Being Diego Barrueco

Even just a couple of these can land you the job, but having them all doesn't hurt. That's the case of Diego Barrueco, which took the world by storm since being scouted by Luis Venegas and signing to IMG pretty much overnight.

So goes the story: the cult editor bumped into some Tumblr selfies and recruited Diego for one of his shoots, eventually exposing him to the public attention. In no time at all he had already embarked on the whole shebang, fronting Indie magazines as well as glossy covers and campaigns. The game was on.

With over 600K followers on Instagram and a huge audience on all social media, London-based Diego is a true online sensation.

His daily posts provide an insight into the lifestyle of a guy who’s simultaneously different and ordinary, which has good looks but also a genuine passion for football, music and food (healthy food freak alert). ‘I like playing sports, watching documentaries about conspiracies, playing FIFA, reading articles about science or politics and listening to hip-hop music’, he revealed. A supporter of Real Madrid, on his iPod you’ll find upbeat tracks by Drake, Partynextdoor, Roy Wood$ and ASAP Rocky (whom he happened to hang out with).

His smile and feel-good attitude are contagious, although he keeps feet on the ground when it comes to his future. ‘I’ll be lucky if I have another five years of modelling’, claimed the unstoppable Spaniard, ‘it is important to understand the difference between fame and success, I do not feel like I am famous and I certainly don’t want to be’. In the meanwhile, however, he keeps transforming his persona into a profitable brand, as he secures one top job after another.

‘Hakuna Matata’ says a tattoo on the back of his arm, in his best friend’s writing. The catchphrase from The Lion King, a Swahili equivalent for ‘No Worries’, could not be more appropriate. The future is yet to be written…but hey Diego, no worries indeed.