CREATIVES

The next gen

ELLE’S NEXT GEN AWARDS CELEBRATE AUSTRALIA’S BEST UP-AND-COMING TALENT — THE PEOPLE IN FASHION, BEAUTY, CINEMA, MUSIC AND ART WHO ARE ON THE BRINK OF GREAT SUCCESS. AHEAD, MEET OUR WINNERS

PHOTOGRAPHED BY ALEXANDER COOKE STYLED BY JORDAN BOORMAN WORDS BY BREE PLAYER

Yerin Ha wears Fendi jacket, $17,150; Swarovski earrings, $229.

YERIN Ha

ACTOR

From the moment Yerin Ha could walk, she was performing. “My mum always tells me I’d dance naked in the living room, breaking a sweat,” she recalls. “Whenever people came over for dinner, I had a concert ready to go.”

Raised on Sydney’s North Shore, she danced and auditioned for every school musical before making a life-altering decision at 15: to move to Korea and attend a performing arts high school. “I was struggling to see people like me on screen in Australia,” she says. “In Korea, I was the majority and I thought, Why not try?”

This year, Ha stepped into the role that will define her on a global scale: Sophie, the romantic lead in the next season of Bridgerton. The audition was a whirlwind, involving a self-tape, a callback and a chemistry read, and within weeks, she got the call while in Gangnam with her mum. “I’ll always remember the exact spot,” she says. “I literally jumped for joy.”

Ha’s acutely aware of what comes next. Bridgerton is one of the most-watched series in Netflix history, and as Sophie, she will be front and centre. “I’m taking it day by day,” she says of the upcoming press tour. “If I overthink it, it’s overwhelming. But when you’ve worked so hard, you have to celebrate it.”

Amid the frenzy, Ha is returning to her roots with The Maids at London’s Donmar Warehouse — her first stage role in six years. “Theatre flexes a different muscle,” she says. “It reignites the passion.”

Rowi Singh wears Acne Studios shirt, $1050, and jeans, $910; Emporio Armani tie, $210; earrings (from front) Swarovski large hoops, $279, small hoops, $229, and four-hoops, $279; Singh’s own stud.

ROWI Singh

BEAUTY STAR

Makeup has never been about playing it safe for Rowi Singh. “It wasn’t a tool to make myself feel more beautiful,” says the makeup artist, content creator and founder of beauty brand Embellish by Rowi. “It was an escape. My artform.”