Marco Gatchalian Is Making Waves, Both in and Out of Fashion
He went looking for a surfboard and found a modeling career instead, proving that sometimes the best things happen when you look the other way
- With a background in fine art, photography, filmmaking, and multimedia, Marco brings an artist’s eye to modeling, treating every shoot as an opportunity for visual storytelling and self-expression.
Both the artist and the art
For Marco Gatchalian, a career in modeling began with a simple financial goal: buying his own surfboard. The Filipino model was living between waves in La Union when he was scouted for a fashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary show, an opportunity he took for practical reasons.
Now one of five winners of VMAN SEA Model Search, he’s making his mark with a look that’s distinctly his own. His unmistakably Filipino features and luscious long hair make for an arresting aura in front of the camera, but there’s more to him than good genetics and a photogenic head of hair.
A visual artist with a background in fine art, photography, filmmaking, illustration, and multimedia design, he approaches modeling with the instincts of someone who knows how an image comes together. He has spent as much time thinking about what belongs inside the frame as he has standing in front of one.
Marco’s route into fashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary was hardly the stuff of a meticulously planned career strategy. He grew up in Manila, but his love affair with La Union began in 2017, when surfing drew him towards the pleasures of a sun-soaked existence.
Life by the coast had its own rhythm, with days shaped by the weather and the occasional wave worth getting out of bed for. Then came the fashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary show and the prospect of financing his hobby.
“Life in La Union was all about flow. Waking up with the sun, chasing waves, and just taking life one tide at a time. It was grounded, quiet, and completely sun-soaked.”
The transition back to Manila, where his modeling journey began after the pandemic, was a different proposition altogether. The city’s frantic pace stood in contrast to the ease of coastal living, but Marco found that his time in the water had given him something useful to take back: the ability to keep his feet on the ground even when everything around him is moving at speed.
As origin stories go, his has a certain charm. There was a surfboard to buy, a show to walk, and an unexpected rush when he stepped onto the runway. What started as a detour soon became another outlet for his creativity.
“I fell in love with the adrenaline right away. Modeling instantly felt like a dynamic new canvas to step onto, and the rest is history.”
An eye for the picture
Marco’s artistic practice predates his modeling career, beginning when he was young and drawn to the simple pleasure of making things with his hands.
These days, his interests extend across visual art and multimedia, with inspiration arriving from the contrast between everyday life and the bigger questions that sit just beneath it. In other words, there’s quite a lot going on behind that hair.
His background in photography and mixed media has also given him a different perspective on the fashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary industry. Rather than treating a shoot as a matter of striking a pose and hoping for the best, he thinks about the image as a scene being constructed in real time.
“With my background in photography, filmmaking, and mixed media art, stepping in front of the lens feels like composing a scene, but using my own body.”
The same sensibility connects his work to surfing. Both require a certain surrender to the moment, a willingness to respond rather than force an outcome.
Art brings structure and emotional depth, while modeling allows him to explore movement and visual composition. Surfing, meanwhile, teaches him when to act and when to let things unfold.
“For me, the thread connecting all three is flow, storytelling, and self-expression,” he explains.
A cover is just the beginning
His VMAN Southeast Asia cover marks a significant moment in his career, but Marco isn’t treating it as a finish line. He’s open to international modeling opportunities, though he remains appreciative of the work and possibilities available in the Philippines.
For now, the ambition is to keep learning, continue developing his practice, and find ways to use his growing platform to support others.
Beyond fashion, he has his sights set on a first solo art exhibition, a chance to bring his different creative interests together in a space that’s entirely his own. It would be a natural extension of a career already moving between disciplines, allowing him to present the ideas that usually sit behind the images in which he appears.
“Landing the VMAN SEA cover is an absolute milestone. This cover is proof that if you believe in yourself, put in the work, and refuse to give up, eventually your breakthrough will come.”
The lesson isn’t necessarily that everyone should abandon their plans and move to the beach in pursuit of a modeling contract. It’s that a worthwhile opportunity can arrive looking different from what you expected, and that being open to it may be more useful than having the next ten years mapped out.
Marco went looking for a surfboard and found another way to express himself. The runway, the art studio, and the ocean may seem like different worlds, but he’s found a way to move between them without losing his footing.
For a man whose career began by following the waves, he seems perfectly comfortable seeing where the current takes him next.
Chief of Editorial Content Patrick Ty
Photography Andrea Beldua
Art direction Mike Miguel
Fashion Corven Uy
FashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary editor Rex Atienza
GroomingGroomingThe care and maintenance of hair, skin, beard, and nails, including cleansing, shaving, styling, and scent. Once niche, men's grooming has grown into a major lifestyle category, and VMAN's VanityGo to Grooming Glossary and hair Myckee Arcano
Production design Arj Madarang
Production Francis Vicente
Frequently Asked Questions
Marco Gatchalian is a Filipino model and multidisciplinary creative known for his distinctive Filipino features and long hair. He’s one of five winners of the VMAN Southeast Asia Model Search and has appeared on a VMAN SEA cover.
Marco Gatchalian began modeling after being scouted in La Union for a fashion show. He initially accepted the opportunity to earn money for a surfboard but soon discovered a passion for fashion and creative collaboration.
Marco has a background in fine art, photography, filmmaking, illustration, and multimedia design. He draws inspiration from everyday life and questions about human consciousness, using art as a way to process and express his perspective.
Marco’s long hair has become a signature part of his modeling identity. He maintains it through proper nutrition, hydration, gentle cleansing, natural hair products, and nourishing conditioner.
Marco hopes to explore international modeling opportunities while continuing to develop his creative work in the Philippines. One of his biggest ambitions is to hold his first solo art exhibition and bring his different creative interests together.
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