We all buy clothes, but no two people buy the same. It can be a social experience, as well as a deeply personal one; at times, it can be impulsive and exciting, at others, purpose-driven, hard work. Where do you shop? When do you buy? How do you decide what you need, how much to spend and what is “you”? These are some of the questions we ask celebrities in our “How I Shop” column.
Here is a fun fact about Anok Yai: He is an artist. Yes, as he sits in front of the canvas and paints. There’s a catch, though: “Girl, I’m one of the slowest artists I know,” she said with a laugh on a video call. “I always need someone to be like, ‘Go paint, paint, paint.’
But to give him some grace, heis somethingone of the hottest models in the business right now. The supermodel has fronted almost every top designer, including Gucci, Chanel, Lanvin, Coperni, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Versace, Fendi and counting. Featured in Marc Jacobs, Acne Studios, Jacquemus, Ferragamo and Alaïa campaigns and front coversVogue, iD, WagainV.
In the past few years, Yai has also been busy as an ambassador for Mugler Fragrances. Recently, he starred in the campaign for Alien Pulp – a project featuring the brand’s new fragrance – for which he made a splash.’ To be able to play in the water and be a woman and be sensual and be presented in a way that I would really like was really fulfilling,” she said.
While her budding art career may be on hold, Yai has found other ways to express her creative side, from campaign collaborations to styling. “As a model, your job is to take these characters that are given to you by fashion designers, and put them into yourself,” he said. “He’s basically a different person in each job. So my job has allowed me to try every character until I find one that I like.”
Ahead, Yai shares her current beauty favorites, the runway moment that changed her career path, her most coveted fashion buys and more.
“I love the vampire vibe. My vampire has always been a bit dark and a bit dark, but now it’s a vampire at night. She’s cute, she works hard, but she doesn’t try too hard.
“I really like women’s clothing, but I also like clothes to have a bit of an edge to them, whether it’s black leather or soft silks. I really like to play with materials. In terms of colors, I like neutrals. I hate neon.
“I like my red carpets to be a collaboration between the designer and my stylist. And I try different things. During the Time100 Gala, I was styled by Terrence Munn and he put me in this Ashi Studio couture look (above). It was a green crocodile dress. It wasn’t a real crocodile – don’t let PETA play too different colors and look too different. And I like to push the envelope as much as possible.
“My red carpet look at the moment was my last Met Gala look. When I found out about the theme, my first reaction was, ‘I have to be a model.’ When I explained the look to my team and the designer, they looked at me confused like, ‘[You want] prostheses and brass, tears of gold?’ They’re like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I told them, ‘I promise if we do it right, it will be crazy.’ So we took a chance. Then I got the prosthetics and hair and makeup teams to do it. When I did my fitting and showed the designer a full makeup look with the dress, he was very excited, and it was one of my happiest Mets I’ve done.
“I will not lie my love [runway look] it was when I did Mugler [Spring 2024] (below). I was wearing a mask, the runway had wind machines and I was wearing a corset that was brown and black underneath. When we were doing the sizing, the Mugler team was like, ‘Yo, this is going to be a moment.’ But I didn’t realize how much of an impact that moment would have on fashion and especially on my career. I feel like that was a turning point for me, when I felt like I went from being a model to amodel,and that made me really happy.
“I hate shopping in person. I can’t wait. I don’t like looking for clothes and trying to see if there’s anything there. I like when I see something online, and then I try to find it. I get nervous when I look for things and end up not finding anything. I’m like, ‘Oh, I just wasted the whole day looking for something.’ I wouldn’t say I’m strictly an online shopper or an in-person shopper. I’m a shopper who says if I see something, I want it, and I’ll find a way to get it.
“I don’t really shop for products at the moment. I made a complete Pinterest board, and I shop for colors. I want the perfect blue, like blue – not too dark, not too light. The board has a lot of laces, tights, long boots and really shaped bags. And I like heels that have something – like all my clothes – unusual about it.
“I went to Venice and there was this small, beautiful boutique that I saw with a lot of corsets. I went in, they made me a custom corset, and it’s all lace. I’m waiting for the right moment to wear it. [The designer] put crystals on all of them. So it looks like it’s raining on the corset. That is one of my favorite pieces.
“What trend do I want to put on this summer? I’m playing with my hair. I’m trying to find the perfect shade of black tips and Auburn hair.
“I remember before I started modeling or before I got into fashion in general, I was always watching Mugler fashion show videos… The whole world of Mugler was so interesting to me that I was obsessed with it. Then I started modeling; we all model, we talked all day, and I was like, ‘I’m trying to get the Mugler look. I’m going to get Mugler.’ So when I heard that I was going to be an ambassador, I can’t even put into words how happy I was.
“When I smelled Alien Pulp, I was so excited because I was like, ‘This is going to be my official summer scent.’ It has a lot of fruity and floral notes, so it’s really fresh and you feel like it’s sparkling when you wear it. But the notes are sensual enough that you can balance between day and night.
“I want to do more in creative direction and create great sites where I’m art-directed. And then, I really, really want my artwork to be connected to fashion in some way.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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