Xu Meen

Xu Meen is a South Korean model whose route into fashion began after studying Japanese education and completing teaching practice. Known as Kim Sumin in Korea, he developed an international career with IMG, with his shaved head and eyebrows becoming a recognizable part of his early fashion image.

Before modeling, Xu lived in Japan and later worked at H&M in Seoul’s Myeongdong district. In a 2017 interview with W Korea, he recalled accompanying a friend preparing for Seoul’s collections and unexpectedly being cast himself. Work for Korean designers followed, then international runway appearances for houses including Rick Owens and Berluti.

His distinctive casting also prompted a wish to broaden the roles available to him. “I want to break down barriers and approach things in different ways,” he told the magazine, translated from Korean. He also spoke about becoming a casting director who could help expand the industry’s ideas of beauty, an ambition informed by his own experience of being cast for a very specific character.

Designer advertising became an important part of Xu’s international career. He appeared in Givenchy’s fall-winter 2018 campaign, followed by G Givenchy’s fall-winter 2019 advertising. Subsequent work included campaigns for COS and Berluti, alongside magazine appearances in Vogue Italia and GQ Korea.

His image has also found a place beyond fashion photography. Xu supplied the likeness of Jack, the central character in the video game Ghostrunner. A cover story for Numéro Netherlands in 2024 placed him in another futuristic setting, while his runway career continued across houses including Jil Sander and Maison Margiela.

These different forms of image-making extend a career that began with an unexpected casting, giving his recognizable appearance new characters to inhabit.