Suicide Blonde? The Loss of Korean Model Daul Kim, age 20
Korean supermodel Daul Kim was found dead yesterday, hanged in her Paris apartment. At this time police believe it was a suicide.
This is the second high profile model suicide in a relatively short time. Last June, Kazakh model Ruslana Korshunova was reported as jumping to her death from her high-rise apartment. She was also 20 years old.
Do you remember 20? The crazy/beautiful time when you and the world before you was just starting to bloom? Maybe for these girls life had fast forwarded too far due to rich and possibly rewarding experiences they were having. You can’t fast forward biology, self-esteem, wisdom and everything else that carries you through as you advance in age. At 20 years old, your mettle is still being tested, and you barely know what you are made of. There are seemingly insurmountable insecurities to overcome. Without the ability to handle pressures and lacking a good support system, depression can make suicide seem like a reasonable option.
The loss of Daul Kim is not only tragic for her family, but to anyone that enjoyed her work as a photogenic face and an interesting blog writer. Few Asians are prominent faces in modeling, with much in the past reserved for “quirky” and “weird”. Kim fit a standard beauty while remaining exotic. She seemed to be a positive role model.
It would almost be easier to process if she was murdered. The modeling industry can be especially brutal to those they use the most. Her blog clearly stated some dissatisfaction. Comments to catch are those where people thought she must be happy because she had it “all”. What is your all? You need to define it to get it, and rarely do material possessions make the most critical on a list. Most humans value true connections.
If this is ruled a suicide, how can agencies better protect the mental health of their clients? First models are dying on the runway from eating disorders, and now suicide is en vogue? We need to start looking for ways to kill with kindness. These are children.
