How to heal covert scars for half of your life: Top Romanian model about his secret to success

Thirty years ago, Rahova's Petre Ispirescu Street in Bucharest was significantly messier than it is today, as was Gilbert Costache's mind. After growing up in a rough neighborhood and climbing the ladder to become a successful fashion model in Los Angeles, New York, and Bucharest, Gilbert has finally accepted the deep wounds left in Romanian society, some by money, others by slavery.

Having learnt how to be tough as a child in the concrete jungle, Gilbert has nothing but appreciation for his childhood environment: "Yes, back then, Petre Ispirescu [Street] was ruled by the law of the jungle, but I was lucky enough to grow up in a family that highly valued being Roma. My grandma, Florica, always advised me not to lie and to work hard, so it was easy for me to implement and follow all these values," he remembers. Gilbert wears a short-sleeved shirt with a Mona Lisa pattern. His left arm carries the hard-to-miss display of a tattoo, showing broken knuckles and blood.