Anya Ayoung-Chee is a Trinidadian host,

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

and beauty pageant titleholder. She was

Miss Universe Trinidad and Tobago Miss Universe Trinidad and Tobago is a national beauty pageant held annually since 1963, a year after Trinidad and Tobago's independence from the United Kingdom. The contest is meant to select a suitable delegate from both islands to compete in ...

2008 and was a contestant in the

Miss Universe 2008 Miss Universe 2008 was the 57th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Crown Convention Center in Nha Trang, Vietnam on July 14, 2008. This was the first time that the Miss Universe pageant was broadcast in 1080i High-definition. At the end of t ...

pageant. She was the winner of ''

Project Runway ''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design. It was created by Eli Holzman and was hosted by Heidi Klum from 2004 to 2017. It has a varied airi ...

''s ninth season in 2011. She founded the fashion lines Anya de Rouge and Pilar and the online fashion retailer cANYAval.

Early life

Anya Ayoung-Chee was born to Trinidadian parents in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

but moved to

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

at the age of two; she therefore holds dual

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The population of Trinidad is notably diverse, with approximately 35% Indo-Trinidadian, 34% ...

and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

citizenship. She is the only daughter in a family of eight. From an early age she pursued classical ballet training. During her attendance at an all-girls secondary school,

St. Joseph's Convent, Port of Spain St. Joseph's Convent, Port of Spain is a government-assisted all-girls Catholic school, Roman Catholic secondary school in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. It was founded in 1836 by Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny, and is the oldest continuous ...

, that she became passionate about art and design. She continued her education in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, studying graphic and interior design at

Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...

and Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design. She remained in New York until 2007, when her brother Pilar died. She then returned home to Trinidad.

Miss Universe Trinidad & Tobago

Following her return to Trinidad, Ayoung-Chee entered the 2008 Miss Universe competition and won the title of Miss Universe Trinidad & Tobago. She is the second title Miss Universe Trinidad & Tobago in the franchise's 44-year history to be of

Chinese descent Overseas Chinese people are people of Chinese origin who reside outside Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. As of 2023, there were 10.5 million people livin ...

. When asked, "Is your Asian heritage an issue since you represent a country with an overwhelming African and Indian heritage?" Ayoung-Chee replied, "Trinidad & Tobago is unique in its ethnic make-up because it is a country with people of all races. I am of mixed origin, mainly Chinese, Indian and Caucasian, and although my particular mixture is a minority, I represent the unusual combination of ethnicities that defines us as a people." Following her success as Miss Universe Trinidad & Tobago, Ayoung-Chee went on to host a number of Caribbean television and web-based shows, including her own fashion show, ''Make It Yours''. Ayoung-Chee had been involved in philanthropy since 2003, when she became a member of the TallMan Foundation. The foundation was established by her family for the empowerment of young people in underprivileged areas. Following her Miss Trinidad & Tobago title, she became more involved in charitable work. In 2008 the United Nations Association of Trinidad & Tobago (UNATT) asked Ayoung-Chee and

Gabrielle Walcott Gabrielle Walcott (born 26 June 1984) is a Trinidadian artist, model, charity worker and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Trinidad and Tobago 2008 and placed as the second runner-up in Miss World 2008. She is also titleholder of Miss Wo ...

to be spokeswomen and champions for the group. They both served during their reigns as Miss T&T, and continue as members of UNATT, the NGO arm of the United Nations which aims to advocate for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and the

Millennium Development Goals In the United Nations, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 created following the Millennium Summit, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. These w ...

Fashion designer

During the Miss Universe pageant, Ayoung-Chee brought her design training and experience to her own wardrobe, most of which she designed and styled, and she decided to become a fashion designer as a result. She auditioned for and was accepted as a contestant on

Season 9 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

of the

television show ''

'' in 2011. Ayoung-Chee had experience creating designs, but her tailoring had been done by others. Despite learning to sew only four months before auditioning for the program, she placed in the top three of most of the

challenges Challenge may refer to: * Voter challenging or caging (voter suppression), caging, a method of challenging the registration status of voters * Euphemism for disability * Peremptory challenge, a dismissal of potential jurors from jury duty Law ...

, and eventually won the competition on October 27, 2011. Ayoung-Chee earned $100,000 from L'Oreal Paris to begin her own women's line, Pilar—named after her deceased brother. She also was featured in a fashion spread in ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women aro ...

'' and received a $50,000 technology suite by HP and

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

with which to design and sell merchandise, as well as a partnership with Piperlime.com. She was also voted the fan favorite in a Twitter contest, for which she received another $10,000. Ayoung-Chee continued to design for Pilar and also founded a lingerie line, Anya de Rouge. In 2014 she appeared on reality show ''

Under the Gunn ''Under the Gunn'' (also known as ''Project Runway: Under the Gunn'') is an American reality competition series that premiered January 16, 2014, on Lifetime. Production of the series began in November 2013, with the finale filmed on December 17 ...

'', working with

Tim Gunn Timothy MacKenzie Gunn (born July 29, 1953) is an American author, academic, and television personality. He served on the faculty of Parsons School of Design from 1982 to 2007 and was chair of fashion design at the school from August 2000 to March ...

to mentor other designers. She has hosted events and produced fashion for Trinidad's carnival, and has founded online store cANYAval, where she works with other designers creating clothing inspired by Trinidad's carnival. The store focuses on Monday Wear, or elaborate bathing suits worn on the day before carnival Tuesday. She is also a travel ambassador for Trinidad and Tobago. In 2019, Ayoung-Chee competed in Season 7 of ''

Project Runway All Stars ''Project Runway All Stars'' is an American reality television series, and a spin-off of ''Project Runway'', featuring returning designers competing for grand prizes. Angela Lindvall and Carolyn Murphy have each hosted one season before Alyssa M ...

'', that featured a cast of previous winners. She placed 10th overall.

Personal life

Ayoung-Chee met her longtime boyfriend

Wyatt Gallery Wyatt Gallery is an American photographer. Early life and education Born in Philadelphia, he now lives between New York City and Trinidad & Tobago. Gallery graduated high school from the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia in 1993. ...

in 2006 at Trinidad carnival. The two became engaged in 2015. The couple married in January 2018, and their son Kaïri Pilar Gallery was born on July 3, 2018. In September 2021, their daughter Aya Charlotte Gallery was born.

References

External links

MissUniverse.com - delegates 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayoung-Chee, Anya Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of Central Saint Martins Miss Universe 2008 contestants Trinidad and Tobago female models Trinidad and Tobago people of Chinese descent Project Runway (American series) participants Project Runway (American series) Mentors American emigrants to Trinidad and Tobago American people of Trinidad and Tobago descent Reality show winners American fashion designers of Chinese descent American people of Hakka descent American women fashion designers American fashion designers Fashion designers from New York City People educated at St. Joseph's Convent, Port of Spain