“Someone in New York told me, don’t see yourself as Asian or Japanese; just see yourself as a model. When you don’t define yourself by your nationality, they won’t define you. So I focused on that and it seemed to have worked.”
Tao Okamoto has a quiet strength that causes the fashion world to take notice.
Residence: New York City, NY
Hometown: Tokyo, Japan
Height: 176.5 cm
Eye Color: Brown
Date of Birth: May 22, 1987
Agency:
Ford
Campaigns:
D&G, H&M, Missoni, Ralph Lauren, Zac Posen, Gap, Kenneth Cole, Kenzo
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Tao Okamoto has a quiet strength that causes the fashion world to take notice. Her elegant stature, polite demeanor, and signature bowl cut easily make her a force within the modeling industry.
At the age of 14, a talent scout spotted Tao walking and asked if she wanted to be on TV. Bookings in Japan quickly followed along with a moment in Seventeen magazine, leading her to sign with Elite in 2006. During the Fall 2009 season, she reached her modeling peak, thanks to a sleek new look that had the fashion world going crazy. Her bowl cut prompted Phillip Lim, who was in awe of her style, to style all the models for his Fall 2009 show with a wig similar to Tao’s haircut. After becoming Phillip’s muse, Tao’s path to supermodel status was inevitable.
Immediately after, Teen Vogue and Style.com featured Tao as the girl of the moment. Her overnight success led to multiple castings in which she booked over 45 shows in 2009, even becoming the first Asian model to walk for Miu Miu in two years. Her accomplishments ranged from becoming the face of Ralph Lauren and Zac Posen to appearing on the pages of French Vogue, V, Chinese Vogue, Vogue and W, but her most iconic and memorable work to date is without a doubt the November 2009 issue of Vogue Nippon. The magazine dedicated an entire issue to Tao, also marking the first time in seven years that a Japanese model landed the cover.
During the 2011 earthquake in Japan, Tao was in Tokyo with her parents at the time of the quake. Fortunately, she was unharmed, but the aftermath of her beloved country prompted her to do campaign for the cause. She took to her agency’s website, Ford Models, to publish a letter calling for action. With the help of her friends in the fashion industry, Tao teamed up with Save Japan, an organization which was set up after the earthquake, to host a charity bazaar, selling fashion goods once owned by models and industry insiders. Tao’s efforts and dedication to helping her home country paid off. The team collected more than 700 items and raised $13,490 for Japan.
Between her charitable heart and presence in the fashion industry, Tao is simply one of a kind.
