Collin

Who:
Collin Hyon (@chainpants) — 186 cm / 6’1″ — American from Breckenridge, Colorado, USA — born April 15th — he/him.

Where:
Q Model Management NY (New York – mother agency)

— How did you become a model?
My journey into modeling started through my love of skateboarding. I noticed early on that a look is important; a unique clothing style adds flair that catches the eye beyond your skating talent alone. As I tried to emulate the style of my favorite skaters, I realized that wearing clothes you feel cool in is really fun and empowering. I started paying more attention to the most unique people in skating and found out that a lot of them were models as well. Ever since then, it’s been my dream to be a model in New York City. As I continued into skateboarding, I met a lot of people that shared my interest in fashion, and from there, my love of the world of modeling and high fashion grew. I am happy to say that I’ve started to fulfill my ambitions, I recently moved to New York City, and I’ve just signed with Q Model Management!

— What’s your most prized possession and why?
When I was a child, I had a thick blanket from my grandmother. It was one of the few things she could bring while immigrating to this country from Korea, and I slept with it almost every night. Unfortunately, last January, my childhood home burned down, and I lost this treasure forever. I was really upset about this, but when I first moved to New York, my grandma brought me the other blanket she had taken from Korea. I’ve been sleeping with it every night, and I will continue this for the rest of my life.

— An issue or cause you are passionate about:
I believe a problem that is overlooked far too often is Asian hate. As someone who has felt the harm that racism can inflict, I feel for anyone that faces this adversity. It breaks my heart to see hate crimes against the people that share my heritage, and I hope to see it get the attention and dedication it deserves in the future. I can say that seeing these injustices being brought to light at all is progress, we have a long way to go, but I am optimistic that times are changing.

Isabelle

Who:
Isabelle Maranhão (@_isamaranhao) — 180 cm / 5’11” — Brazilian from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — born February 18th — she/her.

Where:
Mix Models Agency (Rio de Janeiro – mother agency), Kult Hamburg

— What’s your most prized possession and why?
My family! Our motto is “we are one,” always together. They helped me get this far, and without a doubt, they are my support to achieve much more.

— One thing people may be surprised to find out about you:
I write. I like to create poems, texts, and from time to time, a song or two. I consider this one of the qualities I inherited from my father.

— How did you become a model?
In the middle of the COVID pandemic, I went to São Paulo to start my career. It was a tough start, and there were no castings or jobs, so I stayed a few months and went back home, hoping to return in the next few months. But in the meantime, I lost my dad, my biggest support network and my best friend. So I gave up that dream to help my family at that time. But a very important person did not allow me to give up and sent my photos to an agency that invited me to work with them. From then on, I started working and got here. I won’t stop until I achieve much more, but I’m so grateful for everything I’ve accomplished and for everyone who has been part of this journey with me.

John

Who:
John Deng (@john_deng23) — 188 cm / 6’2″ — Canadian from Naruth, South Sudan — born January 1st — he/him.

Where:
Lizbell Agency (Vancouver – mother agency)

— One thing people may be surprised to find out about you:
I cannot deal with snakes. I will literally scream if I even see a video of a snake.

— Your most embarrassing moment:
I moved to Canada in grade 9 and was drawn to basketball. When I first started playing basketball, my brain stopped working during a game, and I threw the ball behind me. There was no reason for this; I just glitched for a moment.

— What are three interesting facts about you?
1. I have two guinea pigs, Pumba and Timon (from Lion King).
2. My family is from South Sudan, but we moved to Kenya when I was a baby, so I know more about Kenya than South Sudan.
3. My first, middle, and last name are all four letters long.

Ruben

Who:
Ruben Aiello (@rubss.00) — 186 cm / 6’1″ — Italian from Lecco, Italy — born December 14th — he/him.

Where:
CS scouting (Bratislava – mother agency), Why Not Model Management (Milan), MGM Models (Hamburg)

— The most interesting thing about your family:
My family is a mix of Italian cultures since my father’s parents are from Calabria, a marvelous region in the South of Italy. They decided to move to Northern Italy when they were young to find a better living solution and build their future.

— How did you become a model?
One day, almost as a joke with my friends, I posted a “cool photo” on my IG account, and I added a fake sponsorship description with related hashtags, pretending to be a model. I am not sure about that, but this probably helped my actual Mother Agency to find my profile and scout me! I often wonder if this “stupid thing” actually helped me to change my future.

— What are three interesting facts about you?
1. A great passion that lives inside me is a love for medicine and scientific matters.
2. I would like to become a doctor, and that’s been my dream since I was a child. Now I’m in my third year at the University of Medicine in Milan.
3. Also, I really enjoy hiking in the mountains.

Valerie

Who:
Valerie Pasker (@valeriepasker) — 172 cm / 5’8″ — Dutch from Amersfoort, The Netherlands — born May 21st — she/her.

Where:
Mouna Models (Amsterdam – mother agency), Marilyn Agency (Paris), Monster Management (Milan), Storm Management (London), Uniko Models (Barcelona), A Management (Hamburg), Modellink (Gothenburg)

— What are three interesting facts about you?
1. When I was younger, I used to dance in international hip-hop competitions.
2. Music was my elective in high school, where I got my drumming certificate. I still enjoy my drum classes these days :)
3. I live above a small little bakery, so every morning, I wake up with the smell of freshly roasted coffee beans and oven-baked croissants.

— The most interesting thing about your family:
My uncles got married about 20 years ago as the first gay marriage in the world.

— Your most embarrassing moment:
One of those moments that makes me cringe immediately thinking about it was when I went to an outdoor movie with a friend. All the terraces were full of people while a movie was played in a beautiful church. My friend and I got a nice spot somewhere on the terrace. During the movie, I really needed to pee, so I decided to go to the toilet at the restaurant. Once I did that, I walked out of the restaurant, past the whole terrace back to my place in the front. As I walked, I heard people laughing and looking at me. Also, I saw my friend looking at me like I was crazy. When I got back to her, I asked what was wrong. She pointed to my ass… There was a huge string of toilet paper hanging out of my pants. She tried to pull it out, but it was a never-ending piece of paper. Don’t ask me how…

Zuzka

Who:
Zuzka (Zuzanna) Pyrzanowska (@zuzaipyrzanowska) — 177 cm / 5’9.5″ — Polish from Lodz, Poland — born April 26th — she/her.

Where:
The Management (Warsaw – mother agency), Wonderwall Management (Milan)

— Who is someone you admire and why?
Dylan Mulvaney. She’s such a lovely and brave person, I just wish her the best.

— An issue or cause you are passionate about:
Definitely gender equality and women’s rights.

— How did you become a model?
I was scouted by a photographer while I was on a trip with my friends.