Wei Son (孫 暐, Son Ii, born October 13, 1989) is a Japanese fashion model who has been active in both the professional and commercial modeling fields since the late 2000s. She is particularly known in the gyaru scene, as a former major contributor to the Popteen magazine[2] and an exclusive model for its sister magazine PopSister.[3] There are several different ways of spelling her name in Roman script, including Ii Son,[4] Wei Sun,[5] and Wei Son.[6]
Wei Son | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 13, 1989 |
| Occupation | Fashion model |
| Modeling information | |
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[1] |
Early life
editAccording to her official profile, Son was born in Saitama, Japan with Chinese nationality,[7] however she herself has stated on multiple occasions that she was born in Dalian, China and lived there until she was 5 years old before immigrating to Niigata and growing up in Saitama.[8] She became a full-time model at the age of 17.[9]
Modeling
editShe first appeared in the Popteen magazine in May 2007 and was first on its cover in March 2008.[7]
In April 2010 when Popteen's "older sister" magazine PopSister was first published, she appeared on it as an exclusive model alongside six other exclusive models.[10] That same year she went to Shanghai to attend the Shanghai World Expo, specifically its event promoting the gyaru culture and various gyaru-brands, as a representative of the gyaru scene along with eight other Japanese models related to the Popteen magazine.[11] Being very active in the runway scene,[1] she has endorsed numerous fashion brands, cosmetic products,[7] and several non-fashion / non-cosmetic products including printclub machines.[12] She also starred in the music video for Rake's 2010 song "All I Need Is...".[13]
PopSister ceased publication in September 2011. She had since appeared on various fashion magazines including the 250,000-selling Blenda magazine, and she began appearing regularly on Blenda as the youngest one of its faces in April 2012.[14]
On TV
editSon has been appearing regularly on TV Tokyo's street dance themed program Dance@TV since April 2010 as its only female host.[15] She also began appearing on MTV Japan's Shibuhara Girls in January 2011[16] as one of its four regulars.[17] A reality TV series,[18] Shibuhara Girls has reported some daily aspects of her modeling life such as her visits to South Korea where she was featured in the Maps street fashion magazine,[19] the Men's Health magazine's "Hot Icon of the Month" monthly special editorial,[20] and several newspapers.[21] In addition to MTV, she contributed to the 2011 large music event "MTV Video Music Awards Japan" as its main host, in which her episodic friendship with the US diva Lady Gaga was later reported.[3]
Music
editShe made her singing debut in early 2009 when she released her first single "Sweet Song" with Lady Bird, as "Lady Bird feat. Son'i (from Popteen)" on BMG Japan.[22] Officially released on February 25, 2009,[23] "Sweet Song" hit the top spots of several singles and club charts such as the Dwango chart and Club Atom chart.[7] It appeared on the Oricon singles chart 3 times, peaking at #47.[24]
Family
editWei has a fraternal twin sister named Kyo, i.e. Kyo Son (孫 きょう, Son Kyou).[25] Kyo, who became a mother of a boy in October 2009, is also a model best known for appearing in popular gyaru-mama magazine "I Love Mama".[26] Wei made an appearance with Kyo in the Blenda magazine June 2013 issue, and it was her first magazine appearance with the sister.[27]
References
edit- ^ a b "SK-visiting famous model 'Wei Son' gives instruction on the essence of gyaru make-up", 8 February 2011, The Daily Sports Seoul (in Korean)
- ^ ""Popular model from Popteen, 'Wei Son', debuts as a singer, 26 December 2008, Livedoor News (in Japanese)
- ^ a b "Popular model: 'It's my lifetime treasure', Wei Son hugged by and photographed with Lady Gaga", 27 June 2011, Model Press (in Japanese)
- ^ Official blog (in Japanese)
- ^ Official Twitter (in Japanese) or Official profile by the LesPros modeling agency (in Japanese) or "Person Information: Sun Wei", Naver Person Search (in Japanese)
- ^ "That Mysterious Popular Singer Was In Fact, 'Wei Son'", December 26, 2008, Barks (in Japanese) or "Model: Son Wei", November 2011, Girls Award by CROOZ blog 2011 Autumn/Winter (in Japanese) or in her ad campaign picture for contact brand Fall in Eyez on the November 2011 issue of the Koakuma Ageha magazine ("son-wei", p.114)
- ^ a b c d "That Mysterious Popular Singer Was In Fact, 'Wei Son'", December 26, 2008, Barks (in Japanese)
- ^ 私服♪肌について☆ [いーちゃんＢＬＯＧ] [About my personal clothes♪ and skin✰ (Dairen, Niigata, Saitama)]. Official blog by Wei Son (in Japanese). November 27, 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. or "Wei Son's message arrives✰" (Dalian), January 24, 2011, Shibuhara Girls, MTV Japan (in Japanese)
- ^ "Hi I Am A Cat!"[usurped], 13 April 2011, Joins MSN (in Korean)
- ^ "Launching 'PopSister'", April 17, 2010, Model Press (in Japanese)
- ^ "A total of 9 'Popteen' models attend the Shanghai Expo's event!", April 30, 2010, Model Press (in Japanese)
- ^ "Model profiles : Wei Son", Shibuya Girls Collection (in Japanese)
- ^ "Wei Son", TV Star Web Directory, Tokyo News Service (in Japanese)
- ^ "Former 'Popteen' model joins a popular magazine", 7 April 2012, Model Press (in Japanese)
- ^ "Model Profiles : Wei Son", May 2010, Girls Award 2010 (in Japanese) and Dance@TV official, TV Tokyo (in Japanese)
- ^ "Wei Son's message arrives✰", January 24, 2011, Shibuhara Girls, MTV Japan (in Japanese)
- ^ "Cast Profile", Shibuhara Girls, MTV Japan (in Japanese)
- ^ "No-Cut Interview : Wei Sun", 9 February 2011, Daily No-Cut News (in Korean)
- ^ "Wei Son x magazine 'Maps'", April 13, 2011, Shibuhara Girls, MTV Japan (in Japanese)
- ^ "Wei Son x magazine 'Men's Health'", April 15, 2011, Shibuhara Girls, MTV Japan (in Japanese)
- ^ "Wei Son's magazine collaboration in South Korea!", April 7, 2011, Shibuhara Girls, MTV Japan (in Japanese)
- ^ "Popular model 'Wei Son' debuts as a singer", December 25, 2008, Oricon News (in Japanese)
- ^ "Popular model Wei Son holds a commemorative hand-shaking event, taking over Shibuya", February 21, 2009, NTV News 24 (in Japanese)
- ^ "Sweet Song", Oricon (in Japanese)
- ^ "Kyo Son reveals a picture taken with her twin little sister, getting response of 'OMG'", 21 September 2011, Excite News, Model Press (in Japanese)
- ^ "Beautiful mama-model succeeded in losing 16 kgs after childbirth! and reveals its secrets", 27 May 2011, Biglobe Kirei Style News, Model Press (in Japanese)
- ^ "Beautiful twin-models made their first co-appearance, revealing a look-alike photo, 'feel something like strange'", 20, May, 2013, Model Press (in Japanese)
External
edit- Official profile by the LesPros modeling agency (in Japanese)
- Official blog (in Japanese)
- Former official blog (in Japanese)
- Official Twitter (in Japanese)