The nonegenarian fashion superstar is fresh from shooting a campaign in Ibiza.

He wears couture, travels the world, shoots with the planet&rsquo;s top photographers and &ndash; at 90 years of age &ndash; has recently fronted campaigns for Carolina Herrera, Timberland and Zara. L'OFFICIEL IBIZA's Maya Boyd meets the self-styled Spanish King to unravel his meteoric rise to the top.
Your fashion career didn&rsquo;t begin until you were 88. What can you tell us about your life before you became a model?
I&rsquo;ve seen and done so much! I was born in Spain, studied in Paris, married my beautiful wife Maria Luisa and then we moved to Buenos Aires in Argentina. I had four children and we lived there for a long time. It was a great time to be in South America and we had a lot of fun. I was a businessman and have always been. After many years we moved up the coast to Punta del Este in Uruguay, another fabulous place and right on the water. In Punta I opened my first restaurant &ndash; it was called The Old Man and the Sea. At the age of 60 it was time to go home, so we went back to Spain and I started a new business in real estate. I have always worked very hard &ndash; I worked right up until I turned 88, and that&rsquo;s when the fun started!&nbsp;

Modelling is a notoriously tough industry to break into. How did your modelling career begin and what was the catalyst?
I was 88 when my granddaughter Celine came to spend a day at my house. She works in fashion and media and she had the great idea to create an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thespanishking_/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram account</a> for me. She started taking the photos &ndash; it was a lot of fun! She invented a new character - The Spanish King &ndash; which is really quite funny. My followers started to grow very fast! One thing led to another and here I am, doing shoots, music videos, films. Being The Spanish King has changed my life. And I am happier than ever.
Have you always been interested in fashion?
I've always loved fashion since I was young. I love the performance aspect of it. People would often mistake me for Yves Saint Laurent because we looked alike. That was no bad thing!
What do you love about your new life? What are the positives and are there any negatives?
There are absolutely no negatives. My new life is so exciting: I feel plenty of joy and energy and at my 90 years of age that is a blessing. I live in my beautiful country house with my dear wife, and I usually travel two or three times a month for work. That&rsquo;s quite enough for me. I am constantly&nbsp;with young people and they give&nbsp;me so much energy. I love to be surrounded&nbsp;by young people and I am fascinated by interesting personalities and meeting new talents in the industry. I learn a lot. Isn&rsquo;t that great?&nbsp;

What has been your most memorable modelling job and why?&nbsp;
My favourite project has actually been designing my own collection for <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CXDdflUgSFE/">Zara Man.</a> This was such an honour for me, like a dream come true!&nbsp;
You recently shot a campaign in Ibiza - have you been to the island before and what do you think of it?
I have been visiting Ibiza often&nbsp;since I was young. The island gives me amazing vibrations - the people and the nature are so unique.&nbsp;I love it in the summer when the island energy is just buzzing!
What would you say is the spirit of Ibiza?
Free. Like me.

The unstoppable rise of The Spanish King

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