Kendall Jenner & Gigi Hadid Discovered This Homeless Male Model On The Beach

Model discovery stories tend to be pretty captivating. They're the "hey, it can happen to you, too!" tales that are told (and retold) throughout a catwalk regular's career. Well, here's a how-I-was-spotted vignette that we haven't quite heard before. Two of the most in-demand runway names these days — that would be Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid — are filming a commercial in Venice Beach, and they stumble upon a hunky, homeless male surfer. He charms the model BFFs and gets hooked up with a meeting at Two Management, where he's immediately signed. That's what happened to 20-year-old John Economou, a Milwaukee native who headed to L.A. to find his big break in the modeling industry, according to The Daily Mail. Jenner and Hadid were with Jenner's current agent, Ashleah Gonzales of The Society Management (along with Ansel Elgort), when they met Economou. Initially, Economou had trepidation about the talking to the foursome, as he told The Daily Mail: "They looked all presentable and good looking, [and] I saw bodyguards at the corner. I thought they were police at first and I thought, What are they doing?" Gonzalez ended up introducing the aspiring male model to reps at Two Management (the agency that launched Jenner's career).

Economou is apparently known as the "Romeo of Venice" for his unconventional housing approach, according to the newspaper. "I came out here knowing I would be sleeping under the stars but I also knew I could talk to a girl and make friends with her and hang out with her and then end up staying at their house and doing whatever," Economou told The Daily Mail. "I do like sleeping on the beach but I obviously like going home with chicks, too." (Does that sort-of-creepy shacking-up tactic sound familiar? It's a bit like the now-reformed homeless millennial in NYC, who used an ongoing rotation of one-night stands as unwitting roomies.) We have to say, it's a little strange that neither Jenner nor Hadid are quoted in The Daily Mail story. Regardless, it's certainly a new twist on the rags-to-riches model trajectory we haven't heard before...