How Chinese model went from novice to fashion industry darling, likened to David Bowie, Jim Morrison, and Rolling Stones

In the space of mere months, David Yang went from a novice model to being featured on a billboard in Times Square in New York. Yang’s whirlwind rise to fame began when he received a call from his agent while in Kyoto, Japan. The model was told to fly to London to get a US visa and to book a ticket to New York for a potential shoot with H&M. Within weeks, Yang found himself on a beach shooting the images that would ultimately see him become the campaign poster-boy for the Swedish fast-fashion retailer and taking up prime real-estate on a billboard in New York’s famous square. Two years later and Yang still can’t quite believe the life-changing series of events that happened to him. “It was a huge thing,” recalls Yang, speaking from his current base in Shanghai in China. “It was game-changing in terms of my career. At the time, I was in a state of uncertainty … I had taken myself to Kyoto to regain a sense of self and to soak up the Zen. “I came back to London, got the visa, flew to New York, and then we shot that morning at 4am on the beach. The whole thing was finished in a couple of hours; it [had a] great energy and a great vibe, and the shoot came out a few months later. “A friend sent me a message saying ‘oh my God, you need to go and see yourself in Times Square, your portrait is on the giant billboard’. I rushed over, got out at Times Square station, looked up and there was my giant face, a portrait picture with just an inch of T-shirt. It was one of those moments where you struggle to take it all in.” Bookings for other major brands began flooding in – including, most thrillingly of all for Yang, a starring role in a short film by legendary director Wong Kar-wai for the fashion brand Saint Laurent. The four-minute film, shot by Suzhou Creek in Shanghai, co-stars model Ju Xiaowen. Yang, 26, can hold his own in any discussion about cinema. The film buff completed a French literature and film studies degree at King’s College London in the British capital – a course which involved spending time studying at the famed Sorbonne University in Paris, France. It was there that he had his first brush with the modelling world. A talent scout, captivated by Yang’s androgynous looks, long hair and lanky frame, stopped him in the street, and suggested he should audition as a model. Although Yang did so when he was back in London, the then-student had reservations about taking up modelling full-time, and only took on the occasional assignment. Yang was, at the time, considering other career options, such as entering academia or training as an anthropological documentary maker. Streetwear godfather Shawn Stussy on working with Dior Men As he pondered, though, the modelling offers kept coming. Creative directors, advertising executives and photographers were intrigued by this skinny, bohemian-looking Chinese man, whose looks regularly draw comparisons to singer David Bowie, snake-hipped rocker Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, and various members of the Rolling Stones. Yang was a draw in other ways, too – he is fiercely intelligent, deeply knowledgeable about the creative process and highly personable. As a relative latecomer to the industry, Yang also had a certain perspective and balance that other newbies did not; he did not appear to be desperate for fame, nor was he quick to commit to something if it did not appeal to him. “I think fashion is very intellectual, it is an art form, really, and there is so much intellect behind it, which I have come to appreciate after seeing the designers’ whole creative process.,” he says. “With photo shoots, especially for me coming from a film background, when I stand in front of the camera it is not just me wearing clothes and the photographer doing his thing, I see it as a conversation. “If you are shooting an editorial, there are photographers who like to approach it as a story. I take that on and I see it as narrative where I am playing a character, and I need to bring emotions to the table. I need to be present and engaged – it is cerebral, you are not just standing there having your picture taken.” Another factor that helped Yang’s meteoric rise in modelling was an industry trend of more ethnically inclusive casting. “My first big break was a campaign for Urban Outfitters, who had never had an Asian male model,” says Yang. “I think a few years ago there was a tokenistic thing about it, and some of the brands would pander to the market to be able to say they had used an Asian model, a black model, a Latino model or a South Asian model to show their customer base in that region. “But now it is more inclusive, and people are doing it organically instead of with a certain motive. I don’t think it is diversity for diversity’s sake any more, which is great.” His other high-profile campaigns and catwalk shows have included Bottega Veneta, Valentino, Balenciaga, Zara, Vivienne Westwood and Fendi. All of this means Yang’s future is pretty much secured – should he choose to continue modelling. For Yang, though, true bliss is lying on a tropical beach with a book in hand, and taking the odd break from reading to strum a guitar. He takes regular trips back to Britain to see family, too – his parents emigrated from China to Scotland, where they opened a Chinese restaurant, and his older sister is an interior designer who has worked for Jay-Z and Rihanna. Yang’s rise to modelling fame would come as a surprise to his former classmates in Scotland, as he spent his late teens overweight – at his heaviest, he was more than 100kg (220 pounds). The biggest trends from the past 10 years in fashion “When I look in the mirror my eye immediately goes to the places where [there’s] an extra ounce of fat that nobody else would see. Keeping healthy is the most important thing,” he says. “But I don’t go to the gym. I [can remember] I was once on a cycling machine reading a book, and I got so engrossed in the book that I stopped cycling.”

How Chinese model went from novice to fashion industry darling, likened to David Bowie, Jim Morrison, and Rolling Stones

David Yang shot to stardom thanks to an H&M shoot that landed him billboard space in New York’s Times Square The British-Chinese film studies graduate has since modelled for clients including Zara, Valentino and Balenciaga, and shot an ad with Wong Kar-wai

David Yang shot to stardom thanks to an H&M shoot that landed him billboard space in New York’s Times Square

The British-Chinese film studies graduate has since modelled for clients including Zara, Valentino and Balenciaga, and shot an ad with Wong Kar-wai