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Yaya Han
Chinese and American cosplayer (born 1980) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Yaya Han is a Chinese and American cosplayer, model, and costume designer based in the United States.[3] She is a regular judge at cosplay competitions.[4] Han was featured on the Syfy channel's Heroes of Cosplay,[5][6] and has appeared as a guest judge on TBS's King of the Nerds multiple times.[7]
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Early life
Han was born in Xian, China and spent her teenage years in Germany, where she was raised by her mother and stepfather.[8] She immigrated to America in 1998 where she later discovered cosplay at Anime Expo in 1999.[9] Her first cosplay was as Kurama from YuYu Hakusho.[10] She is entirely self-taught.[11]
Career
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In 2013, Han appeared in the Syfy show Heroes of Cosplay.[12] In the show she is framed as a master cosplayer who advises the younger cosplayers and, rather than competing in, is judging the cosplay competitions.[12] The show manufactured a conflict between Han and other famous cosplayer Jessica Nigri, who was also offered a spot on the show but declined.[13][14] She also found herself in controversy after making an allegedly fatphobic remark; she later clarified in her book that it was the result of editing by the show, which used her words out of context.[15] Han later revealed that the show pressured her exiting her competitive retirement in order to compete on the show.[16]
In 2015 and 2016, Han was featured in Marvel Cosplay Covers as Medusa and Scarlet Witch respectively.[17][18] She later appeared in the Marvel video series "Marvel Becoming" where she was captured getting into cosplay as Gamora and Scarlet Witch.[19][20]
In 2016, Han released a fabric line through JOANN Fabric & Craft Stores which aimed to make cosplay more accessible.[21] After the closure of JOANN in 2025, she started to distribute the fabric line through Mood Fabrics and Linda's.[22]
In 2021, Riot Games sponsored Han to cosplay the League of Legends champion Vayne, who was recently updated in celebration of the new 2021 season.[23] That year she also promoted the Netflix show "Shadow and Bone" by cosplaying one of the show's characters and, in cosplay, interviewing actors from the show.[24] In 2021, she also promoted Dungeon Fighter Overkill and Resident Evil Village by creating full cosplays of characters from the games.[25][26]
In 2023, Han collaborated with bernette to release the bernette 79 Yaya Han Edition sewing machine, which she designed.[27][28] In 2025, she followed this up with the release of the bernette 38 Yaya Han Edition sewing machine.[29][30] These sewing machines, also equipped with the ability to embroider, aimed to provide users with versality and functionality.[28][30]
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Personal life
Han is fluent in Chinese, German, and English.[11] She identifies as German, but in recent years has started reclaiming her Chinese heritage.[8] Han currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia.[11]
Bibliography
- Yaya Han's World of Cosplay: A Guide to Fandom Costume Culture (2020). Union Square & Co. ISBN 9781454932659
- 1000 incredible costume & cosplay ideas : a showcase of creative characters from anime, manga, video games, movies, comics and more! (2013) – with Allison DeBlasio & Joey Marcsocci. Quarry Books. ISBN 9781592536986
Filmography
References
External links
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