Gwen Lu is now strutting the runway under the management of Major Models Management in New York, City Models in Paris, View Management in Spain, D Models in Greece and Bravo Models in Tokyo, Japan. It was not a “bed of roses” during her early attempts to enter the industry as they were nothing but disappointments. Lu finally got her big break when she won the Elite Model Look competition in 2005 and represented Malaysia at the international round in Shanghai. She has not looked back since. She is a Scorpio, “I DESIRE” is her motto. She is intensely emotional and strongly aware of the darker side of human nature. She does not live life on its surface. She experiences life at its deepest levels. She posses an iron will and an unique personal magnetism. LIFE IS A NEW CHALLENGE EVERYDAY Lu has been through many difficulties from the day she decided to venture modeling as her career till now; traveling to so many places all by herself is not an easy task. From daily chores like budget planning, expenses and accommodation; to work-related issues like finding representative agencies in different countries, the initiative to attend the "casting marathon" during fashion week, getting rejected from clients, last minute notification of jobs; and also the visa issue that she has to deal with annually. Lu has learnt to prepare herself to face the greatest challenge that might come anytime. That's why she says life is a new challenge everyday. From all the challenges, she has learnt to be more thoughtful. “My sweetest memory was sipping coffee and writing Christmas Greeting Cards with my best friend in my favorite cafe in East Village. I wrote 80 cards for friends around the world during the weekend after Thanksgiving Day. Among my most memorable experiences is working together with Peter Lindbergh, and having my summer vacations in beautiful Greek islands. The bad experience was having bed bugs when I moved in to my new apartment.” From her point of view, the process that a model has to go through in order to be in a show is pretty much the same everywhere she has been to, apart from Malaysia. “Every model has to go through the process of meeting the casting director/show producer then the short-listed ones will see the designer/client for another round of casting, and then attending a fitting before getting confirmed for a job. But in Malaysia, agency is usually the show producer, so as long as a model is contracted with one agency, he/she will be doing all the shows that the agency runs. This is not fair for other models from different agencies, and reduces the chance of model to get more diverse jobs. For the clients, it is less flexible, as they might like to work with different faces,” commented by Lu. The best designer that she had ever worked with was Alber Elbaz. Lu walked for Lanvin 100th Anniversary show in Tokyo. “Elbaz brings fluidity, color, practically & a soaring kind of simplicity to his dresses. The designer that I wish to work with is Givenchy. Givenchy is a great cast. Riccardo Tisci is influential, the atmosphere of his show is very melancholic, romanticism and sensual.” The things that Lu wants to achieve in life are Peace & Health and to be able to live like that. Well, she does not dream to become a supermodel. To Lu, if it happens, it happens. Peace is equal to World Peace, so every human beings can live in a harmony world; Health is equal to have a strong body, so she can keep doing what she is doing. Her principle in life is live like there is no tomorrow and treat people like how you want to be treated. FASHION IS LUXURY; STYLE IS ALL ABOUT YOURSELF “My fashion style is deconstructed, especially detailed, and M.O.D.S. (model off duty style). My favorite designers are Comme des Garçons, Maison Martin Margiela, Yohji Yamamoto, Viktor & Rolf, Issey Miyake, Helmut Lang, and Alexander Wang. I like to pair loose drapy pants with cut-out tops and a pair of statement shoes. Sometimes I put myself in vintage and nerdy look. I love silk, leather, Rayban sunglasses, Doc Martens boots, pale skin, and bleached eyebrows.” In order to achieve an equilibrium, she likes busy and laid-back lifestyle. “I am a greedy traveler, but I somehow slowed down my traveling-pace last year, as I would like to allocate more time for my career. I would really love to visit Rhodes & Symi (South of Greece), having this desire after reading a book.” She said that stress is when she meets a dead end road. She releases stress by buying herself a present during her downtime, or going to pamper herself in a spa. Lu does not look at what it’s going to happen to her in next five years. “We never know what will happen even for the next second. I do not believe in fortune telling and believe in doing my best for right now. My new year resolution is to shoot 365 rolls of film.” Source: www.xaviermah.com/2011/01/malaysia-supermodel-gwen-i-desire.html