Yaya Han
American cosplayer, model and costume designer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yaya Han is a Chinese–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 the TBS reality show King of the Nerds multiple times.[7]
Yaya Han | |
|---|---|
Yaya Han at DragonCon 2012 | |
| Born | April 10, 1980[1][2] |
| Citizenship | American |
| Occupations | Cosplayer, model and costume designer |
| Modeling information | |
| Height | 5 ft 1 in (155 cm) |
| Hair color | black |
| Eye color | light brown |
| Website | www |
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
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]
Personal life
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
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Heroes of Cosplay | Herself | [31] | |
| 2013, 2014 | King of the Nerds | Herself | Guest Judge | [32] |
| 2014 | Archangel: From the Winter's End Chronicles | Jasmin Synn | [31] | |
| 2016 | Archangel: Deadliest of the Species | Jasmin Synn | [31] | |
| 2018 | Cosplay Universe | Herself |
