From the Sidelines to the Spotlight: The New York Fashion Week Model Who Walked for Rick Ross

Dave Castillo had no agent, no portfolio, and no spot on the list. Yet in February 2026, this New York Fashion Week model walked two shows in a single night, including Rick Ross’s RR22 label at Runway 7, just five months after watching that same runway from the audience. This is how he made it happen.

The New York Fashion Week Model Moment That Started Everything

In September 2025, Dave Castillo traveled to New York to watch his uncle, Pepe Napoleon, walk in the Rick Ross RR22 show at Runway 7. He sat in the crowd and felt something lock into place. The song playing during that walk embedded itself in his memory. He went home, propped his phone against a wall, played that same track on repeat, and practiced walking in front of it.

“I envisioned everybody looking at me,” Dave says. “I could see myself doing that.” Furthermore, he did more than visualize. He committed. That night, a spectator became a man with a plan.

He wasn’t scouting the competition or working the room. He was watching, feeling, and quietly making a vow. Specifically, he decided that by the time New York Fashion Week returned in February 2026, he would be on that runway, not in the seats.

“Life is never too late to change your path and do what you truly want to do. I just decided, and then I went and got it.”
– Dave Castillo

The First Show: A New York Fashion Week Model Is Born in Oregon

Within weeks of that September moment, Pepe quietly sent Dave’s photo to a designer contact. They selected Dave from the group and flew him to Portland for Oregon Fashion Week in October 2025. He arrived with no experience and no runway credits. The designer who cast him did not know this.

Midway through the day of the show, she asked how long he had been modeling. “This is my first day,” Dave told her. She paused. “If I had known that, I probably wouldn’t have cast you.” Nevertheless, she sent him out anyway. He walked. The room responded. He left Portland with one clear goal: New York Fashion Week, February 2026.

That small show did something important. It confirmed what the September night in the audience had only suggested. Dave was not just chasing a fantasy. He had the look, the presence, and the instinct. Now he needed the stage.

Fighting His Way Into the New York Fashion Week Model Circuit

According to Castillo, the Agent “Ali” had spotted Dave’s photo and believed in him before Dave fully believed in himself. Ali invited him to New York Fashion Week in February 2026. Dave said no ten times. Then, finally, he said yes once and meant it.

He traveled from Connecticut. Pepe flew in from Oregon. Together, they worked every casting and every fitting room with the focused energy of two men who had come too far to leave empty-handed. They wore matching mink coats, Pepe in brown and Dave in black. Moreover, they moved through Fashion Week as a unit, covering more ground together than either could alone.

A glitched app on casting day wiped out their designer confirmations heading into Day 2. Most people would have packed and gone home. Instead, Dave called Ali, leveraged every relationship they had, and worked his way back into the fittings. By afternoon, he and Pepe had both secured designer slots. Dave landed a spot with DA+AF and earned a place in the Runway 7 merch show the same day.

“I’m not going home. I came from a far distance. Let’s figure out how to get in.”
– Dave Castillo, on Day 2 of NYFW, February 2026

The Room Where It Happened

On the afternoon of February 12th, 2026, mutual friend and model Kailey Joa Johnson pulled Dave aside with urgency: get to the Rick Ross dressing room. He had five minutes. Dave walked down a corridor and past the red stairs into the change room with no official spot on the Rick Ross list. He was not there to beg. He simply introduced himself to everyone in the room, the same way he walks into any space where he does not yet belong.

One of those conversations landed on James Raymond Hattem, the executive who runs many of Rick Ross’ ventures. Dave did not know who he was. He just complimented the man’s jacket. Hattem looked at Dave, the mink, the presence, the build, and according to Dave, delivered a verdict on the spot: “You look like Rick Ross’s brand. You’re walking.”

Dave thought he was joking. Five minutes later, Dave pulled Hattem aside and asked if Pepe could walk too. “I already told you, both of you are in,” Hattem said. There were fifteen model spots on the official list. Neither Dave nor Pepe appeared on it. When the lineup coordinator called the green room and two names came up short, everyone present walked regardless. It worked out exactly as it was supposed to.

Walking the Dream: Two Shows, One Night, One New York Fashion Week Model’s Breakthrough

Before stepping into the RR22 lineup, Dave spotted another opportunity. Organizers needed two male models for the Bugatti show running directly before RR22. He raised his hand on the spot. His portfolio needed the depth, and he knew it. So he handed off his Rick Ross bag, walked the Bugatti show, sprinted back, tracked down his mink jacket, grabbed a borrowed blue duffel bag, and lined up for RR22.

He walked out wearing a black mink, a black turtleneck, and a Wakanda necklace. In September 2025, he had watched influencer-model Lulu close this same show wearing a black mink. Now Dave wore one too, without planning it that way. They call him Black Panther. That night, he understood why.

“I felt like I was on top of the world,” he says.

The Entrepreneur Behind the New York Fashion Week Model

Modeling is not Dave’s only career. He built and runs Well Done Detailing, a Connecticut-based company that specializes in luxury vehicle and yacht care. Dave personally vets every detailer before listing them on his platform. Clients book and pay directly through the site, and Dave collects a percentage of every completed job. Think Uber, but with rigorous background checks and a Michelin-style approval process that protects the brand.

That same instinct drove every move he made at NYFW. He treated each casting like a business pitch and each obstacle like a logistics problem to solve. Consequently, every room he walked into, including Rick Ross’s, felt less like luck and more like execution.

“I always knew I was a go-getter,” he says. “But I didn’t know what it took until I was in the fire.”

Sacrifice First: Advice From a New York Fashion Week Model Who Earned Every Step

“It’s going to take more sacrifice than you think,” Dave says plainly. “When you’re in the fire, you realize you have to get after it. Everything moves fast. You have to say yes to discomfort.” He pauses before adding: “I make my decisions based on believing in myself now, not other people’s opinions. If I believe it’s going to work, I do it.”

He shared a mink jacket with his uncle. He borrowed his sister’s prom suit. He slept in the same apartment as Pepe between shows. He ran through corridors two minutes before curtain searching for a missing bag. None of it broke his stride. In fact, all of it built it.

Above all, Dave credits Pepe Napoleon and agent Ali as the two people who saw his potential before he fully claimed it himself. “I said no to Ali ten times,” he recalls. “He stayed persistent. I wouldn’t have known what I was capable of without him and my uncle Pepe.” He also thanks Jehovah, a reminder that no hustle succeeds entirely on its own terms.

What’s Next for Dave Castillo

Miami Swim Week 2026 is Dave’s next target. He already has editorial shoots and rooftop campaigns lined up. Beyond that, he wants to build a fitness modeling career, explore film and television, and he plans to apply for Love Island.

Five months. Zero prior experience. One Rick Ross runway. Dave Castillo proved that the most powerful credential you can carry into any room is the unshakeable belief that you belong there.