People: How many models can listen to an engine and say "Hmmm... you've got a gasket leak" ?

Source
Date: 8 November 1993
Publication: Time International pp55
Author: Emily Mitchell

JENNY SHIMIZU, 22, can, because until five months ago she was an auto mechanic in East Hollywood. The granddaughter of Japanese immigrants, she was a tomboy who went to trade school, learning all about carburetors and manifolds. "Guys thought of me as a grimy girl as fearless as they were," she says. Not always. After appearing in a music video, she is now the hottest model on the Paris-Milan runways. The lady astride a monkey wrench is only one of Shimizu's four tattoos -- all of them real. Her too.

Video of the day: Jenny Shimizu interviewed at the Dinah Shore event March 07 by Grace Moon of VelvetPark

read the article: Hell Bent on Leather, Riding High with Jenny Shimizu

Hell Bent for Leather, Riding High with Jenny Shimizu

Source: Velvetparkmedia.com
Date: 26 January 2008
Publication: Arts & Culture
Author: Michele Fleury


It was nearing 2:00 am as I wandered into a Canal Street tattoo parlor circa 1995. I vividly remember noticing a (now infamous) photo of Jenny Shimizu sporting a tattoo of a woman riding a Snap-On wrench, which was featured prominently on the waiting room wall. Less than six months later, the CK1 ads released worldwide and Shimizu spent the next few years becoming a homo-household name.

Fast forward a decade or so later; I’m living in LA and filming a reality show called Curl Girls when Shimizu re-enters my life. My cast mate, Vanessa, and I knew of Shimizu from the east side scene and decided she would be a good emcee for our surf contest featured in our final episode. She might not seem the obvious choice to an outsider, but we both knew the person behind the image portrayed in the tabloids. Shimizu is smart, engaging, witty and she never takes herself very seriously.

Oh right, and she’s HOT. (That always helps get lesbians up and out to the beach early on a Saturday morning.) But most importantly, and unbeknownst to most people, Shimizu is a surfer. She’s been out of the water since 2005 because of a motorcycle accident that broke her leg in 16 places. What better kind of rehab than to walk on the sand all day surrounded by hundreds of women? It wasn’t a tough sell.

As expected, she kept the banter and surf speak humming while the production crew struggled to keep up. As the sun set on our last day of filming, Shimizu cemented her place as honorary member of our surf crew. Little did I know that Shimizu had quite a crew of her own…

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read the rest of this article on velvetparkmedia.com

Photo of the day: 6th Annual GLSEN Respect Awards & New York Gala

via zimbio

TV personality Jenny Shimizu attends the 6th Annual GLSEN Respect Awards at Gotham Hall on June 1, 2009 in New York City.
(Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images North America)

Can it be that a tattooed grease monkey biker chick is fashion's model of the moment?

Source - Style: Popular Mechanic
Date: 2 May 1994
Publication: People pp126
Author: Janice Min Allison Lynn in New York City

AT DESIGNER ANNA SUI'S SHOW IN NEW YORK CITY last November, former garage mechanic Jenny Shimizu held the audience rapt: With enough tattoos for a sailor or two, the androgynous newcomer stomped down the catwalk, smirking like a spoiled schoolgirl in the frilliest of Sui's baby-doll smocks. "She was the perfect little girl from hell," remembers Sui admiringly. "She's beautiful, with a bad-girl attitude."

Currently the only Asian-American in supermodel contention, the 5 ft. 7 in. beauty was discovered by a television casting agent only 10 months ago as she roared up to L.A.'s hip Club Fuck astride her 1971 Triumph motorcycle. That chance meeting led to a quick gig in an En Vogue video, followed by fashion spreads in Vogue, Glamour and Elle, among others, and ads for Banana Republic and Anne Klein. "I was really into being a mechanic, being happy just collecting bikes," says Shimizu, 26, who remains refreshingly unimpressed by all the fuss. "And now I'm traveling places I've never been and drinking Evian."

She's also meeting new people. Take Madonna (Shimizu denies rumours the two are romantically involved), whom Shimizu met while filming a small part in her 'Rain' video. "We go to movies or dinner or to clubs," says Jenny. "She's a superstar, with lots of money, but she doesn't flaunt it. When we're hanging out somewhere, you know, she doesn't pick up the bill all the time." As for Calvin Klein, who tapped Shimizu for his Hollywood Bowl fashion spectacular last June: "I was so nervous, when he came over I couldn't speak. I'm like kind of a hick. So, when he said, 'Oh, Jenny, nice to meet you,' all I could do is repeat what he said, 'Oh, Calvin, nice to meet you.' "

Though she may be the haute hick of the moment, Shimizu, in fact, spurns the couture lifestyle. Her diet consists of Big Macs and TV dinners, and her duds are strictly Army-Navy surplus. Her favourite prank is to leave "You suck" messages on friends' answering machines courtesy of her talking Beavis & Butt-head toy. As for those tattoos, she is thinking about adding to her family of four, which includes a blue flaming spark plug on her left forearm (done by a tattoo artist in exchange for car repairs) and a curvy blonde straddling an eight-inch wrench on her right triceps. "I live my life the way I want to," says Shimizu. "My tattoos aren't for anyone but me. People don't have to look at them, right?"

Shimizu's bad-girl bravado came naturally from growing up as a tomboy in Santa Maria, Calif. The youngest of two daughters born to Keido Shimizu, a pharmacist, and his wife, June, Shimizu raced motocross with the local boys while her sister Connie, now 28 and a secretary, played house. "My sister had this baking set and stuffed animals, and all the neighbourhood girls would come over and play Barbie, and I would just be like, 'Uhhhh, get me out of here,' " Shimizu remembers.

Dropping out of Cal State Northridge in her sophomore year, Shimizu moved to L.A. before deciding to enroll in auto-mechanic trade school in 1992. "I always loved bikes, loved motorcycles and loved getting dirty," says Shimizu, who repaired cars in an L.A. garage for 2 1/2 months before being discovered. "I was, for a Japanese-American girl, very much a troublemaker in my family's eyes. My mom wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer."

These days the elder Shimizus are nothing but proud of their offbeat offspring, whose new home is a spacious loft in New York City's East Village and furnished with not much more than a good stereo and a bed. "It's the nicest place I've ever lived in," says Shimizu. "My friends come over, and we sit around and draw huge pictures and tack them on the wall."

In L.A., Shimizu and her old pals prefer to cruise for used-car parts in her '54 Ford pickup. Though she is currently hot as a piston, Shimizu is savvy enough to know that the beauty business regularly trades in its own used models. For the future, she is socking away the bulk of her pay (recent take for a one-day Versace shoot: $5,000) to open her own auto-body shop. "Someplace where me and my friends could work on our bikes and hang out," says Jenny. But right now, she concedes, "modeling is a nice life. And as a job, it's easier than putting gaskets on cars."

Video of the day: Jenny Shimizu on coming out in 'Sexuality the Documentary'

Jenny giving her honest thoughts about sexuality, drugs and coming out to her parents.

"Make Me Jenny Shimizu" - interview with Asiance Magazine

via AsianceMagazine.com

Jenny Shimizu entered the modeling world in 1993 after being discovered riding her Triumph motorcycle by Kelly and Calvin Klein. Once settled in New York, she quickly scored work on the runway, walking in shows for Donna Karan, Yohji Yamamoto, Versace, Prada, and Jean Paul Gaultier. Shimizu went on to model in numerous ad campaigns and countless editorials. She has worked with some of the industry's top photographers, including Richard Avedon, Patrick Demarchelier, Gilles Bensimon, and Mario Testino.

Shimizu has appeared in a number of television shows, including America's Next Top Model, E!'s Sexiest Top Models, and is currently a series regular on Dante's Cove.

Shimizu is an incredible mechanic and can be found restoring Bentleys, Rolls Royces and Cadillacs from the 1940's, 50's 60's. She is also an avid motorcycle rider with an affinity and love for Ducati's.

ASIANCE: How did you become a judge on Bravo TV's Make Me a Supermodel

Jenny: Wow. It’s pretty basic. I received a phone call. They asked me to do a screen test for “A show”, a competition show. They didn’t tell me what it was for. I basically shot a screen test in Los Angeles and three weeks later they asked me if I would be a judge on Bravo’s Make Me a Supermodel. Quick standard nothing exciting!

ASIANCE: What do you think are some differences in the modeling industry today and when you were really doing it?

Jenny: The major difference is that all the girls and agents have cell phones. It’s like an invisible leash on all the young girls. I hung around with a few models from the ‘90’s and we thought, god it would never be quite like it was in the ‘90’s (modeling industry). It was very different than what it is now. We were sitting around talking about it and we came to the conclusion that it is cell phones now. It’s definitely better for the agencies and the girls working. It’s good for discipline. They know where you are.

ASIANCE: Are the models more disciplined now you think?

Jenny: Oh definitely. I went out with a couple of the Victoria Secret girls. They all go to the gym. Eat really well. Go to all their auditions. They are just a really different breed. I think people just started being more professional at an earlier age, whereas back then we were all just kids, big city, traveling together, and doing all sorts of things.

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Read the rest of the interview on AsianceMagazine.com