![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2022\/08\/VogueResize.jpg\")
with other up-and-coming
models for Vogue Japan<\/em> in
2021. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
As a Black\/Asian model (a rarity in Tokyo), she\u2019s often hired by high-end companies looking to inject diversity into their campaigns. Most non-Asian models in Tokyo are white, Salis explains, a beauty standard left over from the post-war days. There are only a few Black and brown models in the country, she says. Coming from a multicultural background, representing a minority isn\u2019t new for Salis, whose childhood was split between her mother\u2019s native Japan and Ghana, where her father grew up. In both of those places, she changed her identity to assimilate, and it was only when she came to Colgate, where there were other multiracial students, that she started to develop her true sense of self. \u201cI always felt like my identity was in flux and affected by the environment that I was in,\u201d she says. \u201cMaybe that\u2019s why I find [modeling] to come so naturally, because I\u2019ve had to unwillingly do that in a lot of situations, but now I’m willingly able to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The streets of Tokyo are buzzing with young creatives, and many models, like Salis, start out in the industry working collaboratively with designers to create pieces of art. For example, if there\u2019s an aspiring photographer who\u2019s looking for a model who\u2019s good at expressing themselves creatively through their body and face, they\u2019ll team up with budding stylists and makeup artists to build a photoshoot. \u201cWe\u2019ll all just find each other on the street, at bars, at clubs,\u201d she says. But in recent months, she\u2019s proved her modeling talent, landing shoots with Nike, the luxury fashion brand Sacai, and the casual knit label YOKE. \u201cWhile I\u2019m in this space, I hope that I make some impression or impact that pushes brands and people to be more inclusive and more conscious of the messages they\u2019re encouraging by hiring certain types of people,\u201d Salis says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, she often finds herself disparaged by voices upholding negative stereotypes of models. Salis thrived in Colgate\u2019s academic environment, and she worked a series of corporate jobs before taking on her new creative role. And, she still has side gigs, like her podcast, Behind the Change<\/em>, and Commu, a social justice organization she works with. \u201cPeople find it very surprising that I graduated from college and I\u2019ve worked in other positions [or] that I do other types of work,\u201d she explains. \u201cYou can be a lot of things, you can do a lot of things. There\u2019s no reason to just be one person.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Salis designed her Colgate major \u2014 media, culture, and communication \u2014 after taking a course during the Manchester Study Group. \u201cSo much of how we understand ourselves is shaped through [media], and how we understand others is shaped through that [too],\u201d she elaborates. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This alumna from the Class of 2019 is
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