LAPWAI, Idaho — Celilo Miles is a member from the Nez Perce tribe out of Lapwai, ID.
She became a contracted model when she was 14 years old.
After she graduated from high school, she flew back and forth between Idaho and New York for freelance modeling work, until she moved to the big apple full-time in 2017.
Two years later, tragedy struck Miles, her family and her community. Her brother passed away and Miles decided to move back to Idaho.
"I just knew that I needed to come home," Miles said. "I couldn't grieve alone by myself over there. I had to be with family."
Miles returned to her hometown and rededicated herself to firefighting, a profession she briefly worked prior to moving to New York.
"All my siblings and I started firefighting because of my sister," Miles said. "She started right out of high school. It took me a while to jump into it until 2016. My brother AJ, he jumped into it, and my brother James jumped into it the same year I did. So it was a lot of fun.”
Coming back to Idaho, she found herself back on the Nez Perce tribe's 20-man hand crew, helping putting out fires.
"It's an industry where you get to be who you truly are," Miles said. "And so that's why this campaign was very important. And it means a lot to me, because I got to be who I was, you know, not what people want to make you out to be."
Victoria's Secret Love Cloud campaign features models of various races, sizes, ages and abilities.
Miles said when she got the official call saying she'd be flying out to California for the shoot, she was told to bring her firefighting gear.
"I brought my helmets, my greens, my boots and my moccasins,” Miles said.
She said taking part in the campaign fulfilled a life-long dream and being able to show the world her most authentic self made the shoot even more special.
"Victoria's Secret, every girl wanted to be walking that runway," Miles said. "They wanted to be in their catalogs and on their websites. And so for this to happen, it was amazing. But what was more amazing is they wanted me. They didn't want me to come looking like someone else. They just wanted me."
Now, the country can see Celilo Miles and other every day women sporting the fashion brand's clothing and promoting body positivity.
"This campaign is so special for Victoria's Secret because it's like it's showing the world, hey, this is who we are now," Miles said. "And we're no longer going to limit who we're booking for our shoots or campaigns based on your aesthetics or if you fit a certain mold.”
Miles said her community came to her side to support her, the same way they supported her when her brother passed.
"It means a lot coming from my community," Miles said. "They were there when my brother passed and they're there with me celebrating now.”
Miles is not currently signed with a modeling agency. She said she will continue to take modeling gigs as they come, but her main focus is on firefighting and school.
"I'm really looking forward to another fire season," Miles said. "So hopefully this summer or at the beginning of the summer, I'll go to advanced guard school to open up a task book for becoming an engine boss. So I'm really ready to take on more responsibility.”
Miles is also a communications student at Arizona State University. She said she plans on transferring to the University of Idaho to bring her studies closer to her family and work.
