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Anybody heard of her before?
Singapore supermodel Sheila Sim, minus the diva attitude and super-sized ego.
You’ve all heard horror stories of how some supermodels have feet too big for their own Manolo Blahniks.
The term “supermodel” itself conjures up images of impossibly tall, waif-like Amazonian women who survive on one salad a day, moan about how hard their life is and who are ready to throw super-sized hissy fits at the drop of a dime or cracked nail.
(Or is that just the latest episode of “America’s Next Top Model”?)
Armed with those thoughts, you can imagine my surprise when I caught up with Singapore supermodel Sheila Sim on the sidelines of the recent Puma Black Station fashion event and found her totally lacking in “diva” or “supermodel” attitude.
Don’t get me wrong — the leggy 26-year-old is as glamorous (in a non-intimidating way) as they come but what surprised me most was how warm, down-to-earth and articulate she was.
The bubbly, 1.75-metre beauty had moved to Hong Kong to pursue a modelling career in 2002 at the age of just 17 where her unconventional, elfin-like beauty quickly made her a runway favourite.
Now back in Singapore and sporting a fashionable short crop, Sim has been the “face” of Shiseido, Levi’s, Canon and Estee Lauder and local jeweller Poh Heng in recent months.
Here’s Sheila in her own words.
Any plans to pose nude or do lingerie?
People in the industry know that I don’t do lingerie and swimwear and if you’re talking about posing for FHM, then I would have to be wearing clothes for the shoot but like I said, anything can happen.
On recently returning to school and pursuing a finance and marketing degree at Curtin University:
School is quite fun. I always thought that I’m not a mathematical person and figured it will be hard but its manageable. Finance was something which I didn’t plan to do as I never thought I was a finance person. I have been doing modelling and it’s all marketing and PR, so finance is very new to me and suddenly it’s a whole new world.
On her big screen acting debut in local indie-film “Autumn in March” last year:
I didn’t go in with much expectations, it was my first movie so going in was with an open mind, I had good people working with me and it was a lot of fun. The script caught my attention as I could relate to the character easily because my brother passed away from leukemia when he was young and the movie was about a girl losing her family in a similar situation.
Having to portray your emotions through the camera was something new to me because most of the time I just have to look pretty right – that’s commercial. To have emotions put across, that was something very challenging but I really liked it.
On the hunt for Singapore’s next top model:
It’s possible to have another supermodel as Singapore is always on the hunt for new faces, fresh blood and right now, it’s just a moment where there isn’t someone who catches their eye yet, but I am sure it will come along and when the time comes, she will be the top model.
On the common belief that runway models earn big bucks:
I believe most people will not go into banking and do modeling if that happens. It’s a quick form of earning cash, but it’s not sustainable in the long run and it is not consistent as it’s always project-based so you don’t have a confirmation on how many projects you have in a month.
On her three-year relationship with her S’pore banker boyfriend based in Japan:
I’m still going through a long-distance relationship with my other half right now and am not sure how long it will be like this. I will be lying if I said it was not difficult. It was very challenging in the beginning because you have to get used to having someone not beside you and see and go through things without him.
On love and romance:
I have seen so many people go through long-distance relationships that it’s a norm now due to work postings. I think it’s all about trust and faith and in the end, everything works out.
Singapore supermodel Sheila Sim, minus the diva attitude and super-sized ego.
You’ve all heard horror stories of how some supermodels have feet too big for their own Manolo Blahniks.
The term “supermodel” itself conjures up images of impossibly tall, waif-like Amazonian women who survive on one salad a day, moan about how hard their life is and who are ready to throw super-sized hissy fits at the drop of a dime or cracked nail.
(Or is that just the latest episode of “America’s Next Top Model”?)
Armed with those thoughts, you can imagine my surprise when I caught up with Singapore supermodel Sheila Sim on the sidelines of the recent Puma Black Station fashion event and found her totally lacking in “diva” or “supermodel” attitude.
Don’t get me wrong — the leggy 26-year-old is as glamorous (in a non-intimidating way) as they come but what surprised me most was how warm, down-to-earth and articulate she was.
The bubbly, 1.75-metre beauty had moved to Hong Kong to pursue a modelling career in 2002 at the age of just 17 where her unconventional, elfin-like beauty quickly made her a runway favourite.
Now back in Singapore and sporting a fashionable short crop, Sim has been the “face” of Shiseido, Levi’s, Canon and Estee Lauder and local jeweller Poh Heng in recent months.
Here’s Sheila in her own words.
Any plans to pose nude or do lingerie?
People in the industry know that I don’t do lingerie and swimwear and if you’re talking about posing for FHM, then I would have to be wearing clothes for the shoot but like I said, anything can happen.
On recently returning to school and pursuing a finance and marketing degree at Curtin University:
School is quite fun. I always thought that I’m not a mathematical person and figured it will be hard but its manageable. Finance was something which I didn’t plan to do as I never thought I was a finance person. I have been doing modelling and it’s all marketing and PR, so finance is very new to me and suddenly it’s a whole new world.
On her big screen acting debut in local indie-film “Autumn in March” last year:
I didn’t go in with much expectations, it was my first movie so going in was with an open mind, I had good people working with me and it was a lot of fun. The script caught my attention as I could relate to the character easily because my brother passed away from leukemia when he was young and the movie was about a girl losing her family in a similar situation.
Having to portray your emotions through the camera was something new to me because most of the time I just have to look pretty right – that’s commercial. To have emotions put across, that was something very challenging but I really liked it.
On the hunt for Singapore’s next top model:
It’s possible to have another supermodel as Singapore is always on the hunt for new faces, fresh blood and right now, it’s just a moment where there isn’t someone who catches their eye yet, but I am sure it will come along and when the time comes, she will be the top model.
On the common belief that runway models earn big bucks:
I believe most people will not go into banking and do modeling if that happens. It’s a quick form of earning cash, but it’s not sustainable in the long run and it is not consistent as it’s always project-based so you don’t have a confirmation on how many projects you have in a month.
On her three-year relationship with her S’pore banker boyfriend based in Japan:
I’m still going through a long-distance relationship with my other half right now and am not sure how long it will be like this. I will be lying if I said it was not difficult. It was very challenging in the beginning because you have to get used to having someone not beside you and see and go through things without him.
On love and romance:
I have seen so many people go through long-distance relationships that it’s a norm now due to work postings. I think it’s all about trust and faith and in the end, everything works out.
