Linda Le

Born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma to a family of Vietnamese immigrants,^[5] Le moved to and grew up in San Jose, California^[3] where she graduated with a business degree from San Jose State University while doing various odd jobs.^[9] She later studied hairstyling from Paul Mitchell's in the U.S., Toni & Guy in London,^[5] as well as in Tokyo,^[10] before returning to America where she began teaching makeup and modeling. She has been dressing up as classic anime and video game characters since she was 12.^[7]

Her early fame came after some of her cosplays were featured in the showcase book Otacool 2^[11] by Japanese toy and collectible company Kotobukiya.^[12] Le then collaborated with Street Fighter artist Long Vo to create artwork and a comic for Udon Entertainment's book VENT, as well as with Sideshow Collectibles' sculptor Tim Miller, theCHIVE,^[13][14] Gibson Guitar Corporation,^[15] KusoVinyl,^[7] Myx TV,^[16][17] Manga Entertainment UK and Bang Zoom! Entertainment,^[18] Jessica Chobot,^[19] and other artists and companies in the USA and Japan.^[20] Le is a part of costume and armor prop-making group Team Mantium Designs,^[20] later renamed Mantium Industries,^[21] and a video gamer sponsored by Mad Catz.^[20] Le has been writing a column for YouBentMyWookie^[22] and in 2012 she joined Nerdist Industries to produce Just Cos, an Internet show about the world of cosplay, co-hosted by Chloe Dykstra.^[23] Le was a member of Kat Gunn's professional gaming and cosplay team, Less Than 3 (LT3), which was also sponsored by Mad Catz.^[24] FHM Singapore featured her in the December 2013 issue, including on the cover.^[25][26]

Among her popular cosplay performances are Psylocke from X-Men,^[27][28][29] and Morrigan Aensland from Darkstalkers.^{[10][28][30][31]} In 2013 interviews, Le said she works "almost 15 hour days" and sleeps a maximum of 4 hours, her favorite costume so far was the one of Teresa from Claymore,^[12] the most ambitious costume was Morrigan's, and the oddest costume request she has got was "the almost-naked Kasumi from Dead or Alive."^[26] She has been to over 200 American fan conventions between 2008 and 2013,^[5] when she has decided to "take some time off" later that year.^[32] Amped Asia in 2010 called her "probably the #1 most universally attractive Asian girl on the planet due to her geekiness (and sexiness too)."^[31] IGN in 2011 opined "her cosplay skill is off the charts."^[10] According to Kotaku in 2012, "Linda is a cosplay machine, renowned not just for the quality of her costumes, but their variety as well;"^[33] Kotaku has also previously described her as "incredibly attractive" and her works as "amazing".^[34] Asked in 2013 as where she sees herself in 20 years from now, Le answered: "Cosplay is great, but I can't be doing it forever ... Hopefully, I'll have my own costume line, come up with toys and do something related to the arts scene."^[5]

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