Arlenis Sosa is an Dominican

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

 model

Model (person)

A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....

. She is the current spokesmodel for Lancome

Lancôme

Lancôme Paris is a makeup brand. Owned by L'Oréal since 1964, Lancôme is part of the Luxury Products division, which offers skin care, fragrances, and makeup at higher-end prices....

 and appeared in the 2008 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Early life and discovery

She was born Arlenis Sosa Peña in Montecristi, Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

, she moved to New York when she finished high school. Arlenis was discovered when she was walking with her family, and designer Luis Menieur (her mother's agent) complimented her and told her she could be a model. In March, she just walked into Marilyn Models

Marilyn Agency

Marilyn Agency is a modeling agency based in Paris, France. Founder and CEO Marilyn Gauthier brought the agency to New York City in 1998. Marylin has represented Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss, as well as models like Caroline Trentini, Alice Burdeu, and Coco Rocha.-Fashion models:The following...

 and was signed on the spot.

Career

Two weeks after she signed, she booked her first editorials for major magazines Vogue

Vogue (magazine)

Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...

and Vogue Italia

Vogue Italia

Vogue Italia is the Italian edition of Vogue magazine. Owned by Condé Nast International, it is the least commercial of all editions of Vogue magazine and has been called the top fashion magazine in the world....

. She since has been featured in editorials and articles in American, Italian, French, Teen, Spanish, and German Vogue

Vogue (magazine)

Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...

, Allure

Allure (magazine)

Allure is the leading U.S. women’s beauty magazine, published monthly by Condé Nast in New York City. It was founded in 1991 by editor in chief Linda Wells, who has been at the helm of the magazine ever since. From its inception, the magazine has been widely recognized for its intelligent,...

, Elle

Elle (magazine)

Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means "she".-History:Elle was founded in...

, Interview, i-D

I-D

i-D is a British magazine dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. i-D was founded by designer and former Vogue art director Terry Jones in 1980. The first issue was published in the form of a hand-stapled fanzine with text produced on a typewriter...

, American and Spanish Harper's Bazaar

Harper's Bazaar

Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...

. Her runway debut was at the Banana Republic F/W 08, and later walked for the Dior

Dior

Dior can mean:* Christian Dior SA, a French clothing retailer* In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth legendarium:**Dior Eluchíl, a Half-elven of the First Age**Dior , a Steward of GondorDior is a surname, and may refer to:...

 Resort show, and opened for Oscar de la Renta

Oscar de la Renta

Oscar de la Renta is one of the world's leading fashion designers. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1973.-Career:...

. She dove head-first into the fashion industry. "Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour, OBE is the British-born editor-in-chief of American Vogue, a position she has held since 1988. With her trademark pageboy bob haircut and sunglasses, Wintour has become an institution throughout the fashion world, widely praised for her eye for fashion trends and her support for...

 sent me to the Met ball the first week I arrived in New York - I felt like Cinderella!"

Sosa has walked for some of the most prestigious designers and Fashion Houses in the world, including Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive; best known for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.-Early life:...

, Michael Kors

Michael Kors

Michael Kors is an American fashion designer. He is best known for designing classic American sportswear for women.-Personal life:...

, John Galliano

John Galliano

John Charles Galliano CBE, RDI is a Gibraltan-born British fashion designer who was best known as head designer of French haute couture houses Givenchy and Christian Dior , and his own self titled fashion house.-Family:He was born in Gibraltar to a Gibraltarian father, Juan Galliano, and a...

, Emanuel Ungaro

Emanuel Ungaro

Emanuel Ungaro is a French fashion designer.-Early life:Ungaro's Italian father fled to France from Francavilla Fontana of Brindisi province because of the fascist uprising in Italy...

, Hussein Chalayan

Hussein Chalayan

Hussein Chalayan MBE is a British/Turkish Cypriot fashion designer who graduated from Central Saint Martins in 1993.- Biography :...

, Alexander Wang

Alexander Wang (designer)

Alexander Wang is a Taiwanese-American fashion designer.At age 18, he moved to New York to attend Parsons The New School for Design to study fashion design. After dropping out in his sophomore year, he launched his first women's ready-to-wear collection in 2007...

, Jean Paul Gaultier, Hermes

Hermes

Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...

, Bottega Veneta

Bottega Veneta

Bottega Veneta is an Italian luxury goods house best known for its leather goods. Founded in 1966, it was purchased in 2001 by Gucci Group, now a part of the French multinational group PPR. Bottega Veneta is headquartered in Vicenza, in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy.- History :Bottega...

, Anna Sui

Anna Sui

Anna Sui is an American fashion designer. Her luxury brand retails globally in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Her clothing, fragrance, cosmetic, and accessories lines sell at Anna Sui stores in over 50 countries and are also widely distributed at leading department stores...

, Carolina Herrera

Carolina Herrera (fashion designer)

Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera (born María Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño (born January 8, 1939) is a Venezuelan and naturalized American fashion designer and entrepreneur who founded her eponymous company in 1980.-Early life:...

, Donna Karan

Donna Karan

Donna Karan is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels.-Early life:...

, Tsumori Chisato

Tsumori Chisato

Tsumori Chisato is a Japanese fashion designer.She attended Tokyo's Bunka Fashion College. She began work with Issey Miyake in 1977 and started her own line in 1990. She took her work to Paris in 2003 and has built a following in the United States. Her aesthetic focuses on prints and has a...

, Jason Wu

Jason Wu

Jason Wu is a Manhattan-based Taiwanese American fashion designer.-Biography:Born in Taiwan, Wu moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at age nine and attended Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Massachusetts and Loomis Chaffee, in Windsor ,Connecticut. He learned how to sew by designing and...

, Carlos Miele

Carlos Miele

Carlos Miele is a Brazilian fashion designer. His labels sell in more than 30 countries worldwide. He specializes in women's ready-to-wear collections. He established his own label, Carlos Miele, in 2002, and a second label, Miele, in 2006...

, Derek Lam

Derek Lam

Derek Lam is an American fashion designer. He was born in San Francisco, California and is of Chinese American parentage. Lam is the youngest of three children in his fourth-generation family. His parents had a business that imported clothes from Asia, and his grandparents ran a successful garment...

, Isaac Mizrahi

Isaac Mizrahi

Isaac Mizrahi is an American TV presenter, fashion designer, and was the creative director of Liz Claiborne. He is best known for his eponymous fashion lines.-Early life:...

, Matthew Williamson

Matthew Williamson

Matthew Williamson is an English fashion designer. His collections often have an Indian influence, perhaps related to the time Williamson spent working in India for the clothing store Monsoon...

, Narciso Rodriguez

Narciso Rodriguez

Narciso Rodriguez III is an American fashion designer.Rodriguez is the first child and only son of Cuban parents Narciso Rodríguez II, a longshoreman, and Rawedia María Rodríguez who are of Canarian descent. He grew up in Newark, New Jersey. His parents were against Narciso entering fashion: "They...

, Ruffian

Ruffian

A ruffian is a scoundrel, rascal or unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person.As a proper noun, Ruffian may refer to:*Ruffian , a famous thoroughbred filly racehorse*Ruffian , 2007 television movie about the racehorse...

, Tadashi Shoji, Iceberg

Iceberg

An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...

, Mariella Burani and Diane von Furstenberg

Diane von Fürstenberg

Diane von Fürstenberg, formerly Princess Diane of Fürstenberg , is a Belgian-American fashion designer best known for her iconic wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg, as the wife of Prince Egon of Fürstenberg...

. She participated in 2008's Victoria's Secret

Victoria's Secret

Victoria's Secret is an American retailer of women's wear, lingerie and beauty products. It is the largest segment of publicly-traded Limited Brands with sales of over US$5 billion and an operating income of $1 billion in 2006...

 Fashion Show. She has appeared in advertising campaigns for David Yurman

David Yurman

David Yurman Inc. is a privately held high-end American designer jewelry company founded by David Yurman . It is headquartered in New York City....

, Topshop

Topshop

Topshop is a British clothes retailer with shops in over 20 countries and online operations in a number of its markets. Its sales come primarily from women's clothing and fashion accessories...

, Polo Ralph Lauren

Polo Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren Corporation is a luxury clothing and goods company of the American fashion designer Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lauren specializes in high-end casual/semi-formal wear for men and women, as well as accessories, fragrances, home and housewares...

, Express, Lancome

Lancôme

Lancôme Paris is a makeup brand. Owned by L'Oréal since 1964, Lancôme is part of the Luxury Products division, which offers skin care, fragrances, and makeup at higher-end prices....

, and GAP. Sosa, who is known for her full lips, became the face of Lancome

Lancôme

Lancôme Paris is a makeup brand. Owned by L'Oréal since 1964, Lancôme is part of the Luxury Products division, which offers skin care, fragrances, and makeup at higher-end prices....

 in September 2008.

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