Don't Touch The Model

interview

Name: Mengmeng Wei

Agency: Fusion Models (New York) Also with: SUPREME MANAGEMENT (Paris) / MP Management (Milan) / Supa Model Management (London) / Longteng Model Management (Beijing)

Age: 23

Height: 5’10.5″

Instagram: @mengmeng_js

Place of Origin: Sichuan, China

Ethnic Origin: ½ Chinese, ½ Japanese

Birthsign: Leo

How discovered: When I was a child, I would look through the fashion magazines that my mom brought home. Magazines such as Vogue, Harpers Bazaars, etc. I was like the other girls—dressing up my Barbie dolls and dreaming that one day I would be just like them. I would also watch Fashion TN at home and imitate the models walking on the catwalk. As I grew older, I constantly researched information about modeling on the internet and one summer during high school, I decided to travel to Beijing for a modeling agency casting. The rest is history!

Favorite things:

I have raised a super cute Samoyed dog and what I love to do most is of course play with her and spend time with her. I play fetch with her, teach her to sit and to shake. Whenever I’m out I would always remember to buy snacks for her since she loves to eat. However, I think I may have been overfeeding her…now she’s so big I cannot even pick her up! She looks just like a polar bear!

What are you listening to at the moment? I like to listen to all types of music really! When I go to the gym, I like to listen to electronic music such as Avicii, who is my favorite DJ! I think he is very talented at making music. At home, I just listen to relaxing things.

Favorite movie, tv show: I love to watch all types of movies. If I had to pick, I would pick Minions. They are all so cute! I wish I had a group of minions working for me, and that I can live with them every day—it’d be really fun wouldn’t it?! I also like to watch Jimmy Kimmel. It’s the first show I came in contact with in the states and oh my goodness, he’s really funny. Every time he pranks celebrities and little children, I’d watch their expression—it’s funny yet sad at the same time. Especially the one where they asked parents to prank their children by telling them that their Halloween candy was eaten, so cute!

Favorite designer, fragrance or beauty product: My favorite design is Mr. Alexander McQueen. His passing was extremely heart-breaking, because he was such a great and talented designer. His designs always exceeded limitations and was outside the box—a real treat for everyone. My favorite fragrance is Jo Malone. The scent is light and natural in a simple and not extravagant package. Honestly though, I don’t use perfume as much as I like to try different types of lipstick. I think lipsticks are very important for girls because their different colors and ability to express different types of personalities. Plus, so many designs and colors, how can a girl resist?!

What would you be doing if you weren’t modeling? Before modeling, I was always interested in designs, whether it’s clothing or interior. When I was young, I’d take old clothes that no one wore anymore and I’d cut them up and make clothes for my Barbie dolls. I also asked my grandmother to teach me how to use a sewing machine and knit scarves. Sometimes I would try to draw out the designs in my head. Later I discovered modeling and thus I found my true calling.

What’s something uncool that you love anyway? I really don’t like to leave the home. If I’m not working, I would stay home for days without leaving. I love to stay home and read, watch tv, play video games and eat. When friends call and ask me to go out, I’d be too lazy to go anywhere and others may think this to be uncool but I don’t think so at all, I love it.

Favorite modeling experience so far? My first time in Paris I was able to do the John Paul Gautier show. I was super excited at that time. Dita Von Teese also did that show and she was so beautiful and super nice. After that show, it really boosted my confidence in participating in international fashion weeks.

What’s the best thing about your hometown/country? What I miss most about my home is of course the food. In my country there is something called Hotpot. It is a big pot of a very spicy soup and you can boil your favorite meats and vegetables in it. Afterwards you’d pick it out and dip it in your favorite sauce. Thinking about it now, it is like an experience in and of itself.

Which brand would you really love to model for? I would love to have a photshoot for Vogue magazine. I think this is a very important milestone in the career of models. It is probably also the dream of most models.

Place you would love to visit: There are lots of places I would love to travel to. Everywhere that I’ve never been before I would like to go and see. I think traveling itself is a wonderful experience. Going to different places, experiencing different lifestyles and different cultures. Anywhere with a clean and blue ocean is a favorite, there’s too many to pick from.

Currently you’re obsessed with/about: Castings for fashion week has started and every day is very tiring. This requires an ample amount of stamina to get through each day. Every day I think to myself that I have to be in good condition to get to every single casting so that I can have more opportunities.

Archivist Editions latest issue pairs simplicity with context, as in issue’s past, musing on archival fashion presented in a clever discourse. The double cover is faced by two timeless models, one being Vivien Solari by  Joachim Mueller Ruchholtz, styled in pieces from Shirin Guild by Jane Howard, the other is Sam Rollinson by Laetitia Negre who wears Comme des Garçons Comme des Garçons Autumn/Winter 2015-2016 pieces selected by Benoit Bethume. Both editorials find harmony is restraint, letting the faces and enduring artistry of the designers do the work. Also tucked inside, equally thoughtful visual essays find retreat amongst its pages. Dick Jewell pulls from his collection of found photographs and Axel Hoedt and hair stylist Angelo Seminara refashion from the old, plus plenty of other archival goodness, as the name implies. See a preview of the magazine below before it’s released.

For a jolt of the strange, count on Undercover's Jun Takahashi. Tonight his models sported red contact lenses and matching red mascara, and on their heads they wore elaborate crowns constructed from tiny braids by the Japanese hairstylist Kamo. Every outfit was draped and wrapped with scarves, which wove in and out of slits in the clothes. Takahashi said he was thinking about warmth and royalty. And fear. Weird enough for you?

Except that it wasn't. The clothes had their roots in classic sportswear. Yellow and baby blue loungewear accessorized with Undercover logo scarves was followed by iconic outerwear (trench, parka, bomber, motorcycle jacket) wrapped in fur stoles. Later, there was crisp tailoring in colorful tartans, sashed with striped silk and heraldic symbols suggestive of baronial splendors. After that: toile de Jouy layered to a fare-thee-well.

But if the clothing was familiar, Takahashi played fast and loose with notions of monarchy. We saw visions of British kings and queens in the rococo shrugs studded with gold bug brooches, and Hollywood royals in a trio of monochrome looks—red, white, or blue all the way up to the matching sunglasses and towering turbans. And in the electronic apples some of the models palmed: Snow White. The witch who fed her that apple was really the Queen. Or was it that the Queen was actually a witch?

Takahashi has always had a wicked sense of humor. Look closely at the blue and white Chinese porcelain print and you could spot UFOs. All around, a visual feast.