Manmay LaKay Magazine Debut Issue | Page 17

Discovering Model Mala Bryan M BY MONICA VICTOR ala Bryan’s dream as a child was  to become a flight attendant. She never did. But, although she does not taxi down runways in her day to day job, she struts down runways all over the world as a full-time fashion model — taking this little girl from La Point, Mon Repos and the Mang in Vieux-Fort to television screens and the pages of magazines like the fashion-forward Vogue magazine. Beyond the glitz and glamour, runways and magazine spreads, TV commercials and dolls — this is Manmay LaKay (St.Lucian) Mala From humble beginnings growing up in St.Lucia... ” Bryan.  I grew up between Vieux-Fort and La Pointe. I lived with my grandmother in Vieux Fort who was a street vendor. From 6 until 17 years old, I was the one helping her. I didn’t like it very much because I didn’t get to play much with my friends. But in Mon Repos, I played sports like Netball, Cricket, Chinese skip, Jackstones and marbles. And when I wasn’t playing sports, I was building swings and having fun with my brother and cousins.” Her childhood dreams were many and beyond the shores of St.Lucia… “I wanted to be a flight attendant. They always looked so elegant and ladylike and they traveled the world for free. As a churchgoer, I had an obsession with wanting to visit Israel.