With the rapid growth of luxury goods in China, international fashion brands address their marketing messages to Asian consumers and hire more and more Asian faces to present and promote their clothes and accessories on the catwalk and in ad campaigns.

I have been a frequent reader of the Chinese Vogue since 2005. Since its first issue back in September 2005 (featuring Austrialian topmodel Gemma Ward plus some Chinese beauties on the cover), the number of Chinese models gracing the magazine cover has risen constantly. The same goes for other fashion magazines. Whereas 10 years ago it was mainly Western faces on Chinese magazine covers, advertisement campaigns or on the runway, nowadays Asian faces are seen everywhere. When browsing international fashion magazines today, it is diversity at its best: models from Asia play in the upper league of ad campaigns for Chanel, Shiseido, L’Oreal, Marc Jacobs – to name a few.

Fashion designers love Asian models

According to the diversity report of the New York Fashion Week by Jezebel, the number of Asian models participating in the shows has almost doubled between 2008 and 2013. The spring 2011 show of Givenchy was presented by Asian faces only. Almost every brand includes Asian models in their ad campaigns.

The first supermodel from China was Shanghai-born Du Juan (杜鹃). Thanks to Vogue China, she quickly became a superstar in China’s fashion industry as well as on the international catwalk. Other famous Chinese models include Liu Wen (刘雯) who was the first Asian model to run a Victoria’s Secret show, Xiao Wen Ju (雎晓雯) who has walked for countless international designers and Fei Fei Sun (孙菲菲) who has been the face of many designer brands, i.a. Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, Prada and Armani.

China’s Top models: Found on TV and in talent contests

More than 70 model agencies in China make sure the delivery of fresh new blood on the models market. Renowned Elite Models was the first international model agency to act in Mainland China. Their contests take place annually and in China sometimes even two girls win. The appetite for Asian mannequins seems insatiable and the backlog demand is obvious.

Finally, the popular TV-show “China’s Next Top Model”, a spin-off to the internationally successful “Next Top Model” series, was launched in January 2008 and discovers hopeful future talents, bringing every teenage girl’s dream job into the living room of millions of Chinese people.