No doubt Most Beautiful Asian model is Japanese Model Tao Okamoto - 'Wolverine'

THE STORY OF HOW Tao Okamoto found modelling is a classic. “When I was in junior high I was walking down the street and this guy just came to me,” she recounted to Stylecaster.com. “Then I thought like, oh, maybe I can do something to use my height and looks.”

Born on May 22, 1987 in Tokyo, Japan, Okamoto, plucked off the street like countless other beauties before her, sought the approval of her parents before she took the plunge. They advised her to get herself a good agent, and so she sent some pictures of herself to a local model agency. After being taken on, Tao worked in Japan for five years before moving to France in 2006, where she made her debut on the Paris runways for Ungaro and Martin Grant.

MODEL HEIGHTS IN NEW YORK

But it was when she moved to New York in 2007 that Okamoto rapidly became a designer’s favourite, initially doing runway for Marc Jacobs, plus a Moschino ad campaign shot by Peter Lindbergh. The distinctive feature that catalysed her success was her hair — a beautiful Vidal Sassoon-style black bowl-cut bob, last seen on Sixties supermodel Peggy Moffitt. It led to her being cast in dozens of shows, most notably that of designer Phillip Lim, who liked her cut so much that he decided that all the girls in his fall 2009 show should sport the same hairdo. “It was amazing,” remembers Okamoto. “I thought he was joking when he first told me.”

From there Tao has gone from strength to strength, working for designers such as Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Armani, D&G, Tommy Hilfiger, Kenzo, Kenneth Cole, Gap and Benetton. In 2009 the Japanese native became the face of Ralph Lauren, and in November of that year VogueJapan dedicated a whole issue to her.

THE WOLVERINE GIRL'S BOYFRIEND?

Currently ranked at number 30 in Models.com's hot girls, Okamoto recently branched out into film, reaching the Hollywood heights as the character Mariko Yashida, Hugh Jackman’s love interest, inThe Wolverine, in which our hero travels to Japan to train with a samurai warrior.

Okamoto, who remains cagey about who she is currently dating, confessed that when she was younger she once had an English boyfriend while studying as an exchange student, who was less than comfortable with her interest in Jackman. “He was very jealous that I liked Hugh Jackman so much,” she recalled.

ASIA'S NEW HEIGHT

Like many other stars of modelling and movies, Okamoto’s success is not simply down to talent, but also timing. As the East Asian nations grow in economic power, producing a constant stream of wealthy new customers in its wake, the entertainment industry has responded in reflecting the aesthetic of these new entrants. It is the beginning of a trend that looks set to intensify.

FROM FASHION TO FILM: Japanese beauty Tao Okamoto is one of the new crop of Asian girls currently making waves in fashion. The Asian model ranks at no. 30 in models.com's list of top supermodels and is a regular in the pages of the Asian editions of Vogue. She stars opposite Hugh Jackman in Wolverine, the movie.