Although he moved to Madrid just over a year ago, Francisco Faria takes every chance to return to Portugal, his home country. There, he reconnects with his roots—his mother’s family in Braga, his father’s in Porto—and with the authenticity that keeps him grounded despite the fast pace of his professional life. Speaking from his vacation apartment in Portugal, where two vintage tennis rackets he once found at a market in Thailand hang on the wall, Francisco reflects on a path that has been anything but linear. He first studied civil engineering, switched to marketing, and in 2013 was unexpectedly discovered through Facebook, launching a modeling career that has taken him from Dolce & Gabbana to his own ventures—Blue Avenue and Hurricane. Today, dividing his time between Porto and Madrid, Francisco dreams of new seasons in Paris or New York, trusting the universe to guide his timing.