fantasia american idol: 2012

Friday, May 25, 2012

Model Movement #1: Multihyphenate Brent Chua exclusive for Fashion Media Pilippines

This modeling rockstar-cum-photographer has already had some sparkling gem stones of accomplishment under his belt: graced the catwalks of illustrious designers in Asia, Europe and America (Gucci, Boss, Yamamoto to name a few), booked ad campaigns for global brands like Benetton, Levi's, Pepe Jeans, Coca-Cola, Bang and Olufsen and Aveda, and appeared on the cover and pages of several fashion glossies worldwide. Once had been photographed by Steven Meisel, now he channels his extra creative energy as a lensman for different modeling agencies and fashion publications in New York. So, really, what good is a long introduction for the very talented Asian male supermodel Brent Chua?

As the first of our Model Movement series, Fashion Media PH is excited to share this exclusive interview with the very talented and down-to-earth Filipino pride named Brent. ENJOY!

Three things you like about being Brent:
1. I pretty much always feel relatively happy.
2. Knowing that I was created from love.
3. And being able to surround myself with passionate individuals who care both for me and life in general.

Three things you like about modeling:
1. Physically becoming a character, due to very talented stylists, make-up artists, etc.
2. Emotionally becoming a character, due to shedding my own inhibitions.
3. And never really knowing what could be next. It’s an exciting thought (most of the time).

Most cherished/hated model experience:
Well, as of now, since the spring will hopefully soon fall into full-effect, I recall a shoot from around this time last year. It took place at the Brooklyn botanical gardens, right when the Cherry blossom trees were starting to bloom. I remember it was just such an amazing day, and it felt as though the beauty of the trees just intoxicated us all. The really special moment, however, occurred during the shoot. I had my arm out for some reason, and suddenly, the tiniest little Cherry blossom had just softly blown right into the palm of my hand. It felt like something magical had happened. I won’t forget that moment. And with this in mind, I can’t even recall a most ‘hated’ experience.

Four people in the fashion industry you'd love to get stuck in an elevator with:
1. Gwen, because she’s a close friend of mine and we’d have more fun than anyone else I might get stuck in there with. Then again, with David Bowie it could be more fun. No, Gwen actually.
2. Brigitte Bardot in the 1960s, because I’d have something so very beautiful to look at. But in this time period, it could be a nice experience as well.
3. Yohji Yamamoto, so maybe he could teach me a few things in Japanese; and a few things about life; or a few things about life in Japanese.
4. Herb Ritts, to let him know just how much I love the music video he directed for Chris Isaak’s song “Wicked Game”, and how much I admire his incredible work in general. And Helena Christensen, just as she was in the music video. She should be stuck in there with us too.

Three words to describe Brent the photographer:
1. Always
2. Looking
3. Forward

No. 1 dream project:
Dreams are dreams and don’t necessary need to be reality, but if I can continually work on projects that both stimulate my creativity and pay the bills (and then some), well then that’d just be great.

Chinese supermodel Du Juan by Brent Chu for Manifesto Magazine

Two things you'd tell an aspiring fashion model/photographer:
1. Never give up on yourself.
2. There comes a time when maybe you should just give up (because that, my friend, is when the good stuff happens, somehow).

No. of pairs of shoes:
Pairs, 34. Singles, 73. How did this happen?

No. of minutes/hours you normally spend in front of the mirror:
Per day? It depends, it could be 1 minute or 1 hour. It depends how much I need to yell at myself that day.

No. of serious relationships:How serious is serious? For my standards, I’d have to say that I’ve had a handful of serious relationships. With the most serious obviously being with my parents, you know, with them birthing me and all. Then there are the few, very close friends in my life. OH, you meant serious romantic relationships? Well, I’ll keep that to myself. ;)

No. of apartments you've lived in:Quite a few, my friend… who is counting anymore? It’s everybody's story here in New York, where I've lived in 5 or 6 longer-term apartments. But in total, I’d have to get back to you on that.

No. of "real people" you've met in the fashion industry:
You never really, really know. But I can say that I know of 3, without a doubt, taylor, gwen lu, and you bin, and they are dear to me.