Lucho Jacob

P&F: Hi Lucho! 🙂

First of all, let me thank you for giving us this interview – this is really amazing!

For our readers:

We met Lucho completely by surprise in August 2020, and had never heard or seen anything about him before (how could that even have been possible???).

Lucho contacted us via his platform EcoFlowWorld to offer a cooperation with PATER et FILIUS. The platform was in its earliest stages then, but we really liked the idea and the look, and it was an immediate yes from us.

Besides looking ridiculously handsome, the man we discovered is a gorgeous soul, incredibly natural and open, positive and friendly, through and through.

His platform EcoFlowWorld is aiming to spread awareness about the main ecological issues facing mankind today. It explains society’s mistakes and their consequences on the environment and suggests alternative products and solutions to help us make our everyday contributions to a better world.

Lucho and his wife Melina Petrocchi just left Sicily and are currently living in the south of Spain with their son, Ciro.

P&F: So, Lucho, we are thrilled that you picked PATER et FILIUS to be on your gallery of positive products! How did we get your attention?

Lucho: Well, you know, EcoFlowWorld started only three months ago, we are really still in our learning phase with Instagram, content creation, photography, etc… The idea was to find brands to partner with, brands with similar ideals. So, basically, we did our research on Instagram. It’s crazy how you can use social media to select fitting brands, you know, all this Instagram stuff was completely new to us! That’s how we discovered you. We liked the aesthetics and the steps you took towards more sustainable consumption.

P&F: What was the trigger to start your platform EcoFlowWorld? What are its long-term goals?

Lucho: After Ciro’s birth, both being international models, my wife and I had to make a decision about what our lives would look like. Under no circumstances did we want to stop traveling. We both love modeling and the fact that it makes you travel around the globe. We wanted to keep on living the lives we had before Ciro. The only thing that was changing was our focus. After 20 years in the industry, you get picky, you don’t want to take every job, you try to do less but better, you have more time to reflect. And believe me, behind closed curtains, the fashion industry is not always as glamorous as one might think! There are some aspects we don’t want to stand for anymore. Our idea with EcoFlowWorld is to highlight a more valuable fashion alternative, to show that you can be stylish and eco-responsible at the same time, that there is a great variety of super exciting brands out there worth discovering, and that there is no excuse for being blind to the harm caused by the fashion industry. With our platform, we are able to mix our passion for fashion with our urge to spread awareness. In our content, we try to keep a good balance between the beautiful and the ugly face of fashion. It’s not always easy… so, the long-term goal would be to reach financial independence by creating a sustainable marketplace, but it is very hard to predict the future at the moment…

P&F: You are constantly traveling around, changing places every 3-4 months – is it the sun you are chasing? Or the jobs? What are your criteria for a temporary home and when did you decide to live this nomadic life?

Lucho: As I said, we both really enjoy traveling. I couldn’t imagine staying in one place for the rest of our lives. We live in the moment, moving on is simply one part of who we are, probably the most important one. We clearly do have criteria for the places we choose for our stays – in fact, we wrote a list of pros and cons, and we always go by these. The beach is non-negotiable. Then, it needs good vibes, nice people, great nature nearby, and a healthy environment for Ciro. I grew up in Buenos Aires, a gigantic mega city of 15 million people. But Meli grew up in a small town, her childhood was very different from mine, she has stronger bonds with her friends and family. This is what we try to give to Ciro. Strong emotional bonds and an easy but mindful life. We experienced New York and Paris, but this is not the kind of life we want for him. We felt alone in New York and Paris, completely isolated, that’s crazy! With all these people around you! Here, in Malaga, or in Sicily, people are very nice and welcoming. You feel like you want to stay for a while.

P&F: Are there specific rules you and your family go by or lines you would never cross? Or is your life concept completely freestyle?

Lucho: Hahaha! No, we’re definitely running our life freestyle! The only rules we set are for Ciro, and that’s quite challenging for us!

P&F: For most of us, it is quite a challenge to imagine a family life without a permanent home, without your kids’ school in the neighborhood or your club or gym… how do you manage your social and family life? Does your wife Melina sometimes miss habits like going to her yoga classes with the girls, or even silly moments like the school run chitchats with the other moms?

Lucho: You know, we’ve been doing this for the last 17 years, so we’re kind of used to it. Somehow, we always end up finding a playgroup for Ciro. It probably doesn’t look like what most people would expect, but that‘s Ciro’s reality. In Sicily, for example, his best buddy was 9 years old. Ciro is 3, so as you can imagine, this wouldn’t normally happen. He was 1 month old when he took his first trip, and the second and the third and all the following ones just happened according to our booking agenda. This doesn’t mean we don’t care about his feelings, not at all! We are very fortunate to know a good psychologist we can call our friend, and she helps us understand and build the relationship between the three of us. Since we are operating like a detached satellite in society, the ethos of our family takes on a particular meaning. Inputs coming from outside are less impressive to us than to a more traditional family, but the consequences of our own interactions are very powerful. We’re constantly working on our behavior and reframing our emotional connections.

P&F: How do you both cope with homesickness? You and your wife Melina are both Argentinian, both international models and you’ve been on the road for a good while now. Is it hard sometimes to be so far away from home for so long?

Lucho: Again, this has been our life for the last 17 years at least, we are totally used to being constantly on the road. And you know, with the internet it’s always easy to connect with friends and family. Maybe it’s a bit different for Meli. She is very attached to her people, she misses her granny a lot…

P&F: Are you considering returning to Argentina one day? What are your feelings toward your home country?

Lucho: Look… What can I say? Let me put it this way, Tango is dead. Today, Argentina is Trap music and Reggaeton if you know what I mean. It’s not the country tourists think it is. Don’t get me wrong, I love Argentina, it is a fabulous country. I always had that dream to own a house there. Well, I bought it. My dream house. But I can’t cope with the energy. I love the country but I don’t like the context. I don’t think you can have what I’d call a quality life. Even for wealthy people, life is rocky and harsh, there is no flow, you always feel like you need to run, or you are being cheated, ubiquitous corruption is also an issue… Tango is over. The reality is raw. We want an easy life, simple happiness for Ciro. That’s not in Argentina at the moment.

P&F: What is your background besides modeling? What were you doing for a living before Ciro’s birth and how did becoming a parent affect your life concept?

Lucho: I studied marketing and advertisement at the University of Buenos Aires. I did it for my mother. You know, in my family they are all dentists and lawyers and economists, so what I was doing when I first started modeling didn’t count. Everyone was disappointed at the beginning.

P&F: But you have an impressive modeling history so far! You have walked for the most prestigious brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior, Dolce & Gabanna, and Cerrutti, to name a few. How did you get there?

Lucho:

Well, I was at the beach in Buenos Aires, I was 17. This guy approached me and told me he was the owner of a modeling agency in the city and how great I would be in New York, etc., etc.. I was very skeptical. I thought, you know, he might be one of those scammers or something like that. But my girlfriend at that time was a model and she had heard about the agency, so she told me I should give it a try. I met the guy and one week later I had my first job. I remember it brought me $1000, and I was like ‘wow!’ Well, I got good jobs and bad jobs, I took them all. I was more of a quiet guy, I had never thought of myself as a model and suddenly all these doors were opening, the coolest clubs were welcoming me, it was life in the fast lane. Not the big money but a crazy life. Then one day, when I was 20, the director of the Milan Elite agency came and asked me to come to Italy. I couldn’t afford it. So they offered to pay for the one way trip and the stay for the first month and to give me 70,-€ per week until I would be able to cover expenses myself. It was a tough decision. I didn’t know if I would make it. But business immediately started running, I was booked by Armani, Roberto Cavalli, Tom Ford, and so many others. I didn’t know those brands at that time, I didn’t realize how crazy this all was, I was just doing the jobs for the money. After a casting, one of the guys came up and started talking to me. When I left Argentina, I spoke nothing but Spanish. So, I didn’t understand what he was telling me. He kept pointing at my book. So, I handed it to him. Next thing, my face was on Vogue Magazine! This is when I started understanding what was happening to me and what level I had reached.

But they didn’t pay me good money. Not until I was 26. I was asked to do a shooting for Dolce & Gabbana, with Madonna. D&G paid only $500 for the job. I was mad! I thought you can’t go much further than this! How glamorous does it have to be to get paid a decent fee? But this shooting changed my life. Madonna did. From this day on, jobs got great, and so did money.

P&F: Speaking of Madonna, we discovered that you’ve had an ‘intermezzo’ with The Queen of Pop (sorry, had to bring that one up!). How did that happen and what can you tell us about her?

Lucho: Hahaha! Yeah! It all started in Buenos Aires, she was there for a concert. I think I went to the concert on Friday and on Monday I was at a casting for Electric Youth Magazine. The photographer Steven Klein invited me to meet Madonna that night at her hotel, where she was given a goodbye party. You bet I accepted the invitation! I was super impressed, didn’t really know what to tell her, but she was lovely, incredibly open and natural, she never made me feel uncomfortable. One year later, Steven Klein asked me to do that campaign for Dolce & Gabbana I mentioned. They didn’t tell me Madonna was featuring in the campaign until shortly before we started shooting. It was in New York. I was already at the venue when she arrived. When she got out of the limousine you could literally feel the tension in the crowd, people were electrified! And then she just came up to me, and gave me that jaw-dropping hello-kiss! She just blew my mind! I couldn’t believe she had remembered me after so long and we had hardly talked to each other in Buenos Aires! She is amazing! Anyways, after that, my life totally changed. I would really like to meet her again someday to thank her for everything. I am super grateful to her!

P&F: Wow! I hope you can meet her again one day! Lucho, how and where do you visualize yourself in 10 years, with your careers, and Ciro growing up?

Lucho: I really have no idea what will happen in 2 months, I couldn’t tell you where I’ll be in 10 years! My life mantra is equilibrium. The equilibrium between the past and the future is the present. This is where I stand. Look, I have this tattoo on my arm, it is a scale in equilibrium. It means that the past is over and the future is yet to begin. This is who I am.

P&F: What in your opinion is the most important difference or advantage between your life concept and a more traditional lifestyle?

Lucho: I feel alive. Life is here to be lived, to try, to fail, to experiment. If I can’t try, I die. Monotony kills me. So, I guess it’s that freedom.

P&F: What would be your advice for people in search of their calling in life and an alternative lifestyle?

Lucho: You can’t just change your life. You need to first change inside. We all grew up tied in very specific social bonds like our attachment to our parents and friends, commitments of all kinds, and the belief in conventional values and achievements. It is hard to free yourself from those bonds. One is always afraid to fail or to face society’s judgment. But failing is learning. Change inside and things are going to change around you, resolve the bonds step by step.

P&F: Thank you for your time, and all the best for your next adventure!