"The Ugliest Supermodel" Lu Yan: From "ugly" to an international supermodel, how did she fight back?

Becoming a world supermodel is the dream of all models. As the four major domestic models, Ju Xiaowen, Liu Wen, He Sui and Xi Mengyao are still very popular, but in fact, the number one in the world from domestic to The first domestic supermodel is Lu Yan, who was once disliked by Chinese people for her ugly appearance.

Ugly is the first impression many people have of her. Because she is completely different from the public aesthetics, with squinty eyes, high cheekbones, flat nose bridge, and thick lips, Lu Yan has become the "ugliest one" in everyone's mouth "Supermodel", even though she debuted 20 years ago, there is still a lot of criticism about her. But she is the first Chinese model to be recognized internationally, and her road to becoming an international supermodel has been very bumpy.

On October 19, 1981, Lu Yan was born in a poor mountain village in the De'an mining area of ??Jiangxi Province. Her father was a barber and her mother did not work. The family relied on her father's income to make ends meet. Life was very tight. She had no contact with models before the age of 18. Because of her special appearance, many people's first impression of her was that she was ugly. The only thing that stood out about her was that she was 1.78 meters tall, so she developed the habit of being hunched over and had no temperament at all.

Later, in order to find a good job, she happened to see the enrollment information of a beauty class on the street, so she decided to sign up for the beauty class to correct her hunchback habit. There was a model training class next door to the beauty class. At that time, they were planning to form a team to participate in a model competition in Beijing. However, because there was one person missing from the team, the teacher found the tall Lu Yan, whose long legs were very eye-catching. In order to " "Make up the numbers." The teacher began to persuade her, saying that the company would provide food, accommodation and reimbursement of transportation expenses, which was equivalent to a free trip to the capital.

She was a little excited. Although she didn’t know much about models, she thought it would be good to see the world. So I readily agreed. But I didn't expect that when I arrived in Beijing, it was completely different from what the teacher said. She didn't expect to have to undergo high-intensity training every day and have no time to go out and play. However, she was not unhappy because of this, and instead became interested in the modeling industry.

Originally, she thought that models only needed to wear beautiful clothes and walk on the catwalk, but after training, she gradually gained a clearer understanding. Although she was eliminated in the preliminary round, she did not choose to leave, but continued to stay in Beijing to seek development opportunities. She began to go to major clothing magazines recruiting models for interviews.

One day, she met a photographer named Feng Hai during an interview at a magazine. He was taciturn and only said to her, "Take a look around." She was wearing a Short sleeves, baggy trousers, earthy feeling. After reading it, he remained silent. Then a little fat man came in. He looked around and said happily: "You are very beautiful, so beautiful!" She was flattered. This was the first time someone had complimented her since she was a child. She is "beautiful". And this little fat man is now the father of domestic makeup, top makeup artist Li Dongtian.

He said to her: "You will definitely be famous, and you will be famous forever." For this reason, he designed a shape for her, a very simple and casual shape, just dots on both sides of her nose. Feng Hai took this photo of her with dozens of "freckles" and later made it into a huge poster, which was hung on Wangfujing Street, the busiest street in Beijing. The passers-by started talking. Some said he was really ugly, and some said he had a lot of personality. But no matter what people think, Lu Yan is popular.

This year she was 18 years old, just an adult, and started her modeling career. ? A year later, she met two agents from the French Metropolitan Model Agency. They were attracted by her unique temperament and felt that her "oriental face" had a unique beauty. So he stopped her and asked her if she was a model and if she would be willing to go to Paris to develop her career.

When she heard it, she replied without hesitation: "Okay." She thought to herself that she was just starting out, so there was nothing wrong with going out to make a living. A model who has already established a foothold in China may hesitate when faced with the requests of foreign model agencies, but she has nothing, so she has nothing to fear. Two months later, she came to Paris alone.

Because she did not know foreign languages, her travel was limited, so her agency arranged for a helper for her. The helper gave her a map of the Paris subway, taught her how to take the subway, and pointed to the station names. remember. Three days later, she started taking the subway to travel to major fashion companies to promote herself. In order to quickly adapt to life in Paris, language is an indispensable communication tool, so after working during the day, she would take turns attending English speaking and French speaking classes in the evening.

Lonely as a stranger in a foreign land, the most difficult thing for Lu Yan was not the modeling job to promote herself, but the fact that there was no one to talk to in a foreign country, and she was forced to become a "mute". She felt unprecedented Feeling of loneliness. One day she couldn't bear it anymore and made an overseas call to Li Dongtian. The long-distance charges at that time were so expensive that she almost burst into tears the moment Li Dongtian picked up the conversation. After the two exchanged brief greetings, Li Dongtian felt that the phone bill was too expensive and wanted to hang up. She said, "No, no, I haven't spoken for months. I'm exhausted. Please let me talk more." That day, the two of them chatted. After an hour or two, Lu Yan became more energetic.

After studying for 3 months, she can already communicate simply in English and French. Slowly, because of her cheerful and laughing personality, she gradually adapted to the work of a model, and her life is on the right track. .

? At the end of the same year, she participated in the International Super Model Competition, where she shined brilliantly and won the runner-up trophy. Lu Yan became famous in one battle! Lu Yan is the first Chinese model to win the runner-up of Supermodel, and is also the highest ranking ever achieved by a Chinese model.

With the strength of the supermodel runner-up, she became a favorite in major shows in the following years. ? Has appeared in major international fashion magazines and served as spokesperson for Hermès, Benetton, L'Oreal and other brands. With an annual salary of US$6.5 million, she has become a role model for Chinese models, and her name is famous both at home and abroad.

In 2011, she became a little anxious. She said that she was a restless person. In the first few years, she was very motivated and busy, working hard to fulfill her dream of becoming a model and facing constant challenges. But after two years of being able to handle everything with ease, she began to feel that she had reached a bottleneck. She thought about it for two years and finally decided to move from the front to behind the scenes and create her own fashion brand.

Although her friends advised her to be cautious and even tried to persuade her not to become a designer. But she said that during the years of catwalks, she has come into contact with many world-class design masters and has a relatively in-depth understanding of many big brands. In addition, she often goes to museums and art exhibitions to cultivate her aesthetic ability. She feels This challenge can be accomplished.

In 2013, Lu Yan stopped modeling and returned to China to set up a personal brand studio in Shanghai. But the studio is not as simple as imagined.

In order to understand the entire industry chain, she had to start with fabrics, so she went to the fabric wholesale market, but hit a wall. The shopkeepers were either busy with their own business or ignored her. She felt very frustrated. Lost. When she was a model, everyone was surrounding her and she didn't need to do anything by herself. But starting a business is different now. She has to figure out the entire process and do it herself. But Lu Yan was not discouraged. She quickly adjusted her mentality and rejoined the battle, learning step by step and taking it step by step.

She hit the wall many times, and a lot of her hair fell out due to anxiety. She also had the idea of ??giving up, but she still endured and persevered. Half a year later, the clothes she sent to the boutique to "test the waters" were bought, and all 10 sets of clothes were sold out, and they still needed to be replenished. At this moment, she jumped for joy, which gave her great confidence.

The fashion brand "COMME MOI" founded by Lu Yan has entered its eighth year. Her team has grown from three people at the beginning to dozens of people now. More and more people like her brand design, including many domestic and foreign celebrities, including Sun Li, Zhang Ziyi, Yu Feihong, Hai Qing, Qu Ying and other celebrities who are her regular customers.

Many people say that Lu Yan is lucky, but her success is definitely not luck. Part of my luck was meeting Li Dongtian and Feng Hai, and having their first acquaintance. Later, I met a French agent and got a chance to be promoted. But everything else is due to her hard work. There are many Chinese models who also have the opportunity to go to Paris, but Lu Yan is the first to persevere despite all difficulties.

From being ridiculed as "ugly" by Chinese people, to becoming an international supermodel, and now a designer and founder of a fashion brand, Lu Yan's counterattack is enough to give strength to ordinary people.

She is well-deserved China's number one supermodel!