Fresh-faced beauties? You bet. For our November cover story, we’re featuring not one, but two, gorgeous models from the latest cast of Asian modelling competition, Supermodel Me, who have obviously risen to the occasion by serving us look after look in our beauty spread — all sweet, yet feisty, and everything in between.
Now officially NYLON Singapore cover stars, Hannah Cheng-Bradshaw and Melanie Jane Fernandez are more than eager to share about their journeys and the lessons they’ve gained, as part of the sixth season of the high-profile modelling competition. True enough, in between takes, they delightfully regale tales of fending off fierce competition and enduring gruelling physical challenges, whether these involved literally lifting 45kg tyres off the ground, or shoving aside happy commercial smiles in favour of high fashion’s edgier profiles.
Yet, it would be a lie to say that they delivered every time — they didn’t — which is something the girls aren’t shy to admit. “I always wanted to be in control,” shares Hannah. “Thankfully, I learned that there’s a certain beauty that comes with not being in control of everything at every point in time; not only did I become a better model but I began to trust myself and have faith in myself in ways I never thought I could.”
And that’s the thing isn’t it — beauty goes beyond a pretty face. Hearing from each of them sheds light on the all-too-real journey towards being a model, the often more messy process of becoming one, not just the glossy, perfect image we’re accustomed to seeing on magazine spreads and campaign posters. Beyond the glitzy facade, the most valuable lessons of confidence and self-belief were something they had to learn along the way, and they’re here to tell us just how it is.
MAKEUP (laura mercier) —
on melanie: Tinted Moisturizer Oil Free spf 20 PA+++ in 3w1 bisque, $77
on hannah: Tinted Moisturizer SPF 30 PA+++ in 2w1, $77
on both:
translucent loose setting powder, $70
roseglow caviar stick eye colour in rose thorn, $49
Rouge Essentiel Silky Crème Lipstick in Brun Pâle, $40
Melanie shares of having to embrace vulnerability, all while on screen, which was something she never thought she’d had to do before the televised series. “I hate people seeing me cry,” she says, “I thought it made me look weak, but it’s actually the complete opposite. Being in the competition taught me that vulnerability is actually a sign of courage because we become more resilient and brave when we embrace who we truly are and what we are feeling. It allowed me to be my most authentic self.” As a tanned-skinned model, she also opens up about the reality of an industry which, when she started out at 18, wasn’t as open to diversity as it is now.
While exuberant on set, Hannah, who had been scouted since she was just 7 years old, tells of the brutal nature of the industry, her words, not ours: “You’ll hear hundreds of ‘no’s and you have to understand that sometimes you’re just not fit for the part, or the client is looking for something else. But if you take every ‘no’ as a setback, it can really hinder your growth, how you see yourself, and your confidence.” She talks about having to develop grit and perseverance while receiving constant rejection — which is made that much tougher since models book jobs because of the way they look, hardly in spite of it.
The relationship between how one looks, and their sense of self-worth, then becomes dangerously entwined; throw in having to build confidence in an environment that demands of it so relentlessly, one where you’re required to peddle it even, and you start to get a glimpse of a models’ not-so-enviable life. Both 21-year-olds carry this burden with admirable maturity though. You see this self-assurance both in front of the camera and behind it; the fire in their eyes, frame after frame, and an equal tenacity when the cameras are turned off, of simmering passion within.
“Other people’s successes are not your own failures — and that’s something you’ll have to realise to succeed in this industry,” says Hannah. “Constantly comparing yourself to others will only bring you down; grow your confidence and be proud of yourself.” Melanie also echoes the same sentiment, “My biggest takeaway from the competition was to focus on myself, not on what other people think, and to know that I am enough.”
PHOTOGRAPHED BY ADELE CHAN USING THE LEICA M10-R + SUMMILUX-M 35MM F/1.4 ASPH LENS.
MAKEUP BY dewi mahoney USING laura mercier.
HAIR BY DEN NG.
ON JOINING SUPERMODEL ME
Melanie Jane Fernandez: “Ever since I could remember, modelling was always my dream. I’ve watched the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, like, a hundred times, as well as any modelling reality shows that were on TV, and was always intrigued at the models’ poses, as well as their before and after photos. Watching those always felt like a calling to me, a voice in my head saying ‘Try it!’. I felt that the show was able to give me a platform to launch my career and to be able to model internationally. I also hope to be an inspiration to other young girls watching, to never be afraid to dream big, no matter how big the dream is; I want to remind them to always be fearless in the pursuit of what sets their soul on fire.”
Hannah Cheng-Bradshaw: “I love taking on new challenges and experiences. Although I’ve been modelling for a number of years now, I’ve often felt ‘stuck’ doing the same commercial and e-commerce jobs. This was the perfect opportunity to test my capabilities in all aspects of modelling and to gain new knowledge, experience, and adventure. Truly, a once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity that I did not want to miss.”
THE CHALLENGES THEY FACED DURING THE COMPETITION
Melanie: “The first few weeks were actually the most challenging part of the competition for me. It was really tough because everything was new to me; having cameras follow you 24/7 was so strange, while being in a group of girls with such big personalities was pretty intimidating — and that’s coming from an extrovert. There was also the pressure of having to stand out. There are just some days that I won’t be up to it, some days when I just want to be quiet and stay in my bubble, but I felt I can’t do that because then I’d be ‘boring’ and forgettable.
However, I soon got used to it and started being confident about opening up and showing who Melanie really is. I made a best friend from the show as well, Prisca, who was representing Malaysia, and she really helped me open up. I had someone I could trust, to go to when I was stressed or sad or happy, and I’m so grateful for her.”
Hannah: “During the early stages of the competition, my mind really was on overdrive. I was constantly overthinking about upcoming photoshoots, trying to fixate and plan everything down to the nail, and simply worrying when I didn’t need to at all! When you’re up against such strong competitors, it’s only natural you will have some level of self-doubt.
Quickly, I realised that this constant kind of comparison is exactly what sends you spiralling out of control — and that was just it. I always wanted to be in control. Thankfully, I learned that there’s a certain beauty that comes with not being in control of everything at every point in time; not only did I become a better model but I began to trust myself and have faith in myself in ways I never thought I could.”
MAKEUP (laura mercier) —
translucent loose setting powder, $70
caviar stick eye colours in plum, $49
Rouge Essentiel Silky Crème Lipstick in Brun Pâle, $40
WHAT THEY LEARNT ALONG THE WAY
Hannah: “While I could easily list the many lessons I learned about modelling during my time in the competition, my biggest takeaway is simply this: focus on yourself, and don’t compare yourself to others. To anyone, in any way, even if it’s your own sister! At the end of the day, everyone is on their own journey, learning their own lessons and hitting their own milestones. When you constantly compare yourself and your capabilities to someone else, you end up losing focus of your own strengths and your own journey that you’re on.
Going into this, there was definitely a level of pressure on me given that my older, much more-experienced sister, Aimee, was also in a modelling competition as well (and of course, earned herself 2nd runner-up). With that said, I definitely wanted to do well. However, the comparison game in my head had to stop — with her, and with everyone else in the competition. To constantly compare is to damage your own sense of self, and I knew that in order to truly accomplish my goals, I had to gear my energy towards seeing my own strengths, qualities, and talents that make me, me.”
Melanie: “Being in a competition with all these gorgeous girls, you can’t help but compare yourself sometimes. In fact, in the first episode, I was one of the few girls that went last, and being in that position, so many poses I had in mind had already been done by the girls that went before me. It made me panic because I really wanted to stand out, be different, and show creativity, but instead of focusing on myself and being confident, I was too fixated on what other people might think. I had forgotten to actually focus on myself, and landed in the bottom three that week.
After that initial stumble though, I told myself over and over, through every photoshoot challenge, that it doesn’t matter what the other girls before me had done, I can add my own flair to it. Once I changed my mindset, everything started to fall into place for me. I didn’t overthink every single detail, and I remembered to have fun and be in the moment. My biggest takeaway was to focus on myself, not on what other people think, and to know that I am enough.”
MAKEUP (laura mercier) —
Secret Camouflage Brighten & Correct Duo in 1c, 1w, and 3w, $49
translucent loose setting powder, $70
Rouge Essentiel Silky Crème Lipstick in Beige intime, $40
A MODEL HAS TO HAVE…
Hannah: “This industry is definitely a bit brutal at times, so you need to have perseverance. You’ll hear hundreds of ‘no’s and you have to understand that sometimes, you’re just not fit for the part, or the client is looking for something else. But if you take every ‘no’ as a setback, it can really hinder your growth, how you see yourself and your confidence. It’s about having grit, and knowing that you have to be a little thick-skinned and take criticism well — take it in, internalise it, but don’t take it to heart because every thing that comes your way is meant to help you become a better model, and to grow as a person as well. It’s quite tough when the only thing to judge are your looks — because that’s the job, your face is your work —so you just have to not let the inevitable negativity get to you and affect your confidence.”
Melanie: “Confidence. It’s a harsh industry because you’re getting your jobs based on how you look; It’s not personal if you don’t get the job, but you might feel like it’s your fault. There are a lot of critiques as well, like you should lose weight, change your hairstyle, but if you’re sure that this is who you are, then you’ll be able to book the jobs you want. You’ll also need to have passion in this industry because there are going to be a lot of ‘no’s — you will probably get 90% ‘no’s and 10% ‘yes’, and if you don’t have the passion, you may not be able to conquer all the ‘no’s to succeed.”
ON GAINING THAT CONFIDENCE
Hannah: “You really cannot compare yourself to others. And I know I can say this because everyone always compares me to my sister, Aimee! As people, we’re different, and as models, we’re different as well. We go for castings for the same role, and one of us won’t get it. The whole point of confidence in yourself is knowing that you have attributes that make you, you. That’s what will make you stand out as a person on your own. Other people’s successes are not your own failures — and that’s something you’ll have to realise to succeed in this industry. Constantly comparing yourself to others will only bring you down; grow your confidence and be proud of yourself. I really know it firsthand!”
Melanie: For me, I didn’t start off as young as other models did. I was already 18, so I knew myself and was already confident of who I was. And confidence is so important! I am confident, but there are obviously some days that I’ll feel out of it. Even if it’s your saddest day though, you still have to power through a shoot.”
THE MOST SURPRISING PART ABOUT MODELLING IS…
Melanie: “It’s not all glamorous! What you see on screen, even for the show, is just 10 seconds of what’s going on. We can be filming for hours and hours. In fact, we had to do all the shots we did at least 3 or 4 times, multiple times, and exactly the same as the first time too, no matter how tired you were.
Before the show, I had only ever done e-commerce and commercial modelling as well, so in the first episode, when they challenged us to pose in lingerie while being hung on a hammock, it was crazy. We also only had 10 minutes for each photo challenge, so there’s really no room for mistakes. The first episode really set the tone for the competition, and I was surprised at how hard modelling can actually be. You need to be calm under pressure for you to be able to think of the next set of poses to do, and also look your most beautiful self, because if you’re panicking, the face shows it all. The amount of hard work to get that perfect shot is astounding.”
Hannah: “The world of modelling has changed; this new era of modelling requires models to be well-rounded, both physically and mentally. While many may think that the physical aspect is the toughest part, staying strong in your own mind is what truly unlocks your greatest potential.
I think the modelling industry has also changed for the good. The criteria for being a model isn’t just a pretty face, it’s about having a uniqueness, and nowadays, the industry embraces that in different ways, whether you might have birthmarks, or odd features. People love weird. Beauty standards are constantly changing, and finally, in 2021, people are accepting that humans are all different and not everybody has the same body type or beauty standards, so it’s great to see that kind of diversity opening up.”
MAKEUP (laura mercier) —
blush colour infusion in strawberry, and rosÉ, $49
roseglow caviar stick eye colour in strike a rose, and forbidden rose, $49
translucent loose setting powder – light catcher in celestial light, $70
Rouge Essentiel Silky Crème Lipstick in rouge ultime, $40
HER START IN MODELLING
Hannah: “I modelled as a child, so I did my first print ad when I was 3 years old, for a shoe store in China. In Singapore though, I’ve known the modelling agent I’m with today since I was 7 years old. My older sister Aimee was scouted one day when we were just walking around in Plaza Singapura, and then brought us to the head booker at the time, Bonita, our agent to this day. She took a look at Aimee, who was a tall, lanky 13-year-old girl, and looked at Ella and I, and went, okay, I’ll take you all in! It’s definitely something I’m grateful for because I’m not sure where I’d be today if it wasn’t for meeting my agent. We’ve worked together for 13 years now!
I didn’t really become serious until I went to university in London, and ended up coming back here a year and a half in because of the pandemic. I became, probably, one of the biggest e-commerce girls here because I was working almost every single day doing catalogue shoots, sometimes twice a day, for months on end.”
MODELLING ’40 OUTFITS IN 60 MINUTES’
Hannah: “I said that during the Supermodel Me intro, and it’s true! I still remember that it was a full-day e-commerce job. I was the only model on set, and they had to finish all their looks on that day; we had ran overtime and they still had a full rack of clothes left. The only thing that got me through it was keeping track of how many outfits I could get through. It was like, change, and style, fix your hair, add on a bag, and shoot. I remember that I would take a sip of water every five outfits. It was a bit of a “factory” moment for me, but yeah, the ins and outs of modelling.”
ON HOW THE SHOW PORTRAYED HER AS A ‘PERFECTIONIST’
Hannah: “Honestly, I wouldn’t say that I am. But I would say that I’m very hard on myself, and set very high expectations for myself, not just modelling but in every aspect of my life, in fitness or in my studies, I only ever want to pursue the best and to be my best. Actually, now it does sound like I’m a perfectionist! [laughs] But it’s because I set really high goals for myself and want to achieve them, and having a goal in mind and working towards it is the best mindset you can have. But! Perfectionists, normally, if they fail, it’s very hard on them. I take failure as part of the learning process, I think it’s okay to do something and to fail, rather than to not have taken the opportunity first.
Last year, I decided to run a marathon with my dad. We trained for 12 weeks and halfway through, I had a bad fall mid-run and ended up losing three modelling jobs because I couldn’t cover up the injury. So I was thinking, is this really worth it? The training was getting tougher, I was losing jobs because of this hobby, but I made a commitment to achieving this, and even though there may be literal setbacks that get you on the floor, you have to take that as an opportunity to reshape the situation into something that will drive you to push further. I just took it as a learning experience to watch where I step and to do even better in my training, moving forward. And yes I finished it! I still can’t believe I did that now!”
MAKEUP (laura mercier) —
blush colour infusion in strawberry, and rosÉ, $49
roseglow caviar stick eye colour in strike a rose, and forbidden rose, $49
translucent loose setting powder – light catcher in celestial light, $70
Rouge Essentiel Silky Crème Lipstick in rouge ultime, $40
HER START IN MODELLING
Melanie: “I started when I joined a modelling competition here in Singapore, The New Paper New Face in 2018. I won First Runner Up, and I was 18 then, and ended up modelling part-time with another modelling agency. I then decided to join Basic Models’ open casting in 2020, and am now with them! I’m more experienced in commercial and e-commerce shoots, not so much high-fashion ones, so the show really opened my mind to what I haven’t tried as a model.”
ON DIVERSITY AND BEING A TANNED-SKINNED MODEL
Melanie: “Before, diversity wasn’t a big thing in Singapore, but now, it’s getting more inclusive — more local brands are using tan-skinned models as well, and I’ve worked with catalogues including Zalora and LOVET.
When I first started in 2018 though, there wasn’t as much opportunities as there are now. I wouldn’t really book blogshops at all, and it was just commercials where I felt I had to play the token minority. Now that international runways and campaigns are so inclusive though, people are taking inspiration from that; it’s definitely happening in Asia, and I hope there will be more changes in the years to come.
Still, even then, I knew I wanted to be a model in the long run, and ever since I was a little girl, so I knew that I just had to push forward. And I can be the bearer of change as well, so if one brand uses me, then other brands might feel the same too; it’s like a domino effect. People do say like, it’s really great seeing more diversity now because I can relate to you. With the show and the exposure from it, I feel that I have a platform, a voice, to tell people about the things I believe in, which includes diversity. Not just skin colour, but body types as well. I was an athlete before, a member of Singapore’s National Youth Volleyball team, so I don’t think I have the model build.”
HOW THE SHOW HAD BROUGHT OUT AN UNEXPECTED SIDE OF HER
Melanie: “I’m actually a really strong and independent woman, someone who doesn’t like to show much emotion — and I hate people seeing me cry! However, the show taught me how to be vulnerable, how it is okay for people to see you be with different kinds of emotions because we’re human after all. Even in the first episode, you see me shed a few tears, which honestly really shocked me because I never ever cry in front of people, not even my boyfriend or closest friends. I hated showing vulnerability because I thought it made me look weak, but it’s actually the complete opposite. Being in the competition taught me that vulnerability is a sign of courage, because we become more resilient and brave when we embrace who we truly are and what we are feeling. It allowed me to be my most authentic self.“
FOLLOW HANNAH and MELANIE ON INSTAGRAM.
the latest season of supermodel me airs every monday, 7.55pm on AXN ASIA, and is available for free streaming on tuesday, 9.00PM SGT on iQIYI. More info at supermodelme.tv.
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