EVEN amidst the madness, you can't miss her. My first sighting of Ana Rivera, better known as Ana R, is at the backstage of a fashion show during the Malaysia-International Fashion Week (M-IFW) last November.
As models, designers and make-up artists noisily jostle for space, Ana R, 27, is seemingly oblivious to the behind-the-scenes melee. The porcelain-skinned Korean-Spanish beauty is relaxed and lounging on a sofa, her attention fixated on her iPhone.
As Ana stands up to greet me, her face noticeably free of make-up, she looks fresh despite having just arrived from Hong Kong after a whirlwind of modelling jobs. Perhaps the only tell-tale signs of her hectic lifestyle are the eyebags.
The 178cm-tall Ana is currently considered one of the top models in Hong Kong where she is now based. Since her catwalk debut in her teens, Ana has appeared on countless Hong Kong magazine covers and is in demand as a clothes-horse at fashion shows and events; she branched into acting last year in a movie titled Dedicated To Love. In the Hong Kong-made movie featuring 10 short stories directed by Yeung Yattak, Ana plays a banker romanced by Karl Ng. In 2007, Ana's profile peaked when she posed for a calendar, clad in nothing but a pair of Diesel jeans; it was to help raise money for the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Fund.
Ana was invited to grace M-IFW in Kuala Lumpur as a celebrity model, opening and closing several choice designers' runway shows. Ana's most memorable runway moment during M-IFW occurred when she did her first show on Nov 27; it was the Asia Magic-themed evening gala where she walked for homegrown label Tangoo, designed by Eric Lim and Moses Law.
"The dress that I was wearing was two sizes too big. When we came out for the finale, Eric and Moses had to hold my dress up when we were bowing to the Queen (who graced the event). It was so funny, but I loved every moment of it," says Ana. "That's part of my job as a model; you have to cope with unexpected happenings backstage and make the best of every situation."
Throughout M-IFW, Ana was a huge hit with local photographers who chronicled every outfit she wore. However, the attention is nothing compared to what she goes through on a daily basis in Hong Kong where, having achieved supermodel status, she is closely watched by the paparazzi.
As she relates in a magazine interview: "I didn't realise that so many people are watching, no matter what I do. There were a few occasions when I accidentally exposed my boobs on the catwalk so the HK media nicknamed my breasts ‘Pink Panthers'. I can't believe they came up with this. When I first heard it, I was in shock. I started getting teased by my friends but I just laughed it off."
It is a surprising revelation that Ana – who obviously excels at her job – still finds modelling a challenge.
"I was a very shy kid. So being photographed and doing runway shows was very hard for me. When I was working, I would pretend to be someone else, like I was playing dressing up," explains Ana whose Spanish dad was a military man and Korean mum a homemaker.
She considers herself a "very lucky girl to get the chance to model" and travel the world and make friends wherever she goes. When she is not strutting her stuff on the runway, Ana relaxes by watching Cartoon Network on television.
"I can't help it. I am a kid at heart," says Ana with a girlish grin, adding that her classic favourites are Scooby Doo and Tom and Jerry.
She also likes to spend time at home with her two beloved dogs, Gucci and Angel.
Asked whom she looks up to in the modelling world, Ana cites Kate Moss. "She is of the old-school supermodels, truly unique in her own ways. Nowadays, all these reality modelling shows – coupled with plastic surgery which is easily available – make it hard for people to tell who's a real beauty and who's not."
Ana's advice to aspiring models is simple: Be yourself.
"Everyone thinks that models are catty and bitchy. The key thing is to be yourself and shock people with how cool and sweet you are. There is no point in putting up a wall to hide your real self. I was the biggest scaredy cat and the shyest bunny. I still am, because that's me."
About her beauty secrets, Ana says, "I don't really have any. But I believe that one should not starve oneself. Most people think the key to being slim is to stop eating but my advice is to eat smaller meals throughout the day and drink lots of water."
Finally, great news for guys vying for Ana's heart. The recently single Ana (who broke up with a Panama-born model) says she doesn't ask much from her significant other. "I just want him to love and respect me, as much as I love and respect him. I like someone whom I can have a good conversation with, and who knows how to be a man without being bossy. I've had my heart broken twice. And from each heartbreak, you learn something new about yourself. My philosophy in life is to do to others as you want them to do to you, and to believe in good things so that good things will come to you."
On that note, Ana ends our interview, but not without the warmest of smiles. As the fashion show madness around us resumes, Ana's eyes drift back to her iPhone, where yet another busy week's schedule is recorded.
To keep tabs on Ana R, visit her official website www.alivenotdead.com/anar.
