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CLÉDIO OLEQUES | BIOGRAPHY |
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| Clédio Oleques, descendant of Italian and Austrian emigrants, is a Brazilian through and through. Coming from the most southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, he is proud to be „Gaúcho“, as the Latin-American cowboys are called. He was born in the city of Canoas, close to Porto Alegre. Son of a family in which arts and crafts have always been valued, he developed his artistic talents quite early: At the age of four, one could already see little Clédio drawing and painting. |
 
Clédio with 1 year 7 months and certification of Italian ancestry |
 
Clédio at school and in the airforce |
Clédio discovered his passion for fashion as a teenager. With 16 he did not only do the catwalk for the first time but also debuted in a commercial in front of the camera. While still going to school, he already took extra courses in drama and contemporary dance and brought his samba to perfection. |
Clédio continued working as a model and actor when – attaining full age – he did his two-years military service in the Brazilian air force in Canoas and afterwards worked for the military police in the nearby city of Novo Hamburgo for another two-and-a-half years. A double life: During the week he stood his ground in the different areas of operations while always looking forward to the weekends and the holidays when he could participate in cultural events, fashion shows and television commercials all over Brazil. After four and a half years, Clédio finished his military career and dedicated himself 100% to art and fashion. Even more than before, he toured through Brazil with fashion shows and participated in countless commercials. It was at that time when he also started to organise his own fashion events and presentations; he choreographed and presented beauty contests and often acted as a judge himself, casting and selecting new models. Having improved his skills in PR and journalism, he also worked as a society columnist for a newspaper in Greater Porto Alegre. |
   
Pictures made during his international model career |
  
Advertising for Giorgio Armani |
At the age of 24, Clédio came to Europe and started his international modelling career first with “Sweden Models” (Sweden), later with “Unique Models” in Copenhagen (Denmark). In the following years he worked for big and well-known fashion labels – among them e.g. Giorgio Armani and Hugo Boss – in different European countries and the US. Besides the more classical work in the photo studio and on the catwalk, Clédio worked as an actor in television commercials and video clips. For example, one could see him in big publicity campaigns for Volvo and Nokia. Moreover, he took part in art projects of renowned museums and art galleries in Denmark and Sweden. It was also in Sweden where he played a role in the famous Broadway musical “La Cage Aux Folles”. |
       
1. and 2. Photos by Peter Erlandsson / 3. Photos for ELLE by Carl Johan Rönn / 4. to 6. Photos by Urszula Striner / Magazine covers
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| In the course of time, life behind the camera became more and more attractive to him. While still working as a model, Clédio started to concentrate on photography, completed a profound training in Sweden in the late 90s and worked as a press and fashion photographer – and made this as well as the organisation of fashion events his main profession. With his company „Free Moda Productions“ he organised various fashion shows for boutiques, fashion designers, clubs and festivals. Clédio became a big model headhunter in Southern Sweden. He constantly discovered many new talents for his shows, developed and trained them and opened the gates to the world of the fashion business for many of them. For example, Andrea Maria Ahlstrand and Martin Berkhan became successful international models. In 1996, Clédio organised the spectacular show „New Age Show Time“ and succeeded to put 145 models on the catwalk, thereby producing one of the biggest fashion shows in Europe at the time. |
  
Sedcard pictures for Unique Models |
 
Clédio during a shooting with models |
From 2003 on, Clédio also combined fashion and art, performance and action in his work as programme and event manager for Malmö nightclub “Wonderland – Crown Nightclub”. He did not only organise dancing shows, beauty contests and other events, but was also in charge of music and decoration. |
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