Hi everyone, today we are glad to announce that we have the famous fashion designer, portrait model, and cosplayer, May Sakaali, with us for interview.
May is activating at Instagram (38.3K followers), Facebook (40.2K followers), and Twitter (6.8K followers). Fans include Mexico, United States, Japan, Taiwan, and other countries.
Catalog
All handmade costume! A professional fashion designer
Mexi Town (MT from here)
May, thank you very much for taking our interview, we’re excited to know more about you.
First of all, can you please tell us who you are and where you are from?
May Sakaali (May from here)
Hi everyone, my name is May Sakaali and I am honored to be invited for this interview.
I am from Durango Mexico and I have been doing portrait model and cosplayer for 10 years with photographer, Fano Guijarro. He is also from Durango.
Durango is famous with scorpions (☺). It is easy to find a living one in many places and some people use it to make scorpion dishes. We have a lot of mountains with beautiful skyline and great sunset. I really recommend everyone comes to visit our amazing landscapes.
MT：
Scorpion dishes!? That sounds scary but I would like to try it once in my life. A beautiful sky line and great sunset is not easy to be seen in Japan, it would be great to visit.
What inspired you to start portrait modeling and cosplaying, and when was it?
May
It started from my passion of dressing up as a different person (cosplaying) and outfit making. Back to 2007, there was a cosplay convention in Durango and I dressed up the Japanese seifuku (a.k.a. sailor fuku) to join. It was a lot of fun so I went again next year.
Couple years later, I made portrait model and cosplayer as my career since 2011. As a fashion designer, all costumes and outfits that I wear are handmade from cloth or modified by me, with very May’s original tastes and personal touches
MT
You make your own costumes? That is amazing!
Where did you learn sewing and outfit making? Why do you want to make your costume?
May
It was a kind of family tradition. Since I was a little child, I learned some basic sewing skills from my mom and grandma. When I studied at University, my major was Fashion Design Marketing and I got a degree of it. At there, not only the sewing skills but also concept create and ways of presentation help a lot to my modeling career.
I like to make my costumes because commercial products have some defects like:
Mostly are one-size-fits-all (sometimes too big, sometimes too small)
Not using good fabric or material to make (not quite comfortable to wear)
Limited choices (I have much more characters that I want to be)
Usually it takes me 2 to 4 weeks to make 1 costume but it totally worth the efforts.
MT
That’s nice! You literally have a lot of passion and skills of it.
I can see many Japan factors in your photos even when it’s not anime cosplaying. What do you like about Japan and what was the first thing makes you start to like Japan?
Big fan of Harajuku fashion and anime
May
There are so many things that I like about Japan, I don’t know where to start (🤗).
Because I was studying in Fashion Design Marketing, I had the opportunity to know the Harajuku fashion and that opened my mind because it is such a thing that I have never seen. It is so different than Mexico’s fashion and the more I discover it, the more I like it. Plus, I like anime so doing cosplay is very nature to me.
Other things I like are the big city and tall buildings, just like the Tokyo and Osaka. They have the modern feeling that we can’t really get here in Durango.
MT
Yes, the Harajuku fashion and anime are very famous in the world, what anime do you like and how do you watch them in Mexico?
May
When I was a little child, the very first one that I watched was POKEMON, but at that time I was too young to realize it’s an anime. The first one I watched and recognized as anime was YU-GI-OH! And now I am also a fan of Fate/stay night series and some others.
In the past, the only option to watch anime was by TV but now thanks to the high speed internet and streaming video services like Netflix, we can watch more anime online.
MT
We are in a good era with many convenience services. Have you been to Japan? If yes, what made you want to go?
May
Yes! I have traveled to Japan with Fano at March 2019. Japan was so clean and beautiful, and I had a lot of good memories over there. I also went to see the SAKURA.
Dreaming of Japan, the soul touching SAKURA
Many years ago, I have had a dream of a giant pink tree and it falls flowers/leaf in a river next to the tree and makes it into a pink river. At that time, I was still very young and didn’t know anything about SAKURA, not even the name. But that dream was so beautiful so I always remember it.
Many years later, I believe it was the year of 2017 when I flew to Mexico City, a Japan travel poster in the airport caught my eyes. It was a SAKURA tree next to a river, and the river is full of SAKURA and looks like a pink river. I was stunned by this poster because it is exactly the same scene as the dream that I had.
Since that, I decided that I must go visit this country and 2 years later, I went to Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka because I want to see the modern Tokyo, tradition Osaka, and my Japanese teacher’s hometown Fukuoka.
MT
That must feel like a dream come true! How was your travel in Japan?
May
In Tokyo, I went to Harajuku, Shibuya, and many other places. The big city and giant buildings always makes me exciting and it is unbelievably clean. I rented a KIMONO to try on and walk in the city. At that moment, I really felt the kimono culture, and it was such a great experience! 😊
In Osaka, I felt more tradition culture, very good old tastes of a city with many kind people. I like the small street that has many IZAKAYA in it. I took some photos of me with the streets but I didn’t get in any IZAKAYA. Next time I must try it.
In Fukuoka, I went to Itoshima and I had seen a lot of Japan countryside beautiful views, especially the place that is full of SAKURA. It was so beautiful and when I was under the SAKURA trees, it feels like that I am dissolving into the scene (🤗).
MT
That is a fantastic experience. You recently have collaboration with a Tequila AGAVE BOOM, can you tell us about it?
Tequila, the iconic drinks of Mexico!
May
Yes, with pleasure! It was the business owner, Ray from Ray Trading, approached me with the idea of May as the brand ambassador for Tequila AGAVE BOOM in Japan, with my Mexico style costumes.
The 4 characters that we do are Mariachi chan (mariachi style costume), Mexico chan (green, white, red outfit), Muñeca Mexicana (Mexico doll dress), and Adelita (legendary female solider). All of them represent Mexico’s culture and history and are in perfect match with the most iconic drink of Mexico, the TEQUILA!
MT
We’re very glad to hear that (🤗).
Before this collaboration, what was your image to Tequila? And after being the brand ambassador, how does it change your image to Tequila?
May
Before being the ambassador for AGAVE BOOM, I knew nearly nothing about Tequila. However, in order to be the brand ambassador, I studied a lot about Tequila and agave. I found out that Tequila is more than an alcohol to get drunk, it is about savoring the agave flavors and craftsmanship. I am very proud to represent it.
Cocktails like margarita and cantarito are very ideal way to enjoy Tequila. AGAVE BOOM is full of fun party sensation with smooth taste but not spicy. I recommend it to all people, especially to Tequila amateurs.
MT
Thank you for your comments for Tequila AGAVE BOOM. Do you have something that you may want to challenge in the soon future?
May
I would like to keep improving what I am doing, the fashion design and portrait modeling. I don’t limit myself into certain things and I believe that as long as I take care of my works and being responsible to people, life will offer me more than I can image.
MT
You have a very good sense of art and a responsible mind. I believe much more opportunities are waiting for you in the future.
At the very end, can you please give us a message to Japan?
See you in Japan
May
Of course! I am a big fan of Japan, and many of my designs are deeply influenced by Japanese fashion and culture. I would want my photos and videos to be seen by more people in Japan.
It was a great experience to visit Japan and I am really looking forward to visit again as soon as possible. I would like to live in Japan for a while, improve my Japanese, and work as a fashion designer/model with the people I admire there. We don’t know when the COVID will end and the travel can be back to normal, but when that time comes, let’s meet in Japan!
MT
Thank you very much for today’s interview. We’re looking forward to meet you in Japan. Muchas gracias.
May
Muchas gracias.
Editor’s note
May Sakaali is a professional model and fashion designer who we met in Mexico. Cosplaying and modeling are popular in Mexico but it is very rare to find a model who is dedicating in making all his/her outfits and costumes.
May’s photos are more than a pretty lady puts on fancy clothes, she always thinks about new themes and characters and creates different concepts for audiences. Very different from most people would misunderstand about that models only do easy jobs.
It is an honor to have May for this interview and we invite you to check on May’s SNS.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/may.sakaali/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/may.sakaali
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/maysakaali
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