Alisa Samsonova is only 12 years old, but she is already the face of the Armani children's clothing brand and has carved out a career path in the modeling industry.
Still, she didn't have the stink of a star, a well-behaved girl at home, and a hard-working middle school student at school.
Originally from the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Alyssa Samsonova is known as an angel in the fashion world, and her itineraries are usually planned months in advance, and she is featured in many of the world's leading brands' photography portfolios.
According to the British online magazine Bright Side, Alyssa is already one of the 15 most beautiful child models in the world.
Although she achieved such a high level of achievement, her childhood life was very ordinary, in addition to studying hard, that is, receiving physical training.
Winning is not everything
When Alyssa's parents signed up for their daughter to study rhythmic gymnastics, they had no idea of having their daughter model.
In the summer of 2013, her father saw a casting ad for a "top child model contest" and suggested that his daughter give it a try, but it was the holidays anyway.
Alyssa was only 6 years old at the time, the youngest and youngest contestant.
At that time, 6-year-old Alyssa was always sullen and not sociable, so her parents did not hold out much hope.
But no sooner had the casting ended than they received a call from the organizers inviting Alyssa to attend her first shoot, as well as dance and acting classes. One of the judges said Alyssa had a "magazine-friendly face," but her parents didn't take the prophecy very seriously.
Alyssa's dad recalled: "Before announcing the winner, I had already considered buying a gift for my daughter so she wouldn't be upset that she didn't win. ”
"Later when we heard that she won the top prize, we were all very happy, in life, we never told our daughter that she had to be better than everyone else and that victory was everything."
A year later, Alyssa won another achievement, "Russia 2014 Little Supermodel", and was invited to the Collection Premiere Moscow (CPM) trade fair.
Her parents were far away from fashion shows at the time, and they had to search the web for what CPM was for.
While in Moscow, Alyssa was discovered by The Agent of Happy Kids Media, and her photos were placed in Pro Kids' catalogs, which can be seen by children's clothing brands around the world.
"Alyssa, great, Bella!"
Young Alyssa participated in children's clothing shoots in Moscow and Florence, her first professional portfolio, and since then she has received more and more invitations.
Soon after she went to Florence for the famous Pitti Bimbo children's show, where she attracted the attention of Armani and the Mona Lisa.
The Italians were very surprised when they heard that she was from distant Siberia, Russia.
When Alyssa needed permission from the school to participate in the video shoot of the Armani Junior series, the school principal signed the travel documents and said, "We all support you," and they realized it was a unique experience for Alyssa.
The filming location was a tram that looked like it was passing through milan's historic center.
Alyssa said: "I took some pictures myself, I took the camera off a photographer and went around taking pictures. ”
The photographer shouted at her, "Alyssa, great, Bella!" ”
Her work was selected for the final version, and the brand aired the trailer in stores around the world.
Not beautiful
Most of the modeling work is in the spring and autumn, and usually Alyssa's itinerary is arranged months in advance, when the new collection of clothing is promoted, and she and her mother fly to Italy at least twice a month.
In order not to fatigue the children, the photographers controlled each shot for 10-15 minutes.
According to Alyssa's mother, Italian photographers have great respect for their children's opinions, do not blame them for not performing well, and are not told what to do on set, completely following the children's interests.
In Russia, young girls may wear makeup and curl their hair in beauty contests, while in Europe, nature is a fashion.
When selecting models, professionals often judge them by their walking posture.
Alyssa's mother is sure that Alyssa is not just a child model for beauty, and that what is popular now is not classical beauty, but is slowly tending to be "hermaphrodite" characteristics.
On the set, children's actions and behaviors are more important, and girls with strong expressiveness are not suitable for fashion photography.
Family members
Being a child model is very boring, most people think that this is excessive competition, and such an environment is not conducive to the healthy growth of children.
Alyssa's parents disagree, saying the kids would run together after the shoot and all the moms would stay in touch on social media.
While there is jealousy and conflict in any area of life, it ultimately depends on the people themselves, on the environment in which they grew up.
Mom Elena believes that modeling school is good for children to grow up, and fashion photo shoots build confidence for children.
Alyssa was shy to talk to adults in kindergarten, and now she can let an unfamiliar Italian photographer change her mood.
Dad Oleg said some people would think that we were using our children to make money, and that the people who said those words were usually people outside the industry, and for us, shooting was not a job, it was more like a vacation.
Alyssa's parents don't expect success, and she's happy to fly to Europe to see shows, and sometimes after filming, the family rents a car and spends a few days traveling around Europe.
Alyssa's parents had a simple principle formula, and when the family returned from a trip, Dad would set the rules, and the vacation was over and it was time to work.
In their home, there is a long-standing family joke,
"Who is the head of the family?"
"Daddy."
"Who is the representative of this family?"
"Daddy!"
The mother and daughter answered in unison.
Life outside of models
Even when she's not filming, Alyssa has a tight schedule, signing up for a foreign language school, attending gymnastics six times a week, and her favorite subjects are math, English and physical education.
Alyssa jokingly calls herself "Stakhanovite," and though she doesn't have much free time, she manages to shoot, participate in sports training, message model friends from Europe, and play with her dog, Willie.
When the reporter asked Alyssa if she had any models she liked and wanted to imitate, Alyssa laughed and said no, and when asked about her idols, she always mentioned Gregory Lepps because she liked his songs.
Alyssa has been attracted to some adult modeling agencies, but going to school is still her top priority now.
Her father, a former wrestler, thinks Alyssa has found something she loves to do and is working hard to make her dreams come true.
After all, if the child has no desire, no matter what the parent says, there will be no result.