Mannequin Yumi Nu on the quilt of 2022 Sports activities Illustrated Swimsuit subject, which is on newsstands Could 19.
James Macari/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
Final week, mannequin Yumi Nu visited her agent for what she thought was a routine interview and profession examine in.
However whereas she was answering questions earnestly, “My brokers had been in on this little plan,” the 25-year-old advised The Submit. Halfway by means of the “interview,” Sports activities Illustrated Swimsuit honcho MJ Day and different staffers from the bikini bible popped out with a digicam crew as the quilt of this yr’s journal, that includes Nu, stuffed a close-by monitor.
“I used to be processing the shock of it not being an actual interview and that this was truly the SI cowl reveal. I couldn't communicate. I had full physique chills. I used to be shaking, I used to be crying. They actually acquired me good,” mentioned Nu.
Her first name was to her boyfriend Dimitri Dinas.
“He was freaking out. He was like, ‘If I had been a teenage boy, I’d have a poster of you in my room. Now I’m relationship an SI cowl star.’ “
He has many causes to be pleased with his girlfriend. It’s been a stretch of profession highlights for the plus-sized mannequin and singer who's of Dutch and Japanese extraction. (Her mom is the daughter of Benihana founder Rocky Aoki, and he or she is the niece of DJ Steve Aoki). She was a part of an ensemble of supermodels to grace the quilt of the enduring September Vogue subject, and in April, she was the primary Asian curve mannequin to land the quilt of Vogue Japan.
“It’s wonderful. I’m on cloud 9. That is nothing I may put together for. It’s surprising. I really feel like we’re in a spot proper now the place persons are making area for extra range on journal covers. It’s an enormous time for Asian-American folks in media. I do know I play an enormous position in illustration in physique range and race range, and I like to be a job mannequin and consultant of the plus-size Asian neighborhood.”
Born in New Jersey, Nu moved to Maryland as a tot, and at 14, her household went out to California, the place she attended highschool. As a younger baby, she began her profession in entrance of the digicam, however the first stint was fleeting.
“My mother had expertise in industrial modeling, so once we lived in New Jersey, she would take me to do some youngsters catalogs. If you end up a toddler and screaming and crying, you don't have any sense of self management. She knew I wasn’t having fun with it,” mentioned Nu.
The wonder returned to modeling when she was 12, the identical age she began singing classes. By 15, she was writing her personal songs and realistically noticed her future within the music world.
“I wasn’t positive the place the [modeling] trade was headed. I believe I used to be a dimension 10 then, and the one folks working had been both a dimension 2 or a dimension 14. I actually had my sights set on music, however then the trade left extra room for me to be part of it. As soon as the tendencies of inclusion stumbled on us, it was simpler for me to make a dwelling and a profession out of it. It was like, ‘Oh, there are such a lot of prospects, and there are not any bounds on what anybody can do now,’ ” she mentioned.
She is fast to credit score Ashley Graham and Sports activities Illustrated for fostering that seismic shift. In 2016, Graham landed the quilt, shattering norms and opening the door for a wide range of physique shapes to take middle stage.
“Her SI cowl modified so many individuals’s lives, and I believe it modified the trade as a result of you may have this legendary publication placing its first curve mannequin on the quilt,” she mentioned, including that Hunter McGrady has additionally served as an inspiration.
However Nu doesn’t must look past her household tree for perception and assist, notably her mom’s sister, Devon Aoki.
“She has a cult following and shall be a basic mannequin for the remainder of time. She has actually helped me this yr now that I'm working with numerous greater names, like Steven Meisel. She has helped me keep grounded and bear in mind why I'm doing what I'm doing.”
On Friday she can be releasing her EP, “Hajime,” which is Japanese for “the start.”
However as Nu is multitasking in each the music and modeling world, she is trying ahead to a break, which incorporates lounging and episodes of Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie.”
“I don’t assume hustle tradition is one thing I wish to promote,” she mentioned. “I wish to get pleasure from life.”
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