Beyond the Runway, Dhayliv Blends Fashion, Culture and Empowerment

Montrealer Dhayliv Jesued is a Canadian fashion, culture and beauty artist whose work goes far beyond style.

He uses fashion as a platform to promote mental well-being and personal empowerment, encouraging individuals to show up as their full, authentic selves with his ideology of “just be.”

“Everybody could do and feel flamboyantly amazing when they’re walking,” he said. “You don’t need to have a show. You don’t need to be a show. You don’t need to have a lighting. Just rock it.

“Art manifests in many ways and fashion is one of them.

“Every time that I used to knock doors, luckily they were closing doors because of my look, because I look Latino, because I look in a certain race or certain colours.

“Back then, I know that I look young, but I’m not that young. But back in the ’90s, it was very tied to the model industry. And all those people that told me ‘no’ were the motivation to really make that door, to really build that door, for the ones in need.”

Jesued immigrated to Montreal with his mom Milena Grosso from Latin America about 30 years ago.

With a dynamic background in fashion, film, talent development, and education, Jesued has mentored countless models, helping them own the runway with confidence and grace.

“What is important for me was to believe,” he said. “I didn’t have any money. The only thing that I had was my mom that came with me. We were alone. And I need to believe.

“And yes, I come from a beautiful mom that really encouraged me to just be the person that I am. But, you know, there was a hard time because I didn’t speak the language. I didn’t know how to speak French. I didn’t know how to speak English properly. So I needed to believe.

“But I knew that inside of me, it was this fire, this light, that I needed to continue in knowledge. And the only way to do it and to feel motivation and to get inspiration was to, you know, to go to Sainte-Catherine and walk and give it, give it, walk, working. You know what I mean?”

Jesued is also a cultural connector, engaging with audiences across the globe, representing Canada and championing representation at every turn.

“To be an immigrant, OK, in this amazing and beautiful country that I represent, very proud to be French Canadian,” he said. “It’s not easy. It’s not easy not only for immigrants, for everybody, the system. The reason why I became this person is because I remember those hard times.

“I’m not coming from wealth. I come from under-privileged neighbourhoods, you know, on the north side of the city. And the only escape for me, because I didn’t have any money to go having a coffee or playing in an arcade, it was to come to Sainte-Catherine Street and walk as a model.

“That was the only escape for me to really feel inspired. And when I reached the age to touch doors in different model agencies, all the doors closed on my face.

“But I keep going because the only thing that I have is just to believe. So if I can help those people to walk in the runway, to be in a photo shoot, to feel flamboyantly beautiful, I will never stop and I will always do it, because that’s my mission in this world. That’s my purpose.”

A big challenge Jesued had to deal with early on in his career was rejection.

“I was very comfortable because I was always rejected. When you’re unique, and when you own your uniqueness, you always gonna be rejected. So that it was a big challenge. And another challenge, which is, for me, the most beautiful is the courage, the passion and the drive to build a door for the new generation in the fashion industry.”

He thinks of all the people who might be afraid of showing their true colours, and takes on the role of being their platform — with pride. “That’s what I really want to showcase with Dhayliv Culture, and that’s simply who I am.

“And, you know, that’s why people tell me what’s your title, like what you do. I have no titles. I mean, the only word that could describe me is culture. The reason why I have this magnificent movement that is called Dhayliv Culture, a place for the new generation of models, designers, stylists, everybody that wants to be, just be. And that’s it. I would tell you that I am that platform for those people.”

He credits walking with helping boost confidence.

“Because when you walk with self-assurance, you can express the world who you are. And come along. So the advice that I will give to everyone, because I don’t want to categorize different ethnicities, is to just go. And if that is your dream, to be a model, to be linked to the fashion industry, to be a designer, to be a stylist, to be a photographer, to be a lighting person, you just have to go and don’t stop. Never stop for a no. Because a no is a motivation to get it.

“I mean, imagine if everybody says yes, everybody will have everything. And you know, it’s a space for everybody. So a no is, at the end, a yes, and it’s the biggest motivation.”

The fashion icon got emotional when the topic switched to his mother.

“My mom, she’s not longer with us, but she is with us, spiritually. She was everything. She just pushed me harder and harder. When I was no myself, she was like, ‘mmm, that’s not you.’ She was very, a critical. She was very hard, you know, because she wanted to make sure if I wanted to take that direction that I needed to do it properly and with a purpose. My mom, it was always about the purpose. And that is what I want to share with the society. You need to have a purpose in life. You cannot go, like, walk into a limbo.

“The reason why is my ideology ‘just be.’ Because people and society and they’re driving and they’re trying their energy, trying to give love or waiting to receive love. But the most important is just to be love.”

The conversation went deeper still.

“You know, the hard times when I came here and I used to come all the way from Saint-Leonard by walking because I didn’t have money to take the metro or the bus,” the fashion icon revealed. “And I used to just, like, wanted to see the stores and walk and, you know, do like a runway in the sidewalk on Sainte-Catherine Street. And for me, that was the escape, you know, from the tough reality because I have to go to school and I have to go work at the same time, you know, because we didn’t have any money.

“But I was happy because I always have faith. I always have respect. And I always, always believe in love. And that if you have that, you have everything. You need to have a purpose in life. If you don’t have a purpose and it’s not clear, what is the reason to go work? OK, we all work. But I mean, you need to have a purpose deeper than just to go work and get the paycheck. And my purpose as an artist is that help others and have a platform for those people in need.

“Being a model is deeper and much more complicated than many people think because a model is not an actor, it’s not a singer, it’s not a dancer. A model, they have a message that they want to express by walking or by doing a photoshoot. Obviously, it’s a marketing, you know, in place. But the meaning of a model is that they have a deeper message that they want to express. And sometimes, many times, the first platform to express that message is doing the wrong way in a fashion show or in a photoshoot.

“It’s funny because I used to work, like I said, those times were hard. I used to go to school from like 7:30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. And then at 5:30 p.m., I used to work at a shoe store. And from 5:30, I finished at 10:30 p.m. and it was my every day, Saturdays and Sundays. But what the funny part is that I was working at the back store from that shoe store and my boots that I brought from my country, there were plenty of holes. And I used to walk all the way, Montreal, to Sainte-Catherine, with my boots, plenty of holes. And I was serving it. I was like, you know, doing my wrong way, watching the stores and feeling that one day I will shop to those beautiful stores. But I never lose faith. I never lose hope. I always have self-respect. But most importantly, I always have love because I believe. I needed to believe.”