26 From Immigrant to Icon: How Yaya Han Built a Cosplay Empire

INFLUENCE

There was no Internet when Yaya Han first discovered manga and anime in the early '90s. Born in China, she fell in love with this media (which was mostly imported from Japan) at a young age. But when her family unexpectedly moved to Europe, she became an outsider overnight - culturally and linguistically. That is, until she discovered a German anime magazine and started submitting her artwork. That's where she found thousands of obsessed fans just like her.

But it wasn't until she attended a U.S. anime convention in 1999 that her mind was blown by the power of cosplay - super fans who sewed elaborate costumes and dressed up as their favorite characters. Yaya's focus immediately shifted from drawing to fabrics, and she never looked back.

Today, her stunning costumes from anime and video games are adored by millions online, and she appears regularly as a speaker and contest judge at fan conventions around the world. She's partnered with global brands to release cosplay fabrics, sewing patterns, and even her own sewing machine.

Yaya joins Matt to share her inspiring immigrant story, why online fandom is so powerful, her creative process, building her business in the early days of social media, the difference between re-creation and inspiration, how anime (literally) saved her life, and how she deals with online haters. She also takes the trivia challenge about some cinematic costume history!

Follow Yaya: https://www.instagram.com/yayahan/

Check out her website: https://www.yayahan.com/

And buy her book! https://www.amazon.com/Yaya-Hans-World-Cosplay-Costume/dp/1454932651/

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