October Issue 06

Joanna Garel
BY NIKI SMART
PHOTOGRAPHED BY FARIA RAJI
TO THIS DYNAMIC DUO
Joanna Garel moved to Los Angeles from Canada,
and signed with The Ford Modeling Agency,
doing both print and commercial ads for hundred’s
of clients including Labatt’s Blue, Budweiser, Gap
and Banana Republic. From there, Joanna transitioned
into film and television with guest appearances
on The Jamie Foxx Show, La Femme Nikita,
Ally McBeal, among others .Joanna is currently
making directorial debut with a music video, I DO.
Matthew Garel is a model based in Los
Angeles with LA Models. He originates from
Kingston Jamaica, but moved at a young age to
Toronto, Ontario (Canada). After finishing up
his MBA, he moved to NYC where his modeling
career began. He has worked in Europe, Asia
and the USA with clients ranging from The Gap,
Levis, Target to GQ to name a few. He has also
appeared in over 40 TV commercials, which he says
adds a nice touch of variance from the print world.
MATTHEW GAREL
How did the two of you meet? After pining after Joanna for years and seeing
her at random places in Toronto, I finally met her at a birthday party. I have to say I was
pretty happy that night.
What’s your favorite modeling story/experience? I think the one
that stands out is a Target booking where my whole family tagged along. After an
extremely long travel day, we finally got to the hotel at 1am with hungry and tired
children. When we checked in, our room was like a palace. It was so big, had a kitchen,
bedrooms, living room..it had the works and we all started screaming and laughing and
running around the room. It definitely made up for the long travel day.
How long have you lived in LA? Best thing about it? I moved to LA in
Sept of ’99 right after we got married. I think the best thing about LA is the active
lifestyle we can choose to live. Being near the beach is such a treat. We can surf
whenever we choose and when we do a beach day with the family it is so much fun
cuz we normally have a big group that we always beach it with. We feel like we are on
vacation. And it’s a plus that we can surf and snowboard in the winter if we want to.
Do you prefer casual or dressing up? Do you have any favorite
designers? I think I prefer casual, but if we are going to events or occasions that call
for dressing up, I don’t mind that either. My regular wear is probably Levi’s and Scotch
and Soda. I love the couple suits I picked up from Zara as well.
What are your plans/goals for the immediate future? For the immediate
future I hope to still be modeling and booking commercials. I've been teaching myself
programming and who knows, maybe I'll come up with a must have App
JOANNA GAREL
You’ve been a model, an actress, an artist, a businesswoman, a
mother; what are you up to right now?
I’m always juggling multiple hats, and my most recent and exciting endeavor is I’m
working with http://nimblecontent.tv to executive produce dynamic digital content.
The demand for digital content is booming, and I’m proud to be working with an
innovative and talented team to create viral original content for the public.
What’s been the highlight of your career?
For my first year as an artist, the highlight was when I sold a lot of paintings to various
collectors. (www.joannagarel.com) The ultimate highlight was when I moved to
Hollywood from Toronto, Canada to star in the Disney studio film “SNOW DOGS”.
Now my kids, grandkids and great grandkids can watch it.
I know you and Matt both love to surf, and you recently started painting
lifeguard towers. Can you tell me a little more about that?
I told my husband that I’d had a great idea and that I was going to paint studies in
lifeguard towers, 25 of them, and that I was going to have an art show and invite all my
friends. Well, fast-forward to a year later and I’ve sold over 30 painting commissions
to some serious collectors. I think people relate to my art because there’s a tranquility
about my works. My art shows at a local art gallery in the South Bay called Riley Arts
Gallery.
Do you prefer casual or dressing up? Do you have any favorite
designers?
Being a model and hailing from a cosmopolitan city like Toronto, I love any excuse to
dress up! I even used a CHANEL bag as a diaper bag when my kids were babies. I love
Stella McCartney, Isabel Marant and Sacai, Miu Miu. I have an eclectic style, and like
clothing that has interesting details.
Anything else you’d like people to know about you?
People don’t know that I was a quarterback for the girls flag football team in high school
and college. I also coached my son’s flag football teams in Manhattan Beach and would
hug the kids when they got hurt. But I guess you’re not supposed to do that in football,
but they were only 6, 7, 8 years old - a very huggable age.
Before I met my darling husband, I was a teenage single mother and my son, Jordan
Andino, is now a successful celebrity chef in the making. He was on the Kardashian’s
show as their personal chef, and has cooked against Bobby Flay. He has a show coming
out in Canada called Chef in Your Ear.
The LA FASHION MAGAZINE
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