Demi Rox Mensah

Creative Direction SHOKIRIE CLARKE // Photography KWAME DAPAA // Styling KELSEY THOMSON // Assistant METTE LINTURI

Artist Edit

Recently coming off DUA Lipa’s ‘Future Nostalgia’ World Tour, Dancer, Model and DJ, Demi Rox Mensah covers our January 2023 digital cover

Artist Edit

Tell us a little bit about Demi?

“Hi, I’m Demi. I am a professional dancer, model and creative movement artist. I’m from South-London with Ghanaian, English and French heritage.

I grew up in Croydon, as people say, the suburbs of London and then I moved to Crawley which is in the countryside, before returning to London and studying at the BRIT school.

I like to express myself creatively in many different ways, including photo shoots, styling, organising workshops, DJing, creating, acting, directing and even making behind the scene films and taking photos, I’ve always tried to explore and push myself outside of my comfort zone.

I’m a bit of a perfectionist [laughs] and I just think that’s a common trait for a lot of creatives you know! I think we can be a bit hard on ourselves but I’m just learning to take things easy and just let it be a first draft and strive for greatness towards the end goal.”

How has your environment moulded you as a dancer?

“I would say my work ethic, my mindset and my drive has definitely moulded me into the dancer I am today and just my mentality, it’s kept me on the right path.

Growing up with a single parent, living on an estate, you haven’t got the resources and I was the only one in my family to ever take a creative career within the arts, so I was learning a lot, just exploring, researching and trying to figure out how I could make dance as my professional career and earn a living from it.”

Jacket BARE NECESSITIES THRIFT STORE // Sports Bra NIKE (MODELS OWN) // Joggers LETS FRANS // Shoes CONVERSE (MODELS OWN) // Bag SKITZO

Tell us a little about the recent Future Nostalgia Tour with Dua Lipa?

“So I was on the Future Nostalgia world tour with Miss Lipa. We literally travelled everywhere you can imagine. There was 98 shows on the tour in total but if you include shows outside of the tour like award shows and festivals then we performed over 100 times which is mad to say now.

To prepare we did a whole month of rehearsals and altogether it was just a crazy experience. I can say hands down it was a highlight of my career and I just enjoyed every moment, travelling I saw some incredible cities, I met beautiful people along the way, many of whom I can now say feel like extended family.

Being on the road you have to learn to adapt to the schedule, it can be very demanding with early call times, late finishes, quick changes, last minute rehearsals so you are continuously adapting whilst also taking care of your personal health and well being. It can be mentally and physically challenging but it’s essential that you look after yourself, try to find your routines but primarily you have to have fun and enjoy every moment.”

Talk to us about the Styling on the Tour?

“We was very blessed to be styled by the Lorenzo Posocco he’s an Italian Stylist and also Dua’s stylist as well. My favourite look of his from the show would be the finale in the Mugler body suit because it’s very fashion, it’s very 90s-chic-runway and I love that. Throughout the whole tour we was very fortunate to be styled in luxury designer with new styling throughout festival seasons as well.”

Coat, Corset, Skirt and Bag URBAN OUTFITTERS // Shoes ZARA (MODELS OWN)

What was your favourite thing about the Tour?

“Sharing the stage with my friends it was just great seeing everyone represent, especially as we were such a diverse cast so you saw everyone shine in their own way and it was beautiful to see. I was inspired daily by my peers and Dua Lipa. You’d look out to the audience and just be like ‘wow’ this is magic you know!

My favourite show would definitely be performing at the Madison Square Garden, the MSG, like for any performer to have the experience to perform overseas for starters is huge but then to perform at an iconic venue that’s just like a big tick, it’s a big big achievement and we give thanks! I just loved being there and I love New York!

Performing in my hometown London, at the O2 was also special as having friends, family, loved ones, come and support you doing something that you’ve worked so hard for was just so rewarding. I was was on stage looking out for family and friends, and then seeing everyone afterwards it’s just like, ‘yeh’, I did this and I’m doing it for my people as well. It was also some of my cousins first concert so for them to see that was extra special.”

Who is ‘Miss Rox’?

“Okay, so Miss Rox was my stage character for the show, she’s very foxy, she’s very roxy and a character that I started creating within the auditions. We all had a breakdown and shot the visual content for the display screens to introduce our characters to the audiences at the beginning of every show on the Tour. I actually opened the screen so that was just like ‘what!’ I’m on a world tour and the first thing people see is like Future Nostalgia, starring Demi Rox aka Miss Rox, which was crazy! This was done for all of us, we all had our unique alter egos and as everyone was so diverse we all represented something so powerful on that stage and I really feel like we’ve made a mark on the industry as a whole production and as a cast.”

Dress and Scarf URBAN OUTFITTERS // Heels NEW LOOK // Earrings H&M

How did your dance journey set you up for the tour?

“I would say the key foundation is discipline and you have to apply yourself to see results. If you really want something, then you have to go after it and work hard. But I would say my dance journey was taking stepping stones, I graduated from college, started taking the right classes, I went to the open auditions like EMAs, X Factor, applied to agencies, made sure I stayed in contact with them, when I was on jobs, being professional and there’s just like little steps along the way that you don’t realise subconsciously you might think ‘ahh’ sometimes I’m not getting anywhere or you just feel stuck, but you don’t understand that whole process is leading up to an opportunity like being on tour. And then when it comes you’ll be so prepared because you’ve done each, each stage to have that experience, you know.”

Tell us a little bit about your journey as a model?

“I have actually been modelling professionally longer than I have been dancing. I started off as a kids model and when I turned a teenager, I started dying my hair, trying to find myself more as you do as a teen though I noticed that I started getting a lot of rejection from the top modelling agencies so I lost my drive for it at that time.

But I always loved fashion, adored your supermodels from South-London like Kate and Naomi, so when it came to work experience in school, I wanted to gain it at a modelling agency so I applied for my placement at several agencies including Storm, who accepted my placement which was big to me as Storm were huge at the time.

Whilst I was there I was mostly just looking at the portfolios and half way through my work experience one of the new face bookers pulled me to the side and was like, ‘ah we would like to take you on as model’ and I was obviously really excited at the time. And then after my work experience I had my first test shoot and after that they dropped me!

I can laugh about it now but I remember at the time I was so disheartened because more to the point, I wasn’t going there to get signed, I was going there to be inspired and just be in the environment that I adored and I just feel like… it kind of took away the whole point as to why I did the work experience, so it ruined it in a way. After that I was like ‘that’s it I’m just gonna focus everything into dance and do things that make me feel good’, so I was focused and went onto college.

Then in my first year at the Urdang Academy, I was in Starbucks one day and I ending up getting scouted by a new face booker from Elite who asked me, ‘have you modelled before?’ and I was thinking ‘oh my god, here we go again’ but that day she took me up to the agency, I had Polaroids done and she handed me a contract there and then.

I obviously went home and told my mum who’d always encouraged me to model and just to try everything, though she was a little concerned this time as she was asking if I really wanted do this because of how disheartened I was from my experience with Storm, but at this point I was like ‘yeh I wanna give it a go’, and from there I went onto modelling with them for four years. I worked for brands such as Louis Vuitton in their Trunk show, I did a Fenty Trunk show, I was working with commercial brands like ASOS, Nike, JD, and also I went on to work for more fashion brands such as Mulberry. So I’m so grateful for that because the bookers I had believed in me and I did some amazing things with them. I always feel like as a model I’ve been able to cross between fashion and commercial, so across the board there’s more work opportunities there.

After four years with Elite I actually moved on from the agency because the bookers I built a relationship with had also moved to another agency so I thought it would be right to stick with them as they just understood that I danced and knew that was my main focus though I did also still love modelling. Because I had that really good relationship with them its allowed me to continue modelling whilst pursuing my ambitions as a dancer.

As a model I think it’s so important to have a good relationship with your booker. It doesn’t matter how big the name of the agency is, if you’ve got that loyalty to them and you can communicate, it makes all the difference, which is why I decided to leave with them.”

How has dance helped you as model and vice versa?

“I would say dance in general has helped me to continuously grow and evolve as a person. I feel like I have this spiritual connection with it that has assisted me mentally and also taught me not to take myself too seriously, how to take rejection and to not let things consume my mind.

A lot of modelling jobs these days require a model that can move so with dance being my strength it works hand in hand, they both compliment each other very well, I’ve learnt to understand the camera, how important posture, alignment and engagement with the camera is and it has also aided my endeavours with movement direction. Overall dance has given me confidence as a model which also works in reverse”

What encouragement would you give to aspiring dancers?

“I would encourage all dancers that are aspiring to be on stage, on tour or to do this full time, to build your brand behind the scenes, have an identity and to always look for different ways to inspire yourself creatively to support your dream, which doesn’t just have to come from dance. I think it’s also good to have different streams of income to help fund yourself when times go quiet.

Apply yourself to the fullest and trust the process. Make sure that when you are signing contracts you are looking over them and taking your time, don’t feel rushed and don’t let anyone exploit you.

Moreover, just have love and support for the people in your community, remember why you dance and whatever is meant for you will never pass. Believe in yourself!”

What’s next for Demi?

“What’s next…I mean if you’re self-employed we never really know what’s next and I think there’s beauty within that. This past year has been very full on, though an amazing year nonetheless. I feel that we can be so fixated on what’s next that we forget what’s in between.

That being said I have an idea of what I would like to do but my main priority is to connect with myself and explore more of my creativity. I love movement, I love directing and I have a new interest in DJing, so I will be focused on them and giving those more of my attention.”

You can find my work at @demiroxmensah on Instagram and also TikTok now because I’m getting on it [laughs]. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel and SoundCloud because I’ll be uploading a lot more onto them platforms this year.