A MODEL GRADUATE MAKES IT TEEN GOES FROM BEHIND COUNTER TO STORE POSTER.

Byline: ERIC LEACH Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - A year ago, Cheyne Hannegan was selling clothes to holiday shoppers at the new Simi Valley Town Center mall and surfing Malibu waves in his spare time.

Now, the 19-year-old is a hot young model in New York City and has been featured recently in advertising for the Hollister apparel company.

In fact, some locals who walk into the popular Hollister store in the Town Center see the big poster at the entrance and suddenly realize they know this guy who graduated from Simi Valley High School last year.

``I was one of his best friends,'' said Sharee Porter, 19, who has known Hannegan since they were both students at Garden Grove Elementary School.

``Everyone was talking about it,'' she said of the Hollister photos, which are featured in the store and with the sound of the waves breaking at www.hollisterco.com. ``A lot of people were actually shocked. Nobody expects it to be someone coming from Simi Valley.''

But she said it didn't really surprise her Hannegan became a successful model because she always felt that he had something special.

``He's always had that carefree, beach personality. He was always shy. He has always been humble. But he had that look,'' she said. ``Whenever we would go out, he'd get compliments, like you should be modeling. Girls would want to have their pictures taken with him.''

Hannegan said he really got serious about modeling a year ago after Billy Clark, an executive at Sony Music in Santa Monica, walked into the Abercrombie&Fitch store where he worked.

Clark had friends who were models and he knew people in the fashion industry, so when he saw Hannegan, he thought he could help.

``I walked into Abercrombie&Fitch, saw Hannegan and asked him if he was a model,'' Clark recalled. ``He said, `No, just a surfer.'''

After talking to Hannegan and his mother, Clark offered to be his manager, helping him meet photographers and agents and move to New York.

Hannegan said regardless of what he looks like, he probably wouldn't be where he is today in his career if it weren't for Clark.

``Billy helped me big time. I really didn't know how to go about doing any of it,'' he said. ``I got some pictures taken. I signed with one agency, then another one in New York, and I've been living in Manhattan for six months.''

He did a fashion show for a major clothing company, an advertisement for an athletic shoe company, a photo shoot for an Asian fashion magazine -- and then the Hollister photos.

When he goes back to work after the holidays, he said he might be headed for Milan or Australia.

As far as surfing, he basically had to give it up for a while, but now that he's home for the holidays, he hopes to hit the surf.

Hannegan's mother, Katie, said she was skeptical at first. But then she saw her son's drive.

``Hannegan never gave up,'' she said. ``Being a young man from Simi Valley going to the big city of Manhattan, finding his way around on public transit for casting calls, he was really driven to do that.''

It has been only a year, and ``all of his friends are as proud as can be,'' she said. ``In a short amount of time, he's really succeeded. He's just got that look.''

Makenzie Hannegan, Hannegan's 13-year-old sister, said her middle-school friends were very excited when her brother's poster went up in the Hollister store.

``As soon as they heard about it, they went to the mall and were screaming,'' she said. ``They're like: `Oh my God! I can't believe he's up there!' They think it's really cool.''

Still, her brother said, modeling is not as glamorous as some people might think.

``It's work. It's definitely a struggle,'' he said. ``You can't take it too seriously.''

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4 photos

Photo:

(1-- color -- ran in Simi edition only) Hannegan the model has now done a fashion show for a major clothing company, an advertisement for an athletic shoe company, a photo shoot for an Asian fashion magazine -- and, of course, the Hollister photos.

(2 -- color in Simi edition only) A poster featuring Simi Valley High grad Cheyne Hannegan, 19, hangs in the entrance of the Hollister apparel company at the Simi Valley Town Center. Cheyne was a sales clerk at the center's Abercrombie & Fitch when an agent discovered him and helped him start a modeling career.

(3 -- ran in Simi edition only) Cheyne Hannegan is home for the holidays, and he has the support of his Simi Valley family as he launches his modeling career.

(4) Cheyne Hannegan, left, really got serious about modeling a year ago after Billy Clark, an executive at Sony Music in Santa Monica, discovered him at the Abercrombie & Fitch store where he worked.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer