MODELLING STAR

AGED just 17 and still living with her family, Rina Fukushi has seen more of the world than most Japanese schoolgirls.

She is the newest model sensation making waves in Europe and New York, wowing on the runway for the likes of Miu Miu and Marc Jacobs when not chowing down on hamburgers or playing with her little brother.

Discovered at 14, hailed by Vogue as “ultra-cool” and “eyecatching” with her enormous eyes, thick eyebrows and beesting lips, she is already the veteran of seasons in Paris, Milan and New York — giving American models Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner a run for their money.

“I always believed I could be a star from the moment I was scouted.

“But at the same time, I still can’t believe it’s real,” said Fukushi, delightfully friendly and giggly, yet equally self-assured for her age.

She arrived early for an interview, taking time out from her packed schedule at Tokyo Fashion Week to meet at a cafe.

Quick to laugh, she is a dab hand at sign language to ease gaps in lost-in-Japanese-English translation, yet both shy and vivacious, faultlessly polite and totally absorbed in the world of fashion.

A girl who loves to rummage around vintage stores whenever she is travelling, she dressedfor the interview in black — mini skirt from Paris, turtleneck from Japan — and a brown handbag from Milan.

Her schedule is punishing: she is up at 7am, rushes from show to show, working until 10pm and finally falls into bed at 1am.

In between it all, she is studying, which she does online to fit around her schedule. Wearing no make-up, her face is radiant with natural beauty and her dark brown hair falls just below the shoulder.

Described in the Japanese fashion press as “exotic”, Fukushi is the daughter of a Spanish-Filipino mother and a Japanese-American father.

Born in Manila, the Philippines, the family returned to Japan when she was a baby, and she grew up in Tokyo.