Starting from scratch, AMFOC creates career launchpad for models

Chinese models walk the runway during the Face of China contest to select five models to compete in the Face of Asia contest in Seoul in June. / Courtesy of AMFOC

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Yang Eui-sig's commitment to become a trailblazer has continued even after retiring from modeling in 2006, taking the helm of the Korea Model Association (KMA) as president.

His attention shifted from his personal success to the overall status and welfare of models in Korean society.

Yang said modeling is a precarious job.

"Unlike salaried workers of our time, we, models, don't get a lump sum when we retire from the job. We have no promotions, either. The tough reality is that only the top 5 percent of models can make a decent living," he said.

Yang also felt uncomfortable about the status of models. "People thought models are an instrument through which fashion designers, for example, present costumes. This deep-seated notion has created hierarchical relationships between fashion designers and catwalk models," he said. "Unlike today, designers at that time were demanding and treated models badly. Their relationships were not equal. It was hard for models to make their voice heard."

Yang said he felt that the underappreciation of models was related to a lack of events that let the public know what models are for.

Actors, singers, even comedians are celebrated at annual awards ceremonies, but there was no such event for models, he said.

Yang Eui-sig looks out as staffers prepare for the 2015 Face of Asia contest to select Asia's next top model at the hall of the Olympic Park stadium in southern Seoul on April 24. Models from 15 countries, including China, Japan and Malaysia, competed for the title. / Courtesy of AMFOC

In 2006, Yang launched the Korea Model Awards to recognize outstanding models of the year.

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He created baseball, football, golf and other sports teams consisting of models and let them play with other celebrity sports teams in annual friendly matches to help models build networking with people in entertainment industry.

He brought all types of models together in the Korea Model Association. Fashion and catwalk models, commercial models and promotional models were invited to join the association.

Some fashion models voiced their discontent with Yang because of his "indiscriminate" expansion of KMA memberships as they believed inclusion of non-traditional models could hurt the image of the KMA. Yang disagreed. He believed membership expansion would help models have a stronger presence in the entertainment industry.

He created a modeling major to help aspiring models prepare for their future career in university.

His series of endeavors were focused on lifting the status of models in Korea and placing them in the entertainment industry to find more opportunities even after they retire from modeling.

Despite his years of tireless efforts, Yang said he felt something was missing.

With the big picture mind, he turned his attention to creating a global platform through which Korean models can interact with other Asian models and as a result the related fashion and beauty industries can benefit from such interactions.

In January 2011, he launched Face of Asia, an annual contest to select Asia's next top model in Seoul, with the help of likeminded people.

The regional event had a humble beginning. Models from six countries competed in the contest. The six participating nations were Korea, China, Japan, Mongolia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Models who were chosen in local contests joined the final competition in Seoul to become Asia's next top model. Since its smooth start in 2011, the number of countries that hosted local contests and sent their models to the Face of Asia contest in Seoul has gradually increased. This year, models from 26 countries will vie for the Face of Asia awards in June.

Membership expansion, however, put more pressure on Yang. The bigger the event, the more the necessary budget to cover it.

Yang said funding the event was, and has been the most challenging part.

He said he has been rejected about 3,000 times.

"Whenever I got the cold shoulder from corporate executives that I met to raise money for the event, I felt ashamed. It was embarrassing to hear 'no' from them and I thought about how I could get out of such a shameful situation and manage my facial expression. But as soon as I left the venue, that particular uneasiness dissipated and I became anxious because without corporate sponsorship, we couldn't host the contest," he said.

He likened the annual contest to the Asian Games, saying the two events are similar.

"In China, people call model contestants 'players.' I don't know where the term came from. But I do see parallels between sports and contests to select models. In the Face of Asia contest, for example, models represent their countries and compete for the title," he said.

"We have a long way to go to make the annual event into a credible global platform and I will make ceaseless efforts to make it happen. What I am proud of at this moment is that I laid the groundwork for the edition that brings Asian models together and they are exposed to Korean culture, beauty and fashion products and they also have media exposure during the event, which is good for their future careers."