Nadine Willis

Short Biography

Nadine Willis was born to a Kingston, Jamaica ghetto.“It was hard for me as a little girl growing up there. For most of the time, I didn’t have a father. The family court took me away from him because he was so abusive. My mother had gone off to Canada and left me outside my father’s gate. I was about three years old. Some strangers took me in, then my father took me from them. The first 13 years of my life were always back and forth, never settled. I had to start work at age 11.” – Nadine Willis“My mother came back to Jamaica when I was 15 but we never really hit it off. I do not relate to her. It’s not that I haven’t forgiven her, I have. But she always makes things worse for me.” Nadine WillisBack in 2002, Nadine was one of many aspiring young models to show up at the Hilton Jamaica for a model search competition thrown by a local talent agency run by famed talent scout Kingsley Cooper.Cooper flew her to London, signed her to Select and the next day, Nadine was on the runway of London Fashion Week.Within two weeks after arriving in London, Nadine was being shot for French Vogue and booked to work a campaign for Gucci.Since then Nadine has been shot by world class photographers Mario Testino, David LaChapelle and Ellen von Unsworth and has been featured in a host of campaigns including Banana Republic and Rimmel.“I’ll never turn down a job, no matter how small...I’m Jamaican, ” says Nadine, “And I’m never gonna change.”