"My true passion is photography," a casually-dressed Wu said. Modeling is a more of a cherishable experience than a profession for Wu, who plans to study design in England after college. However, joining the competition and its preceding training courses was a valuable experience. "The training has given me more confidence both on stage and in life," she said.
Despite being one of the few contestants with some amateur modeling experience, Wu had to go through the training course like everyone else and "hone my skills of walking in high heels. That's the greatest challenge, even for experienced models," Wu said.
After conquering high heels, these young girls had to attend a class for psychological strengthening, where would-be models come to realize what it takes to be successful.
"Many young girls imagine modeling to be all about dressing up and posing. That's wrong. You have to dare to walk naked in front of hundreds of people. You have to grin and bear it when auditioners tell you that you're ugly. You have to be able to stand open criticism and people gossiping behind your back," Fang said.
Even if a model manages to do well in Taiwan, it's tough fighting their way to international fame. If a Giorgio Armani show needs 30 models, nearly 1,000 people from all over the world will apply for the deal, while the auditioners will pick perhaps only one Asian.
Insisting that the quality of Taiwanese models is above the Asian average, Jiang conluded from his eight years of working as an agent that the problem is industrial. "There are things Taiwan doesn't have. ... The popularity of Japanese designers worldwide provides their models with a lot of opportunities, while models from China can stand out as high quality because there is a much larger population there to pick from," he said.
Fang sees the same problem. "Few people in Europe recognize any Taiwanese designer brands. Taiwan is a major manufacturer of textiles in the world, but that is industrial textiles and other inexpensive kinds of cloth. High fashion is not Taiwan's forte. If more Taiwanese designers were staging their shows in New York, more models would perform with them there."
Fang holds out hope for models to work in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, because Taiwanese models cost less compared with their counterparts from these countries. "As for Europe, I always tell my models to hope only for the experience, not for a future," he said.
For those who are determined to become one of the world's top models, Fang says that "they have to overcome the language barrier. Studying more and going abroad helps," he said, stressing that intelligence is a plus. "After they have seen more things, they carry themselves differently."
They also need to shake free of their upbringings, especially the dependance resultant from Taiwanese parents' over-protectiveness and excessive attention since childhood. "Remember that when you're in a foreign country there is no mommy around; you'll have to look after yourself," Fang said.
"I have often heard from my models that photograhers try to lure them into bed with deals. It may be cliche but it happens all the time. When you're striving to be a world-famous model, what do you do? Whether in Taiwan or abroad, you have to be smart. It may be easy to get in the business, but it's hard to survive," Fang said. "So when you look at the pretty face of a supermodel, think about the wisdom behind it," he said.
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