David Miller has been photographed by Karl Lagerfeld and Bruce Weber, and has appeared on runways and in ad campaigns for Ralph Lauren, Dior, Lacoste, Armani, Versace, Boss, Vivienne Westwood, Perry Ellis and Nautica.

By Sean T. Bickerton (April 23, 2000)

David Miller has striking blue eyes and a beautifully cultured, English-accented South African speaking voice. He stands six feet one inches tall, his classically boyish looks enhanced by a small scar on his forehead from playing rugby. He is an avid surfer and snowboard enthusiast and a completely atypical Scorpio.

"I think it's great you've started up this website focusing on the men," he says as we sit down to coffee one Saturday afternoon on the upper east side of Manhattan. "Men getting into the business, they haven't always been taken so seriously, they've always traditionally been the backdrops for girls, and now you're seeing it changing around with girls sometimes the backdrops. I don't know if it will ever be in total balance but I think things are changing for men and I think what you guys are doing is great for the industry."

Thank you very much! Why do you think things are changing?

For one thing, we've had the first male supermodels like Markus Schenkenburg and Mark van der Loo. And maybe men are being taken more seriously because we're getting more involved in campaigns like "Turn Your Back on Fur" or the "Free the Elephants" campaign we organized in South Africa. We were able to get Nelson Mandela involved and ended up saving some elephants that were released into the wild.

What was it like growing up in South Africa under apartheid?

I grew up in a small community outside of Capetown, South Africa. Apartheid was invisible to me as a child, you really didn't know anything was wrong because everything was so segregated and as a child you grow up thinking everything around you is normal. Now of course, as I learn more and more about what went on I feel bad, I feel terribly embarrassed, none of it should ever have happened. The country obviously is going to take a long time to recover, there's a tremendous amount of unemployment, but it's going to be alright.

Were you still in school when everything changed?

I remember the day Nelson Mandela was released, our whole school took the day off to watch what was happening on TV. It was something that had to happen, but people were afraid. But then, Mandela proved to be an amazing man. To come out of jail after 27 years to lead a country without any grudges, is just unbelievable. Anyone else would have come out with so much anger and hatred, but he came out with wisdom and kindness and he completely opened up the country. I remember when the first McDonalds opened in South Africa. It was on TV and all the elite went to McDonald's because it was such a big thing, and now it seems funny, but it was a major turning point for the whole country.

How did you get discovered?

One morning after a school dance I was standing with some friends waiting for a ride, all of us in tuxes. This woman walked by and I noticed her looking at me, then she came back again, and finally after staring at me a bit she came over and asked if I'd be interested in modeling. Two weeks later she came over to meet my parents and I signed with her agency.