Kimono dress looks too good on her! Model and YouTuber Ella Freyja at the Cannes Film Festival

2024-06-06

It was a sparkling and wonderful time, as if I was a character in a movie.”

Ella Freya, 26, an influencer from the Netherlands with over 3 million followers, recalls how she attracted attention at the 77th Cannes International Film Festival wearing a “kimono dress” created by fashion designer MUNETAKA YOKOYAMA. “It’s a dress, but it has an obi,” she recalls.

It was a dress, but it had an obi, and it showed the beauty of the kimono. I want people all over the world to know the beauty of the kimono, and I hope that wearing a kimono dress will encourage foreigners to try it on as well, since I am Dutch.

When I looked at myself in the mirror wearing a kimono dress and having bright red lipstick applied, I saw an elegant yet sexy Ella. I was surprised that it was me, but not me.

On my way to the venue, I was approached and photographed everywhere. She said she was praised as “Marilyn Monroe reincarnated,” “as pretty as Taylor Swift,” and “I thought you were Miranda Kerr.” She laughs, saying that she was more horrified than pleased by the praise, but she was pleased to be described as a “modern-day Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn Monroe is known around the world as a sexy icon and a woman in love, but she also spent her childhood in an orphanage, studied acting hard after her success in Hollywood, and actually worked in a canning factory to play a woman who worked there.

Her smile is innocent and fresh without any trace of such hardships and efforts, and I think she is a real star. I was happy to be told that she resembles someone I admire so much.”

Ella became interested in Japanese anime and fashion at the age of 13, and came to Japan for the first time in ’19 when she was 21. In 2011, she became the face model for the heroine Ashley in “Resident Evil RE:4” and became a topic of conversation.

She is popular for her walks around famous places in various parts of Japan, and she continues to transmit her message on SNS, saying, “I want to tell the world about the wonderful culture and performing arts of Japan.

She has attracted many fans and is active in a wide range of fields. She was the first foreign model appointed by Shimamura, Japan’s second largest clothing chain store after Uniqlo. She is also expanding her field of activities, as reported in this magazine when she took on the runway as a model for the new “Alice and the Pirates” collection. This time, she made the leap to the Cannes International Film Festival, which is held on the Riviera coast of southern France.

It takes about one and a half hours by plane from Amsterdam to Nice in the south of France. I was enjoying a vacation in Nice for four days. Nice is a cute town that looks like it could be in a Ghibli movie, and I took many pictures of it. The sea in Nice is very beautiful emerald green, but when I was swimming, it suddenly became so deep that I was surprised that I could not catch my footing (laugh).

I am a good swimmer because the Netherlands is located on the sea. When I was little, I used to rent a boat with my family and play swimming. I am good at breaststroke.”

The festival, considered the pinnacle of film festivals, brings together filmmakers and actors from around the world to compete for awards. During the festival period (May 14-25), the entire city of Cannes was enveloped in the colorful atmosphere of the festival. The red-carpeted staircase is called the “Red Carpet” and is the symbol of the Cannes International Film Festival.

The stars shone brightly as they ascended the red-carpeted staircase. The red kimono dress I wore matched the red carpet, and I was thrilled to have so many pictures taken of me and so many people cheering for me.

She smiles and says that being able to visit Cannes during the festival was a memory that will last a lifetime. She is now back home in the Netherlands as she travels back and forth between the Netherlands and Japan.

I am currently in Amsterdam doing yoga, meditation, and studying psychology. I am researching Dutch traditional costumes and Japanese kimonos. I wonder why traditional costumes are so difficult to wear.

When the weather gets cooler, I would like to learn how to wear a kimono in Japan. I want to be able to express the new Ella with what I learned at Cannes and in Amsterdam.”

She said with a pure and innocent smile like Marilyn Monroe. Maybe one day we will see Ella walking the Cannes red carpet as an actress.