{"id":85521,"date":"2025-10-19T23:20:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T23:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/85521\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T23:20:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T23:20:07","slug":"louie-chaban-model-agent-to-adriana-lima-erin-oconnor-karen-elson-dies-at-69","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/85521\/","title":{"rendered":"Louie Chaban, Model Agent to Adriana Lima, Erin O\u2019Connor, Karen Elson, Dies at 69"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLONDON \u2014 Louie Chaban, a veteran model<\/a> agent, has died at age of 69.<\/p>\n

\n\tHis death was confirmed on Instagram by the British model<\/a> and founder of the Bath Fashion Festival, Jade Parfitt.<\/p>\n

\n\tChaban was responsible for the breakthrough careers of Adriana Lima<\/a>, Erin O\u2019Connor, Karen Elson, Maggie Rizer, Missy Rayder, Agyness Deyn and Parfitt.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"NEW<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAgyness Deyn, Anna Sui<\/a> and Louie Chaban in 2009.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPatrick McMullan via Getty Image<\/p>\n

\n\tHe 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.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn September 2020, he returned to Ford Models, where he was named director of U.S. Women\u2019s business, directing the New York Women\u2019s Division and overseeing the women\u2019s business across the U.S., reporting to Decio Restelli Ribeiro, president of the group with offices in the U.S., France and Brazil.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 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 \u201cone of my partners and mentors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe 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,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\n\tKavoussi describes Chaban as having \u201cdeep, genuine friendships\u201d in the fashion industry with many of those relationships existing long before he started his career.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe was one of the funniest people I\u2019ve 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tParfitt wrote on her social media account that \u201cLouie 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis clever, wry guy from Queens via Cuba looked perfectly out of place when I first met him at Ford Models in the \u201890s; 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"NEW<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFrancine McGivern, Missy Rayder, Louie Chaban and Maripol in 2006.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPatrick McMullan via Getty Image<\/p>\n

\n\tChaban worked hard to get Parfitt back into the fashion scene after she broke her ankle.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe 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,\u201d Parfitt said.<\/p>\n

\n\tFashion photographer Liz Collins commented on Parfitt\u2019s post saying, \u201cI\u2019m so sorry to hear this tragic news of the world\u2019s loss of one of the good ones. Louie was always such a support to you girls.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tChaban\u2019s entry into the fashion world started by manning the door at the New York club Mudd in the \u201970s. It\u2019s where he befriended the likes of Steven Meisel<\/a>, Anna Sui<\/a> and Paul Cavaco.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the \u201990s, he was working for Sui until Meisel suggested that he work at a model agency.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe photographer introduced him to Katie Ford, the daughter of Ford Models founder Eileen Ford.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe was at Ford Models for over a year until moving over to Elite, where Elson, Rizer, Parfitt and Lima followed him.<\/p>\n

\n\tChaban stayed at Elite for four years and built a name for himself as being tough and overprotective of his models.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe left the model agency to join DNA, where he worked with Maryna Linchuk and Deyn.<\/p>\n

\n\tChaban was a prolific model agent, always jumping from one agency to another with the support of his peers and models.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe was adored by all his models with many of them calling him more than an agent in interviews.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON \u2014 Louie Chaban, a veteran model agent, has died at age of 69. His death was confirmed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[55119,15690,146,85,46,8084,58906],"class_list":["post-85521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-adriana-lima","tag-anna-sui","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-model","tag-steven-meisel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}