SS22 behind the scenes with clara

We sat down for a chat with Clara Haruka, one of the faces of our SS22 campaign. In between ducking away from little kids doing ollies at Acton Skatepark, we found out all about her tattoos, art style, and how she wears her all we are pieces.

Hi, do you wanna introduce yourself? You can start with telling us your name?

Oh my God! What is my name…? I'm Clara, I’ve been modelling since 2014… I think. I’m from Hong Kong.

So today you’re skating for our SS22 shoot – is this the first time you’ve been on a skateboard?

No, I first tried skating on my friend’s board when I was 12.

Uh oh… How did that go?

Ha, badly. I’ve fallen a lot. I had a bad injury, so I’ve decided not to do it very often. It’s so scary!

So what do you do in your spare time instead?

I really like to make food. So I’m usually just baking bread or making mochis in my kitchen. And not just since lockdown – I’ve always liked to do it.

Do you have like a big group of pals that you hang out with when you’re not busy?

Not really – not since I left Hong Kong last year. I was friends with a bunch of girls from my agency, but they’ve had to fly back home, so we haven’t met as a complete group for a long time. I think my closest group could be my sisters. I haven’t seen them for a long time either because of the pandemic, but also because they’re always going to school in Canada and Australia.

When you were growing up, did you have any female role models?

Ooh. I would say my mum! Growing up, I think she was the definition of beauty for me. She’s also modelling now! Three of my sisters model at the moment too. I think I can learn a lot from them.

You’re also a tattoo artist, right? How long have you done that for?

I started my apprenticeship when I was 17, so about 8 years now. That’s a long time, damn.

What’s your tattooing style?

For the last year I’ve been practicing Chinese and Japanese ink painting, so I want to try and translate that into tattooing. Before that I was doing Asian style and Japanese style tattoos.

Do you tattoo on yourself?

Nope... Well, I did it once in Berlin, in a hostel kitchen… I think it went okay, but it’s not the best tattoo! Me and my friends were just hanging out together and things got a bit crazy, haha. I’m getting it lasered off now! It’s a peony flower.

Chaos! That sounds so fun. And you have a tattoo of your dog too, right?

Yeah! Her name is Mo and I love her. She’s my baby. And these ones on my hand are from my apprentice days when we all just practised on each other – they’re all really badly done, so I’m in the process of lasering them off. It’s giving a prison vibe.

And this arm over here?

This is a Japanese daruma. They're like toys – when you get them, they have no eyes. Then when you make a wish or set a goal, you paint one of the eyes… the right one, I think. And when you complete the goal, you paint the other one.

You haven’t filled in the second eye yet! When will you fill that in?

Um… That’s a good question! I feel like I go through so many phases in life – like I was born so many times already. I don’t know when anything will feel fully complete. So probably never! But I think that’s like also a message, right? Like you never get to fill it in. Life is always changing, and your goals are changing as well.

Yeah, definitely get that! It can be a statement by staying unifinished. And I have to say, the all we are stuff looks great on you. What do you think of it?

Kawaii! It’s so cute!

Follow Clara on Instagram and check out Clara’s tattoo artwork here