DRU PRESTA: I want my photos to show that I can be sexy in any size.
DRU PRESTA: You can be super-duper tall at, like, 6’4’’ and you can be 3’4’’
at my own standard and you could still look so sexy and cute and just beautiful in your way.
DRU PRESTA: Hi! Thanks for coming. Oh, my god! Super excited.
DRU PRESTA: I decided I wanted to be a model
about a year ago. It is a little difficult for people to see that sexy does not have a size.
DRU PRESTA: Okay. LADY: Okay, I want you to turn around.
DRU PRESTA: Turn this way? LADY: Yeah.
DRU PRESTA: Okay.
DRU PRESTA: So, the look I am kind of looking for today is just, I am doing street-wear.
So, I kind of want something edgy. I love braids. Braids always look really, really
nice with my hair and something natural for the beach. You know, just something flowy, something cute.
JENNIFER GONZALEZ: Did I miss anything? DRU PRESTA: Hi Jen. Look how cute, is it good?
Yeah.
DRU PRESTA: Awesome! Look at my eyebrows. Oh, my God! Thank you. It looks so good.
DRU PRESTA: The hardest learning curve of
becoming a model is honestly being completely vulnerable to the camera
and to the photographer as well.
DRU PRESTA: I had to discover my curves. I had to learn how to work with it. I mean,
a lot of little people we got big butts. So, we got to learn how to make it work. We have
either big foreheads, we have different size limbs, we have so many different complications.
But as long as you see yourself as who you are, that’s sexy. That’s it.
JENNIFER GONZALEZ: And you look amazing.
I got it. Do you want to see it? DRU PRESTA: Yes. I love that one. Oh, my God!
That one looks so good. You literally captured it.
JENNIFER GONZALEZ: I love it.
DRU PRESTA: Growing up with dwarfism is probably the most challenging thing anyone can do in
their life. In my family I am the only dwarf and all of history with my family lines. So,
they were, kind of, learning as I was learning but through my life they did the best they
could and they did a really good job. My hometown is complete opposite of Los Angeles. Reno,
Nevada is very small so it’s very small in diversity. Even just as in ideas or dreams
that you would like to have. They tease and they made hurtful names. It was hard growing
up as a kid trying to understand why everybody was so mean to you. I do have a lot of anxiety.
I mean I am small. So, I do have to watch out 24/7 of people around me, make sure I
am not stepped on, pushed, hit or even just taken in general. I left my hometown 2 weeks
after graduating high school. I decided to go to the Art Institute here in Los Angeles,
California and they have the summer programs and I wanted to get a head start on my career.
I wanted to do fashion marketing, which I am graduating with my Bachelors very soon
this year. I don’t want anybody else to feel, like they cannot express themselves
like the way I did back home. Los Angeles is the most diverse city I have ever been
to. So, I completely love it here.
DRU PRESTA: Hi! Find the place okay? ANGELICA RODRIGUEZ: Of course.
DRU PRESTA: Hi Sam! LADY: Hi.
DRU PRESTA: That’s my friend Dylan. She did my hair and makeup. Thank God.
ANGELICA RODRIGUEZ: Awesome! You look gorgeous. DRU PRESTA: Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So,
this is, kind of like a street-wear type look. I am going to be kind of edgy but I want some,
like, really cool backgrounds in the back. So, like some cool paintings, flowers.
ANGELICA RODRIGUEZ: You mentioned flowers. I’m already set-up for right here. There
is little bush of flowers right here. DRU PRESTA: You literally are speaking my
mind. So, that’s even better. So, you have everything set up. So…
ANGELICA RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, perfect. So, when you are ready; let’s start.
DRU PRESTA: Modelling has boosted my confidence
a ton. I feel a lot sexier in front of the camera. It’s a different Dru that likes
to be exposed; honestly there is no other words. I just, I love being in front of the camera.
DRU PRESTA: You did so good. ANGELICA RODRIGUEZ: Awesome.
ANGELICA RODRIGUEZ: My photos with Dru, I
hope will get the message to people that it doesn’t matter who you are or what size
you are to be what you want to be. Dru is, maybe, she maybe shorter than, you know your
average person, me, but it doesn’t change from her, her ambition to be a model.
MAN: Haven’t seen you guys in so long.
DRU PRESTA: Hi honey. MAN: How are you?
DRU PRESTA: Good. I miss you. MAN: You look pretty.
DRU PRESTA: Thanks. But I wanted you here, you were my first photographer ever.
MAN: I’m always there.
DRU PRESTA: I love fashion. You get to, get to wear whatever you want and no one cares.
I love being able to have something that fits. I look cute, I look sexy and I’m going out
and I’m going to have everybody notice me, not just for my size, but because of how I
dress and how confident I am in my clothing.
DRU PRESTA: How is, does the dress look good? Should I let it go?
DRU PRESTA: With me being a model, I do receive
a lot of comments and hurtful things on Instagram, Facebook. I do not like the ‘M’ word,
which is the exact same as you would think of it, as the ‘N’ word. So if anything
please, I’m just a little person at most and I’m honestly just a human being. You
call me Dru, that’s it. I don’t need to be expressed in any other word or any other
way. I’m Dru. I probably, would honestly prefer to still be a little person versus
average. I definitely see things that a lot of people miss or don’t perceive in a certain
way. It has definitely made me into who I am today and I could never be more prouder than who I am.
JENNIFER GONZALEZ: Dru is an amazing model. The camera loves her. I have so much fun shooting
with her. She knows how to work the camera, she knows every angle. Her signature...
She is just amazing and so much fun to work with.
DRU PRESTA: I have great friends, I have great
support, that I probably wouldn’t be here without them.
JENNIFER GONZALEZ: Give me that shoulder. DRU PRESTA: Team work makes the dream work.
You guys don’t even know how serious that is. I would not be here without my support,
my hair and make-up artist, my photographers, friends, family, all of it. I would not be
here without them. I just want to be respected. I want to be accepted and I want to make something
beautiful for the world, whether it be clothing or it just me being myself. I want everybody
in the fashion world just to be accepted. I want anybody to be able to walk that runway
just like anybody else. If anyone is having trouble embracing their sexiness, just be yourself.
Being yourself is completely sexy. Having a smile is completely sexy. Confidence
in yourself is completely sexy. Nobody wants anybody that’s scared to be themselves.
So, just express yourself, don’t be ashamed, don’t be afraid and F all the haters if
they don’t like it, it’s you. It’s your only life.