Kennesaw honors model Sean O'Pry

By Ralph Ellis

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sean O’Pry is a model citizen — literally.

With his lithe body draped in the fabrics of Calvin Klein, Lacoste and Giorgio Armani, O’Pry skyrocketed to modeling fame under the name of Sean-O. In July, Forbes publications named him the world’s most successful male model for 2009.

And Monday, one of the planet’s hottest hunks comes home to be honored by the Kennesaw City Council. That’s quite an upgrade for the city of 32,000 people, which previously has issued proclamations for Building Safety Week and National Preservation Month.

Three years ago O’Pry, a North Cobb High grad, posted prom pictures on his MySpace page. Fashion icon Nolé Marin, best known as a judge on television’s “America’s Next Top Model,” saw the photos and within days, O’Pry landed a major ad campaign.

This year O’Pry, 20, has appeared in editorial spreads in Details and Interview magazines. He posed in ad campaigns for Joop, H&M and Lacoste. He lives in New York but in an e-mail from Sweden sent Friday, he said of his hometown: “I try to go as often as I can but I travel so much for modeling that I don’t get to go as much as I like.”

“Kennesaw is proud of Sean’s incredible success as an international model,” said Mayor Mark Mathews, “but we are especially proud that he remembers his Southern roots and shares his love for his hometown in his interviews.”

Mathews may been alluding to a July Interview magazine article in which O’Pry said New York “was a huge culture shock, because I come from sweet tea and grits to everything in New York. You have some of the nicest restaurants in the world here. I’m pretty happy with Waffle House back home.”

Welcome back, Sean-O. That sizzling sound is your career.