Rola’s path to stardom began with a chance encounter after she was scouted in Shibuya as a high school student. Today, the Bangladeshi-Japanese-Russian tarento is one of the most recognisable faces in Japanese advertising, and has amassed a massive social media following, bringing her global recognition.

*Top* JIAQI SHEN,
*trousers* JORDAN ARTHUR SMITH

PHOTOGRAPHER JACK WATERLOT

STYLIST JEAN CHUNG

INTERVIEWER ROBYN NGAN

Being in the spotlight and the public eye makes it diﬃcult to distinguish between reality and dreams. The line between perceived perfection and imperfection is ﬁne and unforgiving. Rola’s experience of this manifests itself through an angel and devil photoshoot concept: the balance between yin and yang, her personal conﬂicts. “As humans, we possess both yin and yang. I always liked the ‘angelic’ part of me which symbolised ‘being perfect’, but I detested the ‘devil’ inside,” the talent explains. Several years ago, Rola experienced a bout of depression – something she refers to as the ‘devil’ inside herself. She found it diﬃcult to accept. It presented a stark contrast to her happy-go-lucky and upbeat persona that people would see in her advertisements and television appearances.

*Bodysuit & dress* SEBASTIEN KWOK,
*shoes* BALENCIAGA

Her personal battle and acceptance of her depression brought with it a reevaluation of how she should be taking care of herself. Today, the tarento preaches balance. It’s not about rejecting parts of yourself you deem less palatable, it’s about understanding those parts. Rather than swallowing feelings, we should embrace them. We need to validate and honour those emotions. It’s diﬃcult to not be consumed by fear or sadness, but without these sensibilities, you can’t progress. The ‘devil’ within can be just as powerful – and is – just as important as the ‘angel’ we all believe to be more superior.

The Bangladeshi-Japanese-Russian model recalls how her upbringing now informs her work and her outlook on life. Born in Sayama in Saita prefecture in Japan, Rola moved to Bangladesh at the age of one where she spent the next seven years. “It was a real culture clash when I left Bangladesh, I was used to the farmland and nature. But in Japan, it’s all supermarkets and tall buildings. I learned to appreciate both – we love ﬁsh and mangoes in Japan as well!” she chuckled. In Bangladesh, the tarento lived amongst nature: bathing in the lake, picking her food from trees and raising farm chickens. In Japan, her life was the complete opposite: she lived in an apartment surrounded by manmade structures, not nature. She recounts that the adjustment was stressful, as a child who didn’t speak the local language, she felt lost. However, after learning the language and assimilating more into the culture, “I felt it in my heart, Japan is where I belong”.

With her mixed heritage background, Rola encountered what many third culture children experience: confusion. Moving around as a child is never easy, but moving to a place as homogenous as Japan is even more diﬃcult. “Being from Bangladesh and having South Indian heritage means my skin is darker than most Japanese people. Sometimes I felt I was neither nationality – and not knowing Japanese for many years made it even worse. But I was so blessed to have a twin brother to go through this experience with, he was a big help. For me now, home is wherever I am. And I appreciate that.” Although the social media star reﬂects with a positive outlook, you can’t misinterpret the somberness in her words. Rola has chosen a life of alacrity, with an ardour for life, but as many things do, this comes from a place of adversity.

Having moved to Bangladesh at one years old, Rola didn’t meet her biological mother until her return to Japan several years later. Whilst she didn’t have the most traditional upbringing, she attributes her free-spirited nature to her childhood and to the freedom her parents gave her growing up. Before modeling, she was a student who dreamed of becoming a biologist or a ﬂight attendant who could travel and meet people all over the world. Although she didn’t pursue either careers, it’s safe to say that Rola deﬁnitely achieved her dream of traveling and collaborating with people all over the globe.

Rola moved from an organic paradise to a concrete jungle, but her roots amongst nature aren’t lost. Establishing Studio R330, a sustainable lifestyle brand launched in 2020, the star pays homage to her Bangladeshi upbringing through sustainable practices and education, in addition to ethical sourcing of factories and materials. Born from her love of yoga and her use of meditation to cope with her depression, she sought to share her experiences and hobby with the Japanese market. A lifestyle brand that merges her current home of LA with her Bangladeshi-Japanese heritage, Rola brings new ﬂair to athleisure.

During the conception of Studio R330, Rola happened to be in Bangladesh. “I visited my countryside, and the river was ﬁlled with oil and plastic. The water was contaminated, all the ﬁsh were dead from the factory pollution. I was shocked, I would bathe in that water as a child. That’s what inspired the sustainable aspect of the brand. I’m very hands-on with this project. There were high costs in the beginning, and we encountered a lot of challenges but after much research and development we’re discovering the best ways to do things.” Studio R330, as Rola describes it, is not just about making products, it’s about creating conversation, generating media attention and providing education on sustainability whilst maintaining Japanese traditions for younger generations. It’s the small changes that make the big diﬀerences.

An activist for the environment and animal welfare, Rola emphasises that sustainability starts with small changes, which could be as simple as trying a vegan lifestyle. Nothing has to be 100 percent, but if you don’t try, who knows? – that’s Rola’s motto nowadays. “For me,I had diﬃculty thinking, ‘oh I’m not doing everything 100 percent right away’, you know? I realised it was too heavy to think like that. And that it’s okay that I can’t give 100 percent, even 50 percent is good too! Go little by little!” she enthusiastically preached.

“FOR ME, I HAD DIFFICULTY THINKING, ‘OH I’M NOT DOING EVERYTHING 100% RIGHT AWAY’, YOU KNOW? I REALISED IT WAS TOO HEAVY TO THINK LIKE THAT. AND THAT IT’S OKAY THAT I CAN’T GIVE 100 PERCENT, EVEN 50% IS GOOD TOO! GO LITTLE BY LITTLE!”

— ROLA

Ultimately, as Rola explains, her passion for sustainability begins with herself and how she treats herself. When you take care of yourself, and treat yourself with compassion, you will start to treat the world around you with the same kindness you receive. After years of working, modeling and acting, Rola has ﬁnally found balance in her life. Her escape to LA helped her realise that her focus should be her health – plus, she’s elated that no one recognises her there. She’s happy. Her acceptance of her depression and learning how to better take care of herself was something she wanted to share with her fans, her following, her world, thus manifesting itself as Studio R330. She reminds us that every day we grow, even if it’s only by a miniscule amount, it’s enough.

Before we concluded the interview, Rola shared with us her manifestation technique which she refuses to leave the house without ﬁrst doing. “I really want to share it with you,” she excitedly exclaimed, “I think it’s important to use essential oils when I do my manifestations and self-aﬃrmations in the mirror. It’s to open my senses. They say it takes humans three weeks to be conditioned [to do something]. I believe that’s true. I try to say ‘I am’ rather than ‘I want to be’; speak it into existence!” An avid practitioner of manifestation, Rola is a strong believer that preaching positivity can make you a more positive person. And for the cynics out there: fake it until you make it.

This cover story will be published in The WOW N° 8.

Issue8 pre-order available now.

Talent：ROLA

Photographer：JACK WATERLOT

Stylist：JEAN CHUNG

Hair：JENNI WIMMERSTEDT

Make-up：LAUREL CHARLESTON

Nails：MAMIE ONISHI

Special Thanks：ALEC NGUYEN (Film)

DREAM WITH ME

THROUGH OUR EYES

PERFECT BLUE