A.H:I was born in Tokyo and lived there for 10 years. My father is Japanese and my mother is french. I've been in an international school ever since i was 5 so English is the language Im most comfortable with. However, I also speak french, Japanese and a little bit of German. Now that i am moving to Milan, i am hoping to add Italian to my list of languages.
I moved to Switzerland when i was 10 and have lived here for 8 years now. If anyone asks where i grew up, i would say Switzerland. It really feels like home here and I've changed and learnt so much here in Switzerland at the sides of my most important friends and my small family
A.H: I have actually modeled when i was a little girl, for Japanese magazines, but everyone does that in Japan i think so it wasn't such a big deal.
I would actually say that i started modeling around 3 years ago, after I lost my hair due to an auto-immune system sickness called Alopecia. It caused me to lose all my hair very quickly (about a month). To be very honest, it all happened so quickly that i feel i didn't have time to go downhill emotionally. Wigs made me feel very sick and nauseous, and I have always been into fashion, so this slight change in my physique didn't once stop me from dressing the same or enclosing myself.
But anyways, so i really think modeling helped me cope with this "difference" that i have compared to other girls. it really opened many doors for me and has given me the opportunity to work with many talented and interesting photographers.
A.H:I was born wanting to do something in fashion. What i mean is, my father works in the fashion business, mostly in marketing and thinking ahead for seasonal collections so i've had an insight in many things. As a child i was never really into reading and maths, really just artistic things. Nothing specifically has happened to me to make me decide that i wanted to work in the fashion business. I actually have no idea who or what put this idea in my head, but i've never wanted to do anything else. I never pictured myself doing anything else. So from a young age i've been reading fashion magazines and cutting out outfits and putting different things together on a daily basis.
Everyday, i enjoy mixing up my outfits and wearing one thing in different ways, so evidently, I want to discover more possibilities and designs.
A.H:I have just graduated from high school with the international baccalaureate diploma, where I took art as a higher level. It was actually the first time I took real art classes and discovered different areas in art and several techniques. With this, i managed to be accepted in a Fashion Design course in Milan.
I will work my way through university to get to the fashion industry whether as a fashion designer or perhaps a different branch in the "fashion industry". I really think these next three years will open my eyes to different opportunities.
K.V:Which are your favorite brands?
A.H:Honestly, i don't have a favorite brand or brands. I don't chose clothes because of where they come from or what they might represent in the society. I love all haute couture brands and their collections inspire me but I don't find it necessary to spend so much money on clothing just for the brand name. I like reading about different brands, and their collections and their image, and learn something different about all of them, but at the end of the day, I seem to find my clothes in small random shops, not so popular, and really mix and match clothes from different places. I don't really think about where my clothes come from, simply what i can do with them.. how to wear them, how to change them, how to accessorize them and how to mix them with something else. At the end, its just about getting a DIFFERENT result, so its not just how i found it when i bought it or worn how everyone else would wear it.
A.H:The best thing that came out of photoshoots and fashion shows for me would probably be of course, working with so many talented artists, getting an insight in the fashion industry and meeting many great new people, but what makes me happy and this modeling experience most important to me is to feel and see and feel friends, my mama and brother be so proud of me. It is the one of the greatest feelings in the world for me.
As for a TRUE best experience in photoshoots and fashion shows so far, it would definitely be your fashion shows Karina. You have so many crazy wonderful ideas, and you don't stop until you get it perfect and your pieces are so creative and it is really something I admire. On top of that, you make everything so fun and exciting, which makes the experience unforgettable.
A.H:Its so hard for me to describe myself… I'm quite up and down, indecisive, sometimes insecure and definitely different. I don't even get myself sometimes.
But i guess its a normal feeling at this age. I feel that I've been through a lot- good and bad, and its never always just good or always bad, its just constant waves which makes me this "up and down" person.
The good side of me is that I'm crazy with my friends and i don't care what people think of me. I don't care if i do ridiculous and childish things in public because i just wanna have fun without having to worry about acting my age or doing what other people want me to do.
My friends from high school have been by my side for some of the most important changes and experiences in my life, and I feel like they KNOW me best, that's why they mean the world to me and I'm not good at letting other people in. I'm very difficult with strangers, most probably because i don't like them….
And this is where my insecurity kicks in. What has happened to me has happened for a reason and i don't try to hide it, but walking in the streets or being in a big crowd full of "hair-y" people, on my own, sometimes makes me so scared, and i cant explain the feeling. Now I'm off to Milan for university and I can't explain to you how nervous i am, when i should be feeling OVER EXCITED!! I'm the kind of person who's scared of growing up and who's scared of changes but at the end of the day, i find myself coping well with so many different situations.
