Who is Sasha Belyaeva? Mid last year, the 18-year-old Moscow native earned a profile in US Vogue after walking in Chanel’s F/W ’16 haute couture show. By October, she had added some of the industry’s buzziest cult labels to her runway repertoire – Y/Project, Rodarte and No. 21 to name a few. There was the Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda Spring 2017 show in January, another feat for a newbie, and since then… not much.
The biggest name she walked for in F/W ’17 was Yohji Yamamoto, who tends to favour unconventional, unknown faces. This lull on the modelling front, however, could just make way for something much louder: a career as the next big pop/folk chanteuse.
Pixie-faced with sea-green saucer eyes, bee-stung lips, and lush locks dyed recently “to match (her) eye colour”, Belyaeva is at once coquettish, feminine and indie cool. It might explain the diversity of
brands she’s worked with. Her first love, however, remains music.
Classically trained in violin until a hearing problem at age 15 made it hard for her to pursue it as a career, she’s since switched over to the guitar, learning chords online and filming herself crooning soulfully for Youtube. Apparently, producers and a representative from Universal in Milan have already come calling.
Influenced by post-punk acts like PJ Harvey and Joy Division, she points out that what she ultimately wants is not worldwide recognition. “I don’t need to be popular,” she says. “The most important thing
is that my music should make people feel like I understand them and touch them. I don’t want to write dance music.”
Photography Chuck Reyes Photography Assistant Aleksandra Adamczyk Styling Dylan Moulin Creative Direction Noelle Loh Hair Sayaka Otama Makeup Jay Kwan Model Sasha Belyaeva/Women Management Paris Studio Studio Pin-Up, Paris
This story first appeared in Female’s May 2017 issue.
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