parfitt back into the fashion scene after she broke her ankle.
“He worked so hard for me, getting me back once again into rooms he was sure I should be in. Much more than my agent, my chosen family,” Parfitt said.
Fashion photographer Liz Collins commented on Parfitt’s post saying, “I’m so sorry to hear this tragic news of the world’s loss of one of the good ones. Louie was always such a support to you girls.”
Chaban’s entry into the fashion world started by manning the door at the New York club Mudd in the ’70s. It’s where he befriended the likes of Steven Meisel, Anna Sui and Paul Cavaco.
In the ’90s, he was working for Sui until Meisel suggested that he work at a model agency.
The photographer introduced him to Katie Ford, the daughter of Ford Models founder Eileen Ford.
He was at Ford Models for over a year until moving over to Elite, where Elson, Rizer, Parfitt and Lima followed him.
Chaban stayed at Elite for four years and built a name for himself as being tough and overprotective of his models.
He left the model agency to join DNA, where he worked with Maryna Linchuk and Deyn.
Chaban was a prolific model agent, always jumping from one agency to another with the support of his peers and models.
He was adored by all his models with many of them calling him more than an agent in interviews.
