Aged just 17 and still living with her family, Rina Fukushi has seen more of the world than most Japanese schoolgirls. She is the newest model sensation making waves in Europe and New York, wowing on the runway for the likes of Miu Miu and Marc Jacobs when not chowing down on hamburgers or playing with her little brother. Discovered at 14, hailed by Vogue as "ultra-cool" and "eye-catching" with her enormous eyes, thick eyebrows and bee-sting lips, she is already the veteran of seasons in Paris, Milan and New York -- giving American models Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner a run for their money. "I always believed I could be a star from the moment I was scouted. But at the same time, I still can't believe it's real," says Fukushi, delightfully friendly and giggly, yet equally self-assured for her age.
Quick to laugh, she is a dab hand at sign language to ease gaps in lost in Japanese-English translation, yet both shy and vivacious, faultlessly polite and totally absorbed in the world of fashion - she loves to rummage around vintage stores whenever she is travelling. A silver pendant inscribed "Rina," in Japanese script, hangs from her neck and she carries a leather jacket from Beautiful People, a Japanese label for whom she walked the previous night. Her schedule is punishing: she's up at 7am, rushes from show to show, working until 10pm and finally falls into bed around 1am.
In between it all, she is studying, which she does online to fit around her schedule. When high school ends in March she hopes to spend more time in New York, which she loved visiting in September. Marc Jacobs left a deep impression. She thought his spring/summer show of rainbow rastafarian locks "so cute," although she dissolves into more laughter when asked what his towering, seven-inch platform boots were like to walk in. "I was really careful not to slip." As a model it pays to be professional and amenable. Fukushi is both, and besides, the soft-spoken Taiwanese-American fashion genius of New York urban cool was "so kind" to her.
Described in the Japanese fashion press as "exotic" Fukushi is the daughter of a Spanish-Filipino mother and a Japanese-American father. Born in Manilla, the family returned to Japan when she was a baby, and she grew up in Tokyo, although she speaks Tagalog as well as Japanese. "I thought she had the perfect proportions," says her agent Mayumi Kozakura, incredibly one of three scouts who spotted her the first day she went out shopping with a friend in Tokyo's Harajuku district.
But at five feet, nine inches Fukushi is short for a runway model, by Western standards. It's one of the reasons she admires Kate Moss so much: the British model who defied beauty norms by pioneering so-called heroin chic is even shorter. She is dreaming big. She would love to front a campaign and walk for Chanel, and perhaps become an actress or singer later in life. She's a fan of J-pop and likes to retreat into nature when she gets occasional time off. But mostly she's working. Otherwise, she sleeps or eats, she jokes. Hamburgers in New York and steak are her favourites.
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This story in 30 seconds
• Discovered at 14 (Now 17), hailed by Vogue as "ultra-cool" and "eye-catching" with her enormous eyes, thick eyebrows and bee-sting lips, Rina Fukushi is already the veteran of seasons in Paris, Milan and New York
• Her schedule is punishing: she's up at 7am, rushes from show to show, working until 10pm and finally falls into bed around 1am
• In between it all, she is studying, which she does online to fit around her schedule. When high school ends in March she hopes to spend more time in New York
• Described in the Japanese fashion press as "exotic" Fukushi is the daughter of a Spanish-Filipino mother and a Japanese-American father
• She would love to front a campaign and walk for Chanel, and perhaps become an actress or singer later in life
