Nikita Yeung: Strings of Reinvention
Text: VIONNE Magazine | Model: Nikita Yeung
Photographer: Xiaoyu | Fashion: COCO MA LINGLI
How music became Nikitas therapy—and her platform
In early 2020, Nikita Yeung was poised for fashion stardom — three international campaigns lined up, a ticket to Milan Fashion Week booked. Then the pandemic hit. Suddenly, everything stopped. “I stood in front of the mirror wearing expensive sample clothes, yet I couldn’t even scrape together rent for the next month,” she recalls.
One rainy night, surrounded by uncertainty, she unearthed her mother’s old guitar — a forgotten birthday gift. With no lessons and bleeding fingers, she taught herself chords from YouTube and began posting raw clips titled “A laid-off model’s music diary.” To her surprise, strangers resonated. One comment read: “Your voice gave me the courage to send another resume.”
As her videos gained traction, Nikita found herself letting go of runway pressures. She traded diets for songwriting, and makeup tutorials for chord progressions. A fan's livestream question — “Why not start a band?” — sparked a new chapter. Soon she was rehearsing with two others: a tech worker on bass, and a music grad on keys. Their debut track, Ocean Never Ends, hit indie charts — and caught the eye of AURIGA Guitars.
The brand messaged her: “Your resilience is what our guitars are about.” In 2022, Nikita stood on stage as AURIGA’s brand ambassador, performing Strings Against the Light on a custom guitar. “It felt like the moment everything came full circle,” she says.
Now fronting her band and touring, Nikita still models occasionally, but music has become her true stage. “I didn’t leave fashion,” she smiles. “I just found a space that fits me better.”
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