Yaya Han is an USA-based costume designer, model and cosplay entertainer with over 12 years of experience. After discovering cosplay at her first con, Anime Expo 1999, over a decade ago, she quickly absorbed the heart and soul of costume design and creation. To this day Yaya has made well over 200 costumes in the genres of anime/manga, comic books, video games, sci-fi and of course from her own original designs. Her intricate and lavish creations have won many awards and acclaim world wide, and Yaya has been featured in a myriad of magazines, books, calendars, websites, and television programming. Commercially, Yaya runs a successful cosplay accessories business and travels to over 20 conventions per year, her visage has been drawn, painted and sculpted by many professional artists and she takes on various modeling and acting jobs in her spare time. Additionally, Yaya has taught a multitude of panels on costume craftsmanship, presentation, sociolofgy of cosplay, makeup, wigs and more; judged/hosted countless costume contests and performed in front of many peers and fans on stage. Over the past several years, Yaya has traveled to a long roster of conventions and events within the USA as well as internationally to Italy, Mexico, Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland, Russia, Germany and Brazil as a Guest of Honor. Yaya is a strong advocate of preserving cosplay as an art form and encourages and mentors new cosplayers to improve their craftsmanship constantly. She is viewed as the inspiration to start cosplaying for many cosplayers, and as an ambassador for the US-cosplay scene striving to bring cosplay around the world closer. Yaya is also one of the driving forces behind the cosplay charity calendar Cosplay For a Cause, with all proceeds being donated to the Japanese Red Cross directly benefiting the disaster relief. For more information, visit www.yayahan.com

Tags: cosplay, costuming, industry