COLUMN: Carillon Flashback August 14, 1991 – Steinbach twin models returning to Japan

While many teenagers their age have just graduated from high school and are beginning to think about leaving home, Steinbach twins Lisa and Leilani Dyck have already modelled internationally and are planning a second trip to Japan.

The girls took a two-month break from high school last winter to model in Japan, doing photo shoots for everything from pamphlets and magazine advertisements to billboards and television commercials.

Lisa was the first to venture from home in February and Leilani followed her in March and stayed a month later. The girls lived in Tokyo during their two-month stay in Japan, although various jobs took them to other locations.

The adjustment to life away from home was not all that difficult for the twins, who say they never felt “sheltered” growing up in Steinbach. As children, they travelled extensively with their parents, Peter and Aida Dyck.

“We’ve been dancing in Winnipeg since we were four.”

The girls got their start in modelling when they were 11 years old, at charity hair shows for their Winnipeg hairdresser.

When Lisa and Leilani were 15, they decided to do some testing and in 1990, their agent invited them to be part of a promotional package for the Japanese market.

Apparently, the Steinbach teenagers provided the fresh, young look the Japanese were after. The girls, who stand just under five-and-a-half feet, are short for other markets.

The promise of good money also attracted the Steinbach twins, who would have the opportunity to make upwards of $20,000 for two months work, although expenses and taxes would take half of that amount.

The twins said the chance to experience a completely different culture was a real draw and their twin status gave their Japanese manager an edge when negotiating for his clients. Since the twins did not know the language, they relied on a bilingual manager to book work for them, while they sat quietly, “smiling a lot.”

The twins found returning home to school and moving back in with their parents more of an adjustment than leaving for a two-month modelling trip to Japan. But they managed to pick up just where they left off and graduated with high marks.

Although the girls are returning to Japan together for another two-month work term as models, they don’t plan to make modelling their careers. They plan to use the modelling money they earn to attend university next fall, where they likely will be taking science courses for their first year.

with files from Carol Thiessen