From a bullied child to becoming the first Indonesian to win "Asia's Next Top Model Cycle 3," 23-year-old Ayu Gani is slated for stardom. She recently graced the cover of fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar Singapore and became the face of Asia's online shopping hub, Zalora.
Part of her winnings as "Asia's Next Top Model 3" is a cover photo shoot and fashion spread for Harper's Bazaar Singapore, one of the leading magazines in the Southeast Asian nation. Captioned "Soft Seduction," the cover image featured Gani in a stunning sleeve-less black dress from Dolce & Gabbana and jewelry from Bulgari.
She recently posted on her official Instagram account a behind-the-scenes shot from her Zalora photoshoot which she said took almost eight hours donning 176 clothes. The Instagram photos showed her tightly hugging a pillow with her face looking tired.
After almost 8 hours and 176 clothes #zaloraid #photoshoot
A photo posted by Ayu Gani (@ganegani) on Jun 23, 2015 at 1:46am PDT
Gani also brought home a brand new Subaru car, a management contract with Storm Model Managament and was slated to be this year's face of hair care brand Tresemme during the final episode of "Asia's Next Top Model Cycle 3."
Reports said she is scheduled to fly to London on June 29 to begin her modeling contract with Storm.
In her interview for the July 2015 issue of Harper's Bazaar Singapore, Gani shared how she was bullied in the past, with classmates calling her "cockroach" during their junior high school years.
"Everyone mocked me and called me a cockroach. Whenever I walked down the hallways of my school, my school mates would cover their noses and say, 'Cockroach is passing by!' Gani said.
She further said that she had no friends, leading her to become a quiet person and telling herself that what others say about her was not true.
"Despite all that happened, I think I was happy," she said in the interview. "I'd never had imagined that I'd be a model. I made a lot of friends and they supported me."
Her modeling journey started when she went back home from her stay in the US. She said her mother urged her sign up for a modeling competition and it was also her mom's idea that she join "Asia's Next Top Model 3."
Now that the former bullied child Gani is becoming known worldwide, she sent a message during the interview to the bullies she had before. She said, "I will tell them never to bully someone else again. I don't want revenge. I [just] want them to know that nothing in life is certain, so don't judge and underestimate people."
