Kaila Yu

[quadriga100]

Kaila Yu (Chinese: 于麗萍, pinyin: Yú Lìpíng)[1], born May 16, 1979 in Taipei, Taiwan, is a Taiwanese American nude model and pop singer.

She gained popularity through modeling in import car shows. Kaila is known for her appearances in Import Tuner, Playboy, FHM, and her roles in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, House of Style, and Dark Blue. She began college at UC San Diego and later transferred to UCLA in order to live in Los Angeles to pursue modeling and singing.

Kaila was born (Elaine Yang)in Taiwan. When she was three years old, her family moved to the Inland Empire, a region in Southern California where she attended Pioneer Jr. High School and Upland High School graduating class of 96. Pressure from her parents led her to take piano classes, ballet lessons, tap dancing classes, Chinese folk dancing classes, cello lessons, speed contests, SAT classes and attend Chinese school. Yu claims she was incredibly self-conscious and a "nerd" throughout her middle and high school years.[2] After graduating from high school, she made the decision to attend UCSD as a biology major. She moved out to Los Angeles and transferred to UCLA, where she received an economics degree.[3]

In 2000, Kaila began her personal website that required a paid membership subscription to see her pose nude in various photography spreads (usually updated once a week). Her site became a model for many other Asian models that would soon follow in her footsteps. As Kaila's music career took off, she added a second website that was devoted entirely to her music. Over time, her photographic site has taken a backseat (in terms of content) to her music career.

In 2007 Kaila teamed up with Kit E. Kat to form the group Pink Nylon. Their signature song Hello Drama is also the name for the jewelry line that the two own. Their act is inspired in part by anime and Harajuku fashion.