About
Calabasas-born model and social-media star Sofia Jamora shows how one photo can spark an entire career. In 2014, while she was still a high-school senior, Laguna Beach swim label Frankies Bikinis reposted one of her sun-soaked selfies. Overnight, her following exploded and her inbox filled with casting e-mails. Twelve months later illustrator-designer Lolli Valfre tapped the newcomer to front the pastel-heavy Valfre × Lolli swim campaign, and the images dominated Tumblr dashboards as well as early-days Instagram Explore pages. Jamora’s easygoing “Socal-sirena” aesthetic soon landed her look-books with PrettyLittleThing, runway slots for Miami Swim Week, a Sports Illustrated Swim digital feature, and contracts with Freedom Models (Los Angeles) and Next Models (Miami). Her self-curated Instagram now hovers above three million followers—proof that she understands both sides of the camera.
Before Fame
Born May 6 1997, Jamora shared a small apartment with her older brother and her mother, a Pacific Islander immigrant who often worked double shifts to keep the household afloat. With cash in short supply, Sofia learned to create her own opportunities: she flipped thrift-shop finds on eBay, styled classmates’ senior-photo sessions for pocket money, and spent late nights teaching herself Photoshop so her Tumblr mood boards looked magazine-ready. That digital polish caught a Frankies Bikinis scout’s eye and led to a test shoot; within weeks she was booking catalog jobs and local runway shows. To sharpen the business side of her brand, she took online marketing courses instead of a traditional four-year degree, fitting lectures in between flights and fittings.
Trivia
- Music-video cameo: Jamora played “Jynx,” the sleek love interest in Zayn Malik’s 2018 singles “Let Me” and “Entertainer,” mastering stunt choreography in Miami’s summer heat.
- Emerald eyes: Her vivid green irises are completely natural—a rarity she proved with a no-filter macro shot that sent beauty bloggers racing to replicate the hue.
- Ocean advocate: A certified scuba diver, she donates a slice of every sponsorship fee to the Surfrider Foundation and livestreams quarterly beach clean-ups from Santa Monica.
- Designer debut: In 2023 she co-created a recycled-nylon athleisure capsule with Australian label Rye Active, personally approving colorways named after favorite dive sites.
- “Sofi Snacks”: Her Instagram highlight reel features spam-musubi tutorials (a nod to her heritage), vegan churros, and the surprisingly popular “pickle-juice pasta.”
Family Life
Jamora guards her relatives’ privacy, but heartfelt captions reveal a close bond. Each Mother’s Day she thanks her mom for being “both dad and best friend,” crediting that support with teaching her how to navigate an often fickle industry. Childhood memories of feeling “different” because of her Pacific Islander features now fuel her push for broader size and ethnic representation in swim campaigns. Romance, however, has unfolded in public view. She briefly dated NBA forward Kyle Kuzma in 2015, was linked to singer Zayn Malik after their 2018 video shoots, and entered a high-profile relationship with Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes from 2020 to 2022. The breakup grew contentious when Jamora filed a civil suit alleging domestic abuse; the NBA reopened its investigation in late 2024 after new surveillance footage surfaced.
Associated With
Sofia’s professional orbit is filled with digital-age tastemakers. Fans—and Teen Vogue—often compare her feline gaze to Gigi Hadid’s, noting that Zayn appeared to cast a Hadid look-alike for “Let Me.” She remains fiercely loyal to mentor Lolli Valfre, appearing in every Valfre swim drop since 2015 and calling the artist “the woman who bet on me first.” Birthday dinners frequently feature fellow swim influencers Kiele Montgomery and Amanda Williams, both of whom helped celebrate her twenty-seventh birthday with a Malibu bonfire in 2024. Behind the lens she works closely with photographer Bryant Eslava, whose candid, color-rich style helped shape her “don’t over-pose” approach. Together, the network underscores how Jamora’s journey—equal parts hustle, heritage, and hashtag savvy—continues to evolve beyond the shoreline.