K'Won Smith on Modeling, Persistence, and Walking for Calvin Klein

By Kayleigh Crandell · July 9, 2026 · 22:12 read

Category: Local News

Show: Creator Spotlight

K'Won Smith almost missed the show that changed his career. He went to New York Fashion Week to support a friend backstage, not to walk. A casting director mistook him for one of the models and told h

K'Won Smith almost missed the show that changed his career. He went to New York Fashion Week to support a friend backstage, not to walk. A casting director mistook him for one of the models and told him to come back the next day. He showed up, made an open casting where the other models voted on the final spot, and walked for Calvin Klein.

Two and a half years into modeling, Smith has built a résumé that includes New York Fashion Week, DC Fashion Week, Florida Men's Fashion Week, and Richmond's own RVA and Threaded Men's Fashion Weeks. He grew up in Petersburg with family across Richmond, and credits fellow models for pushing him to try modeling for himself.

In this episode of Creator Spotlight, host Kayleigh talks with K’Won about getting scouted through networking and social media, taking roughly 100 no’s before his first yes, and what's next: stepping back from the runway to build his own agency.

Chapters:

In this episode:

Kayleigh Crandell, Host — Project Manager and Social Media Lead at Xponent21

K'won Smith — Model (https://www.instagram.com/le.vante__/)

K'won's shoutouts:

https://www.instagram.com/toycesllen

https://www.instagram.com/Calvin.wright

https://www.instagram.com/thebrittanyfort

https://www.instagram.com/diegojallayne

https://www.instagram.com/noirangels

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