Iowa Governor‑Elect Rob Sand’s College Modeling Stint With Prada Unveiled

Iowa’s newly elected governor, Rob Sand, once walked the runway for Prada and other high‑end fashion houses while he was a college student. Sand secured the governorship on Tuesday, defeating Republican Zach Lahn, after previously serving as state auditor. Vogue highlighted his modeling past on Instagram, asking followers if they knew about his fashion work. Sand’s verified Instagram account @robsandia answered “Yes, I knew that,” and the reply quickly gathered more than 700 likes and a flood of congratulatory comments. One follower wrote, “From runway to run USA ✨,” while another called it “the biggest flex ever for a politician” and praised the Italian Vogue connection. The story resurfaced after the election when a user reposted a video of Sand on the catwalk with a caption expressing disbelief; a simple Google search confirmed the footage. Earlier reports, including a 2019 New York Times profile, noted that Sand briefly modeled in Paris and Milan during his college years but said he rarely discusses that period. Sand’s campaign confirmed to CBS News that he did “some modeling while in college in the early 2000s.” He began the side job at Brown University, which took him to Milan, where he walked for Prada, the Japanese label Number (N)ine, and designer Giuliano Fujiwara, and appeared in a fall‑2002 AnOther Magazine spread titled “Adolescents.” Sand once missed a 2004 congressional caucus in his hometown of Decorah because he was in Milan for a show. ## Context Sand’s fashion work is an example of non‑political careers that sometimes reappear in public life, showing how personal history can become a talking point during elections.