IN CONVERSATION WITH DAVID GRINSFELDER

interview by MAREK BARTEK

Model David Grinsfelder’s modelling journey began working with clients like Alo and GUESS Jeans. A true philomath, he speaks Spanish, German, French, and Italian. His intellectual curiosity is matched by his commitment to civic engagement, where he pens a thought-provoking monthly Op-Ed column for his hometown newspaper, addressing a range of contemporary issues with insight and clarity.

From Political Science and Journalism at UC Berkeley to a successful model in New York. It is quite some career shift, to say the least. How did this opportunity come along and how has this whole experience been so far?
Modelling was not on my life bingo card. I was convinced that I’d go to Berkeley, then law school, and have a successful career as a lawyer. But while working out one afternoon during my study abroad in Madrid in 2018, a scout approached me and asked if I had ever modelled before. We did a really colourful editorial shoot, and when I moved back to Los Angeles, I showed the photos to my modelling mentor Bruce Hulse who helped me sign with LA Models. But I made sure to finish my degrees before getting serious about modelling.

The whole journey has been incredible so far. I am blessed with the brands I’ve worked with, the places I’ve travelled, and especially the people I’ve met. I owe it to the team at Soul Management for taking my career to the next level. Jason Kanner sold me on moving to New York in early 2023, and I haven’t looked back since.

You’ve worked with some of the biggest brands, including GUESS Jeans, Tommy Hilfiger and Steve Madden. What have been some of the most memorable moments or campaigns in your modelling career so far?
Asking a model which campaign is their favourite is like asking someone to name their favourite movie. As soon as you think of one, another jumps to mind. But American Eagle’s Ultra Soft Underwear campaign will always be a major milestone in my career. When I first moved to New York, my roommate asked me “What would success in modelling look like to you?” I jokingly replied, “A billboard in Times Square,” knowing that the odds were minuscule it would ever happen. Flash forward to just over a year later, and I’ve been lucky to have two billboards in the centre of the Big Apple. Seeing my 3-story high American Eagle campaign images light up Times Square was a euphoric moment.

Another early career-defining highlight was shooting at the summit of Aspen Mountain with Alo for their winter campaign. That moment of realisation when I discovered that you can get paid to travel and create beautiful images alongside incredible teams of people was…powerful.

You’re not letting your journalism degree collect dust and write a monthly Op-Ed column at your hometown newspaper. What inspired you to take this on, and why is it important for you to express yourself through writing?
American author Gretchen Rubin said “The days are long, but life is short.” I’ve always looked for ways to make life slow down. My writing is just my way of cataloguing all the experiences I’m collecting along the way. I’ve been keeping a daily journal since 2016, and it’s another way to access all the memories (good and bad) that make up my life. A picture tells 1,000 words, sure. But there’s nothing like opening up an old journal to listen to and laugh with your younger self.

My monthly Op-Ed column started after I won a travel writing contest in 2014, and I quickly fell in love with documenting my travel adventures for myself and for readers back home. I won that same travel writing competition last year, and it made me realise there might be an audience out there that would enjoy reading more than the occasional travel article. So I sat down with the Editor-in-Chief in March 2023, pitched her my idea for a monthly column about Life & Culture in New York, and got busy writing.

What kind of topics are you passionate about and cover in your column?
Right now, the column is focused on life and culture in New York. I write about things that only New York residents experience – things that someone living in the suburbs of Los Angeles wouldn’t encounter even if they visited. My favourite article so far is “The 10-Second Romance,” which dives into those brief sidewalk love affairs that happen when you make eye contact with a stranger. It’s that fleeting moment when your gazes lock onto each other, a world of possibility flashes through your mind, and then it’s over as quickly as it started. One of those quintessential New York phenomena that could only happen here.

Apart from the above mentioned, you also volunteer and work with organisations like CityHarvest and Compassion International. Why are these causes important to you?
Service to others has been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember. I’m lucky to have incredible parents who made sure I understood that there was a world outside the bubble I grew up in, and they always encouraged me and my brothers to find ways to get involved. In 2005, when I was eight years old, I started writing letters to my Rwandan pen pal named Daniel. After18 years of growing up together through correspondence and video chats, in August of 2023 I actually flew to Rwanda to meet Daniel and his family. It was an incredible moment for both of us. We still keep in touch via WhatsApp, and FaceTime once a month!

CityHarvest is a great organisation that sources and rescues perfectly good, nutritious food and delivers it for free to New Yorkers experiencing hunger. In addition to volunteering at their Mobile Markets, I try to use my platform on social media to get the word out about their efforts. I look forward to helping the organisation continue to grow.

You are someone who can be described as a philomath. It’s not only your degree, but the fact that apart from English, you speak Spanish, German, French, and Italian. What is it that you enjoy about learning new languages?
Languages are the doors to other cultures. They help me to better understand other people and their ways of life. My travel experiences have been vastly improved simply by making an effort to connect with people in their language. It could be something as simple as knowing the colloquial difference between “Que padre” (Cool! in Mexico) versus “Que chevere” (Cool! in Colombia), or something as profound as being invited to someone’s home for dinner because they were impressed by your effort to communicate in their language.

Is there any other language(s) that you’d love to learn, and why?
I think Arabic would be fascinating to learn. Not only for its geopolitical importance, but also because it would unlock so much history and culture that might be inaccessible to me otherwise. There 422 million people spread across 22 countries in the Middle East and North Africa that speak Modern Standard Arabic. I have a pipe dream of visiting every country on the planet (195 total), so learning Arabic would help me knock off a big chunk of that.

You seem to have an incredibly busy schedule, which leads me to wonder, how do you like to spend your free time?
My ideal free time involves a book, a beautiful view, and at least an hour without interruptions. But if I can’t slip away from everyone and everything and get lost in reading, I also love playing piano (I trained in classical piano for 10 years, and I now love figuring out songs by ear) and cooking. Of course, doing my daily 15 minutes of Duolingo to keep my 1,300-day streak alive is non-negotiable.

Are there any exciting projects, whether in modelling, writing or community service that you are involved with and can tell us about?
As for modelling, I’m working with some great repeat clients like American Eagle and Lululemon that have been so good to me. There are a couple fun projects coming down the pipeline, but I’ll have to keep those under wraps until the clients give the green light to talk about them!

I’ll be visiting Vietnam in November as part of an entrepreneurial diplomacy team, organised by the nonprofit Network 20/20. Network 20/20 is an inclusive, international community that bridges the gap between the private sector and foreign policy worlds. Our purpose in Vietnam is to combat growing retrenchment and isolationism by conducting hundreds of interviews with local leaders, and generating reports that can help policymakers make decisions that promote international cooperation.

What are your hopes for the future in terms of career and growth?
Whatever career I pursue, I know that I need to set ambitious goals and challenge myself. I’m a lifelong learner, so I’d love to find a way to build on my initial success in my modelling career while also continuing to expand my horizons and take on new enriching opportunities. With the team I have behind me, I think there are incredible possibilities in the next few years!

TEAM CREDITS:
talent DAVID GRINSFELDER
photography and styling TORIAN LEWIN
grooming VALISSA YOE at See Management
creative assistant ALEX TONGE
location GANSEVOORT MEATPACKING NYC / SEVEN24 COLLECTIVE
editor-in-chief TIMOTEJ LETONJA
interview MAREK BARTEK
special thanks to LINDSEY ALM