In the spring of 2012, a model search that had run the year before as the Asian Model Search came back under a new name. Next Face of Asia was staged as part of Fashion Steps Out @ Orchard, and its 12 finalists were announced ahead of a public vote.
The 12 finalists
All 12 finalists were women. Singapore had the largest group with four, followed by the Philippines with three. China had two, and Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia had one each. That made six countries in the final.
The finalists were drawn from a wider regional search. It was meant to find Asian models and give them a launch platform internationally, and it covered Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, China and India.
The new format was a step up from the year before. The previous Asian Model Search, held in 2011, had 15 contestants from Singapore, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. A Vietnamese model aged 21 took the title and S$10,000 worth of cash and prizes, according to the original announcement. For 2012 the organisers advertised a prize pool of $15,000. Later accounts of the finale put the winner’s haul at $10,000 worth of prizes, so the reported figures differ.
How the winner was chosen
The public could vote for a favourite finalist on the Fashion Steps Out Facebook page until 25 April 2012. Each person was limited to one vote per finalist per day, and public votes counted for 20 per cent of the final score.
The other 80 per cent came from the judges, who marked each finalist on four criteria:
- Photogenic qualities: 30 per cent
- Walk: 20 per cent
- Body: 20 per cent
- Communication: 10 per cent
The weightings show what the organisers wanted from a winner. Photographic appeal counted for more than any other criterion, and the walk mattered as much as physique. Communication carried the smallest share but was still scored.
The judges and the finale
The panel in 2012 had three fashion industry figures. Jeanette Eljersen was then the editor of Female magazine. Mark Law is a photographer. Ashley Isham is a Singapore designer. Between them they covered publishing, image-making and design, the three areas a working model deals with.
Judging took place on 27 April 2012 at the closing party of Fashion Steps Out @ Orchard, and the winner was announced that night. The festival itself ran along Orchard Road from 16 March to 29 April that year. It was the successor to Fashion Season @ Orchard, and it was pitched as a way of bringing fashion to the person on the street.
The closing party was held at Shaw Theatres Lido. A cinema hall there was turned into a catwalk, which was a first for the festival’s closing event, and guests were treated to a private movie screening afterwards.
The winner
The title went to a 25-year-old Indonesian model, who was the tallest of the finalists at 1.82 metres. Her prizes included being named Face of FSO 2013, so she represented the festival the following year.
The result meant that Indonesia, which had just one finalist, took the crown over the four from Singapore and the three from the Philippines.