Anna Bayle, born 1959 was the first real Asian Supermodel and nobody really knew what her educational background was nor her intellectual inclinations and capabilities.
Her secondary education was grounded in the sciences. She was a scholar at the Philippine Science High School, the premier among science high schools in the Philippines. Anna Bayle also earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in the University of the Philippines in Diliman. Standing at 5’10” she was naturally a member of the UP Varsity Women’s basketball team. Early on in life Bayle showed a grounded and well-rounded personality that will serve her in good stead later on in life.
It was her basketball teammates that convinced her to join the Ms. Republic of the Philippines Beauty pageant in 1975. Although not fortunate to win the title, this proved to be her springboard when she managed to catch the attention of well known fashion designer Auggie Cordero who eventually became her mentor.
Anna Bayle had to start as a replacement model in Hong Kong when she was 16 years old and tried her luck in New York where she was told that there was nothing for her there. She then went to Milan where her agent told her that there. She then went to Paris where she had only enough money to pay for 1 day in the hotel. She told the hotel staff that she intended to stay for a week!
From there, she never looked back, having worked for Christian Lacroix, Christian Dior, Theirre Mugler, Yves Saint Laurent among other notables. She was known to model 9 times a day when the average model had it only 2 times a day.
She joined the ranks of Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista as the three top supermodels of the 80s. The journey of Anna Bayle is proof that the Filipino have what it takes to make it in the real world. The discipline and structured thinking of a science background helped tremendously in strategies for her career.
Now, Anna Bayle reflects and that a woman should have done 3 things in her life:
1. Plant a tree
2. Have a child and
3. Write a book
She already has a son and she said she is not yet ready for gardening. Anna Bayle will write a book for now.
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