Nicolas Ripoll

Nicolas Ripoll is an Argentinean model whose lean proportions and intent gaze first drew attention on the European runway. His photographs often suggest a serious, slightly elusive character, but a broad smile can change the mood entirely. That contrast has served a career spanning Prada’s catwalk and the more sociable world of international advertising.

Raised in Rosario, Nicolas entered modeling at his family’s urging. Before fashion, his interests included graphic design and computer programming. As he recalled to LA NACION, he had been self-conscious about his height and thin legs, hardly imagining them as professional advantages. A trip to Buenos Aires brought him into contact with the Paris agency Bananas, and he soon found himself working in Europe.

Nicolas opened and closed Prada’s fall 2009 menswear show as an exclusive, an unusually prominent introduction to the industry. Editorial appearances in Vogue Hommes Japan and Dazed & Confused followed, alongside advertising for Bottega Veneta and Sisley. His fall-winter 2013 Valentino campaign reinforced his affinity with tailoring, giving his watchful expression a leading role in the house’s menswear imagery.

Looking back in a DA MAN interview in 2018, Nicolas explained that his family had circulated photographs to agencies to interrupt his days of video games; within a month, he was booked for Milan Fashion Week. He remembered a Prada fitting where Miuccia Prada began cutting into the clothes he was wearing, an early lesson in how close to showtime a collection could still change.

Travel persuaded him to pursue the profession, while humor became part of his approach to the job. He preferred making people laugh on set to taking on work behind the camera, and resisted treating his Instagram account as a rigid posting schedule.

That lighter side is visible in his spring 2020 Furla campaign, where a smile replaces the severity of his early runway image. The movement between those expressions is a recurring strength in Nicolas’s work, allowing him to suggest formality or companionship with a small change in manner.