VMAN Southeast Asia Model Search 2026: Meet the Five Winners

Meet Daniel Kei, Marco Gatchalian, Justin San Miguel, Mattis Perez, and Markkus Ethan, the five winners of the VMAN Southeast Asia Model Search.
From surfing and fine art to judo, basketball, volleyball, and real estate, each brings a different story and skill set to the modeling industry.

The five new names to know

In fashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary, a good face gets you noticed. A story worth telling gets you remembered. Meet Daniel Kei, Marco Gatchalian, Justin San Miguel, Mattis Perez, and Markkus Ethan, the five winners of the VMAN Southeast Asia Model Search, whose routes into modeling have been anything but conventional.

Between surfing and fine art, judo, basketball, volleyball, and real estate, these five have more going on than a good camera angle.

models vman sea — (l-r) on kei top **bryan peralta** / jacket **h&m x Giambattista Valli** // on markkus coat **genes & hails** / scarf **i’m a** // on justin top **tagpi** / coat **genes & hails** / pants **h&m** / shoes **thy roots** // on mattis all clothing **h&m** / scarf **martina lebron** / shoes **thy roots** // on marco top **bryan peralta** / jacket **gabriel buenabajo** / pants **odyess**

Marco traded the surf for the runway, Markkus is juggling castings with coursework, and Mattis went from years of competitive judo to the international fashion circuit. Justin brings experience in basketball and real estate, while Kei draws on his background in volleyball.

Different starting points, different ambitions, and no shortage of personality. If there’s one thing they have in common, it’s that none arrived at fashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary with the same idea of where life would take them.

models group — all clothing **randy ortiz**

And that’s what makes them worth getting to know. Beyond the clothes and the photographs are five young men figuring out what they want from their careers, what they bring to the industry, and where they might go next.

vman sea models in gucci — all clothing and accessories **gucci**

The VMAN Southeast Asia Model Search brought them into the same frame. Now, it’s time to get acquainted. Meet the five winners and discover the stories behind the faces, because the best thing about a model is what you learn when the cameras stop rolling.

Chief of Editorial Content Patrick Ty

Photography Andrea Beldua

Art direction Mike Miguel

FashionFashionThe art and industry of designing, producing, and styling clothing, footwear, accessories, and beauty trends. It reflects cultural influences, personal expression, and evolving styles across seasons and markets.Go to Fashion Glossary Corven Uy

GroomingGroomingThe care and maintenance of hair, skin, beard, and nails, including cleansing, shaving, styling, and scent. Once niche, men's grooming has grown into a major lifestyle category, and VMAN's VanityGo to Grooming Glossary and hair Myckee Arcano

Production design Arj Madarang

Production Francis Vicente

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the five winners of the VMAN Southeast Asia Model Search?

The five winners are Marco Gatchalian, Markkus Ethan, Mattis Perez, Justin San Miguel, and Daniel Kei.

What makes the five VMAN Southeast Asia Model Search winners unique?

The five models come from different backgrounds, including surfing, fine art, judo, basketball, volleyball, and real estate. Their varied experiences shape their approaches to modeling and their ambitions for the future.

What did the VMAN Southeast Asia Model Search winners do before modeling?

Marco Gatchalian explored surfing and fine art, Markkus Ethan balanced modeling with his education, and Mattis Perez trained in competitive judo. Justin San Miguel has experience in basketball and real estate, while Daniel Kei has a background in volleyball.

What is the VMAN Southeast Asia Model Search?

The VMAN Southeast Asia Model Search is a platform for discovering emerging modeling talent in the region. Its five winners represent a new era of Asian models with distinct experiences, creative interests, and career ambitions.

What are the five VMAN Southeast Asia Model Search winners hoping to achieve?

The winners have different goals, from pursuing international modeling opportunities and walking major fashion runways to developing artistic projects and balancing education with their careers.

Dayne Aduna

Associate Editor

Dayne Aduna is an Associate Editor at VMAN Southeast Asia, specializing in fashion, grooming, film, television, and contemporary pop culture. With a strong editorial focus on menswear, his work explores how style intersects with shifting cultural movements across Southeast Asia and beyond.

His expertise spans fashion journalism, celebrity profiling, grooming and skincare trends, fragrance, runway reporting, and cultural commentary, with a particular eye for emerging creatives and youth-driven style.

Dayne has written extensively on fashion houses, seasonal trends, designer collections, and the evolving image of the modern Southeast Asian man, bringing both editorial depth and cultural relevance to his coverage.

See more stories by Dayne Aduna