Marigold Rush

MARCH PLAYMATE

Marigolds fill the pool, and I breathe in the verdant aroma as the florists trim their stems. In front of the lens I can move, flow and express myself completely.

I am naked; all around me, the energy is strong.

The confidence I feel today is the result of an ever-evolving journey of exploration and self-acceptance. Coming from a multicultural background—I was six years old when my family moved from Laos to the Virginia suburbs—I’ve always had a kaleidoscopic view of beauty standards, societal expectations and my own identity.

My dad first relocated to northern Virginia during the Vietnam war, and my mother went to an all-girls Catholic school in Thailand before she moved to Washington, D.C. at 17. I was raised with pretty traditional views surrounding femininity and sexuality.

The American school system wasn’t much help, and my relationship to my body was mostly informed by what I saw on television. It took years of curiosity and community building to get to a place where I felt grounded and comfortable in my own skin. Even now, at the age of 23, I’m still learning new things about my body!

After high school I went to New York and immediately fell in love with the rhythm and intensity of the city. But when I started modeling, I had to compete in an industry that prioritized skinny bodies and European features. I’ve struggled against those biases for most of my career.

It’s definitely shifted—but I don’t want companies to be inclusive merely because it’s a trend. I want people to lean into these conversations even though they can be uncomfortable; that’s how perspectives change. People should be able to open up magazines and see models of all shapes, sizes and races. They should be able to see images of women they can relate to.

I believe that empathy is the first step toward equality. We simply cannot let discrimination be indulged and privilege weaponized to divide people. We need to take the time to listen and educate instead of coming from a place of pain and anger.

That’s why one of my dreams is to invest in land in Laos. My father and I have a plan to open an orphanage and recruit teachers, because the educational system stops around middle school. And I want to start a nonprofit that will raise money to remove the leftover land mines still planted along the border of Laos and Vietnam.

I am a model with curves, a woman with Southeast Asian, Native American and European roots. I’m just proud to be me.

DATA SHEET

BIRTHPLACE: Nong Khai, Thailand

CURRENT CITY: New York City, New York

ON PARENT TRAPS

My parents separated when we moved to the States, and my mother raised me, my older sister and my younger brother as a single mom. When I was in high school my parents actually got back together. It was a real Parent Trap situation (sans twin-swapping), and they’ve been together ever since.

ON DESTINY

I was working with my dear friend Patricia Meier-Veit, who showed me her May 1993 Playmate pictorial in PLAYBOY Germany. I decided then, “I’m going to do PLAYBOY.” A few months later I was talking to my friend Fo Porter, the April 2019 Playmate, and she asked me how I would feel about posing for PLAYBOY. I told her, “I fucking love PLAYBOY! It would be a dream.” Next thing I know, I have an interview with the casting director, and two weeks later I’m locked in. I honestly feel like I spoke it into existence.

ON STAYING ALOFT

I recently heard a bit of good advice: You can’t fly like an eagle if you hang around with turkeys.

ON STAYING GROUNDED

In New York you’re constantly absorbing different people’s energies. It can become too intense if you don’t remove yourself from it. I like meditating, dancing around my room and going upstate to get out of the city.

ON GUILTY PLEASURES

Cheesy romantic movies. The Sex and the City movie, Pretty Woman, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days—I love them all. Eat Pray Love is fucking great.

ON SPRINGING FORWARD

Spring is one of my favorite seasons because it’s when things become new. Flowers bloom, the weather starts warming up.… It’s a transformative time when you can finally step out of your cocoon. Spread those wings!

ON PET PEEVES

People who litter. I usually give them a really dirty look and pick up whatever they’ve thrown on the ground. It’s somewhere between passive aggressive and fully aggressive.

ON GIVING BACK

The issues I raise awareness for are protecting indigenous people and their land, preserving the Amazon, fighting for racial justice and women’s rights, and helping the environment. I look up to strong women who advocate for these causes—including Channapha Khamvongsa, the founder and executive director of Legacies of War, an organization that seeks to address the problem of unexploded ordnance in my home country of Laos.