Bianca
Who:
Bianca Blakeney (@biancakeii) — 166 cm / 5’4.5″ — American from Honolulu, Hawai’i, USA — born June 25th — she/her.
Where:
The Honolulu City Club (Hawaii – mother agency), Boundary London Ltd, Storm Management (Los Angeles)
— What’re you super interested in that most people have never heard of?
I like to educate myself on the history of different cultures. Especially the Hawaiian history since I was born and raised here and am not Hawaiian myself. I feel that it is important that I learn and respect the culture of the natives.
— An issue or cause you are passionate about:
I am very passionate about the BLM movement. I am black and I will always speak out and stand up for my people!
— What are three interesting facts about you?
1. I have always loved cars and planes since I was really little. I just find anything that goes fast fascinating.
2. I love music and I recently got a DJ mixer. I hope to get better and travel the world while mixing music!
3. I’m so consistent with skincare and I also enjoy lipgloss so I eventually want to start a skincare and lip brand!
BoWen
Who:
BoWen Pan (@panpan.0227) — 186 cm / 6’1″ — Chinese from Laizhou, China — born February 27th — he/him.
Where:
Maxime Models Management (Guang Zhou City – mother agency)
— One thing people may be surprised to find out about you:
Originally, I was learning to cook and engaged in cooking professionally, but now I have become a model, which is quite a big difference, and people around me are surprised.
— What’s your most prized possession and why?
My parents are the most important thing to me because they gave me life and brought me up.
— How did you become a model?
I was curious about being a model because of my height and seeing my friends studying fashion performance. Later, I passed my exams and entered university. My classmates introduced me and I signed a contract with the current agency Maxime Models.
Bri
Who:
Bri Scalesse (@briscalesse) — American from New York, USA — born September 25th — she/her.
Where:
Nomad Management (Los Angeles – mother agency), We Speak (New York)
— One thing you never want to do again:
Most people don’t know how common it is for airlines to damage wheelchairs. Last year I watched my best friend experience the breaking of her chair and a month later experienced the same. I knew that my wheelchair was deeply important to my life and career but I didn’t realize how traumatic losing my chair due to carelessness would be. Our chairs are custom-made for our bodies and I had to wait over six weeks to receive a new one. Travel is essential to my work and who I am and I don’t want to be afraid to fly.
— What are three interesting facts about you?
I have a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University. It takes me 3+ hours to finish a single coffee. I studied abroad in Rome and Tokyo.
— How did you become a model?
I have wanted to be a model since I was a little girl when I could not find representations of my body anywhere. As a disabled person, there was no one who looked like me on runways and in magazines, and that made me feel alone. As time went on I began to see amazing, diverse people representing their communities through modeling and I realized I wanted to do the same. After moving to New York City to pursue graduate school, I met incredible people who introduced me to the world of fashion and landed my first shoot in 2019 with an adaptive accessories brand called FFORA.
Jay
Who:
Jay Rathod (@jayrathod._) — 186 cm / 6’1″ — American from Virginia, USA — born March 1st — he/him.
Where:
Storm Management (Los Angeles – mother agency)
— Who is someone you admire and why?
I admire my best friends so much, especially the ones I call my brothers. We all have the same personality, mindset, and determination. My closest friends want to see me succeed and I want to see them prosper as well. When you surround yourself with amazing people, incredible things are bound to happen.
— One thing people may be surprised to find out about you?
One thing people may be surprised to find out about me would be that I’m a really easy person to get along with. I am also the least judgemental person you will ever meet.
— What are three interesting facts about you?
1. I have won a chess tournament.
2. I like to cook for fun.
3. I love to try new things out, whether it is trying new foods, seeing new places, or doing different activities.
Lois
Who:
Lois Schalkwijk (@loisschalkwijk) — 181 cm / 5’11.5″ — Dutch/Indonesian from Amsterdam, The Netherlands — born June 15th — she/her.
Where:
Ikon Model Management (Amsterdam – mother agency), Women 360 Paris, The Squad (London), Blow Models (Barcelona), HER Management (Hamburg)
— What are three interesting facts about you?
1. I am very spiritual, and I love to meditate; it keeps me calm in times of stress.
2. I love to go boxing as a workout. Especially in the morning, as it gives a lot of energy to get yourself going the rest of the day.
3. I am passionate about music and aspire to do something in the music industry one day.
— The most interesting thing about your family:
My grandmother was born in Indonesia when it was still a colony from the Netherlands. She traveled to the Netherlands with her family when she was around my age. We have a big Indo family, and my childhood consisted of great parties together with good music and good food. I love my roots and even though my generation is one of the last, I hope I can manage to keep it alive to the best of my possibilities.
— How did you become a model?
I was 14 years old when I got scouted in the streets of Amsterdam. I started to do some work on the side while, in the meantime, I finished school; that’s how I rolled into modeling. After I graduated, I worked full-time as a model for two years, but at that point, it didn’t make me happy anymore and it didn’t satisfy me. I missed the challenge of learning new things, which is why I decided to take a little break and go to university. Right now, I am glad to say that I am about to finish my bachelor’s degree and I feel strong and excited to get back to work!
Nadia
Who:
Nadia Blocker (@nardiyuh) — 178 cm / 5’10” — British/American from London, UK — born May 25th — they/them.
Where:
Nevs (London – mother agency), JAG Models (New York)
— What are three interesting facts about you?
1. I’m a Gemini sun, rising and mercury. Whew.
2. My mum is Jamaican-Pakistani and my dad is Native American (Seminole) & African American. Both of my parents are Pisces. Whew.
3. My mum and I moved to Berlin for a year when I was 11, for pretty much no reason. I think that was the best year of my life :)
— One thing people may be surprised to find out about you:
I am a (mad) scientist! I’m studying for my Master’s in Public Health and teaching myself to code in python for data science, so I can research health inequalities and advocate for underrepresented groups. I’m just a nerdy little dude really, I love my Muji pens and my clacky keyboard – as much as I complain about studying I love it actually. It’s cosy to me.
— What are you super interested in that most people have never heard of?
I love ASMR – it stands for Autosomal Sensory Meridien Response. It’s basically just a fancy name for when you get a tingly sensation from certain sounds like light tapping on jars or someone talking really softly, usually recorded ear-to-ear, so a bit like binaural beats. It’s had a bit of a pop culture moment in the past few years and got a weird rep, sooo I used to be embarrassed about it, but it has really helped me through some stressful times and I still use it to sleep sometimes. I’ve always kind of wanted to make my own, maybe one day!