Miguel Rodden had his day in the spotlight last Friday as the only Yukoner modelling for an international fashion shoot by the Tommy Hilfiger clothing brand.

Don't be surprised if you walk into a clothing retailer across North America and Europe and see the 12-year-old's full-size image on a poster advertising Tommy Hilfiger products, says Hilfiger spokeswoman Kristen Salmond.

Salmond says last week's shoot on Fish Lake was one of two major campaigns the company undertakes every year to prepare for the release of its fall and holiday line of clothing, and its spring and summer wear.

Photos from this shoot will be launched next fall with the fall and holiday line, Salmond said today from her New York office after returning to the Big Apple on Monday.

She said the Whitehorse photo shoot was one of the more intense that she's been involved with, with an extremely large crew.

The set involved huge props, a crew of some 55 from New York and elsewhere in U.S., as well as 20 or so locals. They were involved as production assistants, ice thickness stewards, snow sculptors, caterers, and security personnel.

The 10 adult models five women, five men are recognized internationally in the modelling world, and have appeared in such fashion magazines as Vogue, Salmond acknowledged.

'It was like filming a feature film,' Salmond said. 'The production was intense.'

Joining Rodden to model the fall and holiday wear for youth were three kids from Los Angeles and two from Vancouver.

Two of the three from California were picked from submissions from their agents and the third the photographer has worked with in the past.

Though the models are selected for different reasons that appeal to a Tommy Hilfiger team reviewing the auditions, the photographer's preference carries a lot of weight in the end, Salmond explained.

The two selected in Vancouver were chosen from invitations to audition.

In Whitehorse, Rodden was at Mount Sima for the day with his family. He and his dad, Whitehorse musician Remy Rodden, were leaving the chalet when Remy was approached and asked if Miguel was his son, and if he would be interested in auditioning.

Salmond said scouting crews visited the ski hill to look for potential models. They also visited the Canada Games Centre and a couple of local schools and distributed flyers pointing out they were looking for models.

Once the hill was closed, Miguel went to the High Country Inn to have his photograph taken in the Tommy Hilfiger clothing.

'We got the call (last) Tuesday night saying they really wanted him,' Miguel's mother,' Marlynn Bourque, recalled in an interview Monday.

The crew required Miguel last Thursday evening for a fit. He and his mom were back at the hotel at 6:45 a.m. Friday to begin preparations for the day.

The shooting began at around 9:30, said Bourque.

Mike Lane and his snow sculpting partner Gisli Balzer were contracted to build a huge playground out of snow that would be featured for the shoot, measuring 25 metres long, eight metres wide and six metres high.

The sculptors also built two igloos, one a little fewer than four metres big and the other slightly higher than two metres.

And on the final day, as Miguel and the other youth were doing their thing, Lane and Balzer were sculpting a life-size Marilyn Monroe for a marketer who was there for the Tommy Hilfiger shoot but is employed by British Vogue.

The sculpture was fitted with an insulated bikini designed by her boyfriend.

'It was cool,' Lane said today of the week spent on the set watching international models do their thing. 'It was really cool, the stuff they were doing, with the crazy effects.'

Miguel was equally impressed.

'It was sort of fun because we could do stuff like jump down a hill, or we could go sliding down a hill,' said the Grade 7 student at Ecole Emilie-Tremblay. 'They told us what to do, but it was fun.'

Miguel said he was surprised they picked him as a model and not somebody else, and though the experience was different, it was memorable.

'Like when you think of a job, it's like you work on stuff but that was not really work, it was fun,' says Miguel, who will be paid $500 US for the shoot, with no residual benefits.

Bourque said she was told by the parents of the other models, all of whom have agents, that a shoot of the Tommy Hilfiger calibre is a shining star in someone's resume.

That their son was chosen from scores of other would-be models almost demands that she explore the potential for future work for Miguel, either down south or in the North, she said.

Bourque was planning to meet today with a couple of agents to discuss the matter, as she was already going to be in Vancouver on a pre-planned vacation.

'The people from Tommy Hilfiger encouraged him to do more, because he responded really well,' said the proud mother.

'If it is a one-time deal, then that would be a pretty amazing story in our lives. And if it goes further, then we'll just stay grounded and go forward.'

As much as the family has tried to not let anything go to anybody's head, it was difficult at times after Miguel was selected not to walk by him and smile a different smile occasionally, Bourque said.

'And he does it. He thinks it pretty cool.'