INTERVIEW WITH AW24 MODEL, YULU SERAO
Yulu stars in our Autumn / Winter 2024 editorial campaign - shot on location in Silver Lake, Los Angeles.
YULU SERAO is our AW24 muse, and we had an absolutely amazing time with her on set earlier this year - she captured our eye during casting and we booked her immediately through her agency, Ford Models. Based in New York, we caught her for our shoot while she was on another gig here in Los Angeles.
Her genuineness, authenticity, and mellow personality fit into not only the Atelier Delphine aesthetic but AD’s core concept of a modern, creative, and well-traveled woman. A woman that’s not boring. Even after the photoshoot, we have exchanged several messages and I am excited to share a bit about Yulu here with our readers.
Yuka Izutsu: Hi Yulu! Can you share a bit of your background (birthplace, family dynamics, etc)?
Yulu Serao: I’m Yulu. I was adopted from China near Shanghai, Changshu in the mid-90s by two artistic and loving Italian Americans at 8 months old! I grew up in Connecticut. I’m a by-product of the one-child policy and hope to study Chinese one day. I’ve been back to China a few times and it is a historical and special place and I feel so lucky to have some friends there.
YI: how you wind up being a model, were you scouted? If so, can you describe how it happened? How long have you been modeling?
YS: I’ve been modeling on and off since college. I started modeling when I went to art school my freshman year for thesis projects and did Ryan McGinley's yearbook because a friend interned for his studio. A few years back I booked Italian Vogue 100 covers which still feels like the luckiest job I’ve ever been on and a mystery and I’ve been with Ford Models ever since.
YI: What was your first impression / thoughts on our photoshoot that we did together?
YS: I was a fan of Yoshihiro’s architectural photography from before the shoot, I think I’d followed his account on Instagram a year or two prior. When I saw my agent Dawn message me about the job I was like omg! I love his work. It was so fun going to this very grand very LA home and seeing how they used the location and planned the shots, working with Yuka - her energy was absolutely great.
YI: You are a board member of Topical Cream. Can you describe what this organization is about and what you do?
YS: I began interning for Topical Cream 10 years ago and have now been on the board for the last six years, I’m proud that I designed the website and was the lead art director for our rebranding overhaul in 2020.
Topical Cream is a groundbreaking New York-based arts organization exclusively dedicated to elevating the vision of women and gender non-conforming contemporary artists through digital publishing and multiple high-impact programs. Launched as an online magazine countering art media’s problematic portrayal of female-identifying contemporary artists, TC is now an internationally respected organization for art criticism, editorial content, performance, mentorship, and educational programming.
One of the most exciting programs is our editor-in-residence, which we created to respond to the lack of support for art writers and experimental journalism. In 2024, curator Ebony L. Haynes took up the reins and focused on censorship; in 2023, it was Ruba Katrib, the director of curatorial affairs at MoMA PS1. You can always learn about a new artist or movement in these articles selected by some of the world's leading female curators. There is no paywall, and we are the only nonprofit exclusively publishing this kind of content.
This summer, we launched a free program for NYC high school-age girls interested in art and writing, in collaboration with the New York Department of Youth and Community Development and Global Kids. Just last week, I had the opportunity to speak to them about graphic design and to work on a fundraising campaign together. Volunteering and making an impact in my community is important to me, and something that I’m grateful my parents instilled in me from a young age.
