Connie Chiu (born 1969) is a
fashion model
A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...
and jazz musician known for being the world's first fashion model with
albinism
Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino.
Varied use and interpretation of the term ...
.
Chiu was born in
British Hong Kong and grew up in
Kowloon.
The congenital absence of pigmentation in her skin and hair, makes them sensitive to the sun. To avoid Chiu's exposure to Hong Kong's intensive sun, her family moved to
Sweden when she was seven years old.
Connie Chiu was first introduced to modeling at age 21, when her sister asked her to become a model at one of her final shows.
After sending a black-and-white photograph to French fashion designer
Jean-Paul Gaultier
Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 April 1952) is a French haute couture and prêt-à-porter fashion designer. He is described as an " enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs including corset ...
, he invited her to model at his autumn/winter 1994 show.
At age 25, Chiu began modeling for
fashion photographer
Fashion photography is a genre of photography which is devoted to displaying clothing and other fashion items, sometimes haute couture. It typically consists of a fashion photographer taking a picture of a dressed model in a photographic studio ...
s such as
Terry Richardson
Terrence Richardson (born August 14, 1965) is an American fashion and portrait photographer. He has shot advertising campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Aldo, Supreme, Sisley, Tom Ford, and Yves Saint Laurent among others, and also done work for ma ...
,
Paul Burley,
Heidi Niemala and
Morten Smidt.
Chiu later studied
journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...
.
Chiu starred in the music video for the single "Stalker" by
Recoil
Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, as according to Newton's third law the force r ...
, the solo project of
Depeche Mode member
Alan Wilder
Alan Charles Wilder (born 1 June 1959) is an English musician, composer, arranger, record producer and former member of the electronic band Depeche Mode from 1982 to 1995. Since his departure from the band, the musical project called Recoil b ...
.
References
External links
Connie Chiu official website*
1969 births
Living people
People with albinism
Hong Kong female models
Swedish female models
Chinese female models
Chinese emigrants to Sweden
Hong Kong emigrants to Sweden
{{Sweden-bio-stub