On the Q train to Brooklyn, a tall girl in white-lace stockings sits cross-legged with her nose in a Shakespeare play. Her curtain bangs fall over her glasses. Marcella Antiko is reading for her theatre class tomorrow and heading home from a casting for New York Fashion Week.
Antiko is a senior at Marymount Manhattan College concentrating in Theatre and New Media. After graduating from Santa Monica College in Los Angeles with an Associates degree two years ago, she moved to New York to continue pursuing her education and further her modeling career. On Valentine’s Day at Lavan Midtown, Antiko walked the runway for the Spring ‘26 Asain NYFW, striding the stage in orchid purple stockings and a sky-blue dress layered with hot-pink spirals. The outfit was designed by the Indonesian designer Karina Nasywa Bakri on the theme: Heritage meets Innovation.
“New York is more accessible to building connections with designers in this industry, for people who don’t know anybody to know somebody, whereas LA is much more exclusive for people who already know everyone,” Antiko said.
Originally from Jakarta, Antiko grew up watching reality shows, namely Asian and American Next Top Model and dreamed about the runway as a fantasy world to escape reality. From curating outfits and browsing fashion magazines, Antiko’s passion for fashion grew, making her want to be a Fashion Designer. While exploring modeling opportunities, she got involved in volunteering backstage at LA Fashion Week over the next two years.
Volunteering for LAFW and meeting different models offered her exposure to the industry, and through those connections, she found casting calls on Instagram broadcast channels. While still at Santa Monica College, Antiko chased after runway opportunities in New York for a week in the spring of 2024. Unfortunately, she ended up with zero callbacks. Nevertheless, she wasn’t ready to give up, so she moved across the country, returning to NYC, and continued auditioning for the same shows. Since the fall of 2025, Antiko has walked in over 10 different shows for NYFW and has got the ball rolling in the Big Apple.
Despite the brief triumphs in securing callbacks, it hasn’t all been a cakewalk. While navigating this industry, Antiko had to learn to stand up for herself, tolerate how her hair and makeup get done, and speak up when it’s necessary.
“Some makeup artists do not know how to do asian eyes, and I feel a bit scared to tell them about it as I don’t want to stab their boundaries or hinder their vision for the show, but sometimes it is important.” Antiko says that learning to say no to certain outfits that may be too revealing is also important, as the designer might just assume that you consent to it.
“Models aren’t mannequins, they have feelings and vulnerabilities too,” adds Antiko.
Although she spends most of her free hours pursuing modeling, school is still the No. 1 priority to Antiko as she attends auditions in between classes and shows when she has a day off. Since NYFW always happens around the second week of school, Antiko isn’t yet swamped with a pile of assignments.
“For me, NYFW is a week where your hallucinations come alive as New Yorkers dress crazy at every corner of the city.” If it were up to her, she would like it to be every day. Antiko describes the experience of modeling as becoming a character that comes alive in that outfit. “I feel like I can fly”, under that state of euphoria, she emits the energy of a butterfly.
Three days ahead of the show, Antiko gets hydrated, eats bananas, Caesar salads, and avoids energy drinks and dairy as she is lactose intolerant, but likes to tempt fate at times.
“Models do eat; some productions may give you food, but otherwise I carry an energy bar as my hair and makeup takes about 5 hours.”
As an Asian, Antiko finds the runway as an opportunity to represent Asian designers and tell stories through the fabric. Her perception of race has evolved as she moved across the world. “In Jakarta, people looked like me, so my perception of race was subconsciously different from living in LA and NYC, but there’s definitely not as much diversity as I like, and it fluctuates.”
Antiko is currently building her modeling portfolio, absorbing inspirations for creative freedom in fashion, and hopes to continue her passion for runway even after graduation.
“It’s either connections or a crazy resume that lets you pay the bills from walking the runway, so I’m stacking up my resume.”
Fact-checking edits made March 3, 2026.
