Sebastian Lee versions for Montbell Korea.
Sebastian Lee, a mounting senior at St. John’s University, is not your regular teenager. Though for most of his buddies summer break could mean relatives holidays or other leisurely social functions, for Lee it signifies flying to South Korea to design.
The 17-year-aged is the next youngest product signed to Morph Administration, a modeling company primarily based in Seoul, and has been modeling for two several years. He does commercials and tasks that incorporate makeup, trend and garments brands like Montbell.
Sebastian Lee donning grey shades of Montbell Korea clothing.
Scouted
Lee remembers his mother Stephanie Heo encouraging him to stroll like a model just in situation he were to be scouted in South Korea. He also considered modeling would be a wonderful addition to his resume.
“In hindsight, it was a thing quite shallow, but then I understood just after I did my 1st work, it was way more challenging than I expected,” Lee mentioned.
Sebastian Lee wearing Montbell Korea’s plaid lengthy-sleeve shirt with a gentle eco-friendly hoodie beneath.
Lee ended up at Morph just after conference a walking instructor who worked as a head for the company. He signed with them shortly afterward at the company headquarters in Seoul.
Guiding the glamour
Lee typically wakes up at 5 or 6 a.m. on the working day of a shoot to get rid of any puffiness in his facial area and he plays R&B tunes on the way to tranquil his nerves. The shoots that last for two or 3 hrs at a time are extremely draining for him.
“Being a product is actually not glamorous, and I’m extremely gifted that I have been handed a ton of my employment, which I’m amazingly grateful for,” Lee reported. “I’ve seen a lot of folks who get the job done incredibly tricky — persons who get the job done so lots of jobs per week although attending numerous shoots per working day.”
“I’m genuinely amazed by their potential to do it because right after each individual shoot, I’m entirely drained,” he included. “I just shut down instantly in the auto and just start out sleeping.”
And though he’s by no means deemed himself a “stylish” human being, he’s gradually building his assurance.
“I had no trend feeling at all when I begun, but continue to I have been hoping to boost that and at last started turning out to be additional comfortable with my pores and skin,” he mentioned. “I test new matters and new poses, and even if it doesn’t do the job out, I can usually test again.”
“They can normally choose a lot more pics and pick out various photos. I experience accomplished remaining in a position to get a few or four images that they want mainly because I from time to time get definitely nervous,” Lee additional.
But the most important problem for him is capturing the impression of the model he comes about to be operating with. Just about every manufacturer has a precise impression, like Formal Bee, for instance, a Korean beauty item.
“Their target industry was late teenagers and early 20s, and it’s sort of tricky for me to imagine what they want for the reason that I’m not in that concentrate on sector that they’re approaching,” Lee said. “I have to genuinely visualize myself to kind of in good shape what they want.”
When he starts doubting himself, Lee appears to be like up to design and government director of Morph, Noh Sunmi.
“She’s in a position to give a good deal of support, and she’s very significant,” Lee stated. “At that issue, it is great simply because I can absolutely see what regions I can increase.”
“Sometimes she arrives to my shoots and says how I must increase and also hypes me up,” he added. “To be a design in Korea, you have to be cozy with your individual pores and skin and genuinely glow out with fashion.”
Korean illustration
As the K-pop market carries on to increase globally, Korean illustration in the media has enhanced. Acquiring the “perfect” design for a picture shoot, even so, is nonetheless regarded a controversial matter in the Asian entertainment industry.
“In Korea, if you’re gentle skinned, you get so a lot of far more jobs,” Lee stated. “As you can see, I’m not the most fair-skinned, and I’m a whole lot darker.”
“It’s form of unfair to be judged since of your pores and skin colour and not get positions as a great deal as if you have been pale skinned,” said Lee.
Foreseeable future
Summer time is ending and Lee will quickly fly again to Guam and enter his senior year in higher faculty. His concentrate is on making use of for college or university, but he hopes to also expand his role in the Korean enjoyment market.
He has dreams of remaining a Tv or film actor. He has currently experienced to change down a South Korean reality present mainly because it did not fit in with his faculty agenda.