The Rise of Asian Models

by DYS — Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 11:13 pm

in Fashion Insider and tagged with Asian Faces

(Moschin o F/W 07 ad campaign featuring Asian models, [left to right] Han Jin, Tao Okamoto, Emma Pei, Zi Jun, Daul Kim, Ai Tominaga, Eugenia Mandzhieva, courtesy of asianmodelsblog, bellazon.com)

This post has been sitting on my draft for MONTHS! I can’t believe that I wasn’t able to post it sooner. I wanted to post this as my very first post of 2008 in FD but it actually took me quite a while just to gather all the pictures. We’ve seen and read enough about all the latest faces, the newcomers of these past few seasons. From Agyness Deyn, Gemma Ward, Irina Lazareanu, Lily Cole, Coco Rocha, Jessica Stam, Lily Donaldson, Iekeline Stange, Doutzen Kroes, Sasha Pivarova, Hana Soupokova, Julia Stegner, Anja Rubik, Behati Prinsloo, Carolina Trentini, Christina Kruse, Freja Beha, bla bla bla…. a long endless list. They’ve all been widely exposed, but what about the new Asian faces?

cosmoasians

Cosmopolitan, undetermined issue [l to r: Mo Wandan, Luo Ying, Dai Xiaoyi, Wang Yang, Xu Liwen], courtesy of asianmodelsblog.blogspot.com

It seems to me that Ai Tominaga, Du Juan and Hye Park are the only ones who made headlines. Until I came accross this Asian model newcomer, Anna Wang from a Hint mag newsletter which I’ve received a couple of months ago. Her physical feature is absolutely stunning especially for an Asian girl. I’m speechless looking at her editorial portfolio and started to google her. Then, I’ve found this great blog dedicated only to Asian Models. I’m somehow surprise to find out there are actually many models of Asian descents who have already graced the pages of high fashion magazines and advertising campaigns.

(clockwise from top left: Ai Tominaga, Du Juan, Anna Wang, and Hye Park, , courtesy of asianmodesblog)

It is indeed quite refreshing to see more and more Asian models walking down the runways of big prominent designers today. It is a little bit too late, I may say, they should have done that years ago. Weren’t they aware of the spending powers that the majority of Asian customers have? Most of fashion conscious Asian women I’ve known are brand minded and mostly are obsessed with big fashion labels. But a couple of years ago, it was still rare to see Asian faces gracing the pages of fashion editorials and ad campaigns.

Back in my college years in the late 90s, I pathetically loved to remember by heart all the names of fashion models in my boring economic class. On a piece of paper, I would write down a list from A to Z of all the names of fashion models. It was the days of Nadja Auermann, Amber Valetta, Shalom Harlow, Sybil Buck, Carla Bruni, Kristen McMenamy, Helena Christensen, Tatjana Patitz, Caroline Murphy, Kirsty Hume, Eve Savail, Yasmeen Ghauri, Nadege, Chrystelle, Karen Elson, Linda Evangelist a and the gank, the list goes on.

And I remember I was trying to do the same list of Asian models who made it internationally. I got Navia Nguyen, Jenny Shimizu, Ling Tan, Irina Pantaeva *well she’s Siberian but she has strong Asian features*, and I got stuck in the middle. Well, I may add Devon Aoki since she was quite a breakthrough newcomer around that period of time.

devonlingetc

(from left: Navia Nguyen, Jenny Shimizu, Ling Tan, Irina Pantaeva, Devon Aoki)

Then, there was our very own Indonesian model, Tracy Trinita who won the Elite contest. I was totally esthatic to see her spread in Glamour magazine, Iman cosmetic book and saw her walking the runway of Yves Saint Laurent during Paris Fashion Week on CNN’s Elsa Klench. Besides Tracy, there was also one of these Indonesian model twins, Danielle or Estelle Townshend *can’t remember which one* who won the Elite constest. Another Elite alums, Fahrani and Sigi who both made it big in Hong Kong or Singapore. I’ve also heard about one Indonesian model/actress, Sausan, who recently moved to NYC and represented by an agency here. And years ago, one of Indonesian senior model, Avi Basuki was said to have made it internationally somewhere in Asia or Europe. But still, that wasn’t ENOUGH!

We can’t deny that physical requirements have been one of the biggest weaknesses of Asian models, mainly height measurement. But today, the new generation of Asian girls are becoming more and more taller. Last time I went home and visited some of the malls in Jakarta, I saw many Indonesian young girls with towering heights. And in the industry, with the arrival of Vogue China and Vogue India, along with other franchise publications (Vogue Nippon, Vogue Korea, W Korea, Nylon Japan, etc.) have certainly affected the demand of Asian faces. The number of Asian models walking down the runways has amazingly increased these past few years. Hopefully Indonesian models would also take part of this whole trend. Enough of the talking, here are some of the freshest Asian models that I’ve found courtesy of asianmodelsblog. Enjoy!

Anna Wang – on the editorial and cover of Chinese Vogue

annawang

asianmodels

1st row: from left, Du Juan in LV ad campaign (here featured with Raquel Zimmerman), Devon Aoki on the cover of Russian Vogue, Du Juan for Roberto Cavalli

2nd row: Ai Tominaga for L’Uomo Vogue fashion editorial, Hye Park in Dolce & Gabbana ad campaign, Anne Watanabe on the cover of Singapore Harper’s Bazaar

3rd row: Korean Vogue editorial with Du Juan, Kyung-ah Song & Han Jin, Du Juan for Barney’s New York, Aline Nakashima for GAP

4th row: The 2nd Anniversary of Chinese Vogue with models: Stephanie Shiu, Du Juan, MacKenzie Hamilton, Emma Pei on the cover, Rila Fukushima for Simply Vera, Emma Pei for Chinese Vogue

5th row: Ling Tan & her sister Ein Tan for Ann Taylor, Jarah Mariano for Rock & Republic, Daul Kim & Coco Rocha on the cover of Korean Vogue

Sources & images courtesy of: asianmodelsblog.blogspot.com, hintmag.com, google.com

Twitter updates

@ketanserundeng @RifAriadhi @pinkcemplon my pleasure! :) # 3 hours ago

Yes, me wanna come n visit u also! :) RT @Nona_Manda: Another one is Amsterdam I think ;) # 8 hours ago

Pretty cupcakes from Emirates, each decorared with the new destination flags http://twitpic.com/2kj9iq # 9 hours ago

Just got back from a nice dinner with Emirates. They have new destinations,1 of them is to Madrid. Wish I could go now -A # 9 hours ago

Tifa says:

January 15, 2008 at 12:24 am

itu kayaknya di foto ketiga, hye park ketuker sama anna wang.. hye park never gets that tan

as an asian, gue juga bangga banget tiap ada asian models make it BIG in intl fashion industry.

selain masalah tinggi, gue rasa kekurangan asian models itu masalah karakter. soalnya bagi bule2 asians itu mirip2 satu sama lain. butuh karakter yang kuat banget buat asian models kalo mau sukses.. kalo yg karakternya kuat tu menurut gue kayak ai tominaga, du juan, sama devon aoki. si anna wang juga kayaknya berkarakter (gue baru kali ini liat dia) kalo yang lainnya menurut gue kurang kuat yah karakternya..

DYS says:

January 15, 2008 at 12:31 am

tif, bener kebalik.. maklum byk bgt potonya.. mendingan siy baca dr kiri aja kali yeee.. ga clockwise hehe
thanks for noticing yah..uda tak benerin =) iya gw kesemsem berats ama Anna Wang keren banget, struktur muka nya bagus, badan jg.. mukanya mewakiki South East Asian girl in general, bisa oriental, bisa melayu, etc.. tp eke blm tau doi orang mana yahh

thornandes says:

January 15, 2008 at 1:13 am

si anna wang mirip2 nayla alatas ya? ya gak sih? apa gw lg ngelindur sendiri? ? huhuhuhu. .

Ragil says:

January 15, 2008 at 1:19 am

anna wang siapanya sisi wang?

Lena says:

January 15, 2008 at 2:30 am

kalau mariana renata gimana, yg gue tau langkah internasionalnya cuma video josh groban itu…

polkadot says:

January 15, 2008 at 7:56 am

kalo mariana renata mnrt gw walopun mukanya cukup cakep, kurang unik n berkarakter yah untuk jadi model kelas international…

January 15, 2008 at 11:00 am

Tifa: setuju, kalo karakter salah satu kekurangannya.. hanya menurut gw, kayaknya model2 jaman skrg mau yg asian atau bukan, kalah jauh dgn model2 jaman dulu yg menurut gw bener2 unik dan punya pesona masing2x.. skrg wajah2 baru sptnya pada dtg dan pergi dan terlupakan aja kalo uda ga laku lagi.. beda banget dgn masa2 jayanya si nadja auermann, kristen mcmenamy, shalom, amber, kristy hume dkk,, dulu gw kalo liat foto mereka atau liat mereka jalan di runway di TV suka sampe sesek nafas

thornandes: hihi sepintas kali ya mirip ama nayla? kalo ngeliat iklan2 di anna wang utk maybelline kalo ga salah, kt gue mirip duh lupa namanya gw bekas pemenang wajah femina.. nadia sumthing? lupa gue namanya

ragil: sptnya ga berhubungan ya? or ada kah? gw jg kurang tau.. yg gw tau si sisi wang dia mayan jd besar krn Canada’s nxt top model.. dan kalo tak google, si sisi wang punya kembaran tp sptnya bukan si anna, eke jg masi baru tau model2 asia ini

Lena & polkadot: wah gw uda kurang dpt update ttg permodelan indonesia skrg, yg gw tau dr temen gw si mariana bukannya lg sekolah di aussie skrg? gw malah ga tau dia di video klip josh groban.. apa itu edisi internasional atau asia doang? hebat2x

Celia says:

January 15, 2008 at 12:22 pm

iya Mariana Renata sempet jadi model vidklip-nya Josh Groban yg judulnya “Broken Vow”. gue suka banget sama tampangnya Mariana, cantik bgt walopun gak pake makeup.

oh iya bener tuh skrg denger2 dia lagi kuliah S2 di Sydney.

ijoli says:

January 15, 2008 at 12:25 pm

[b]DYS[/b], maksudnya nadia mulya kali yah ?

purplerebel says:

January 15, 2008 at 12:40 pm

DYS, Anna Wang dari Cina kan? Nama aslinya Qin Wen Wang. Tapi mukanya kayak ada melayu nya yaaa…

January 15, 2008 at 1:27 pm

si mariana renata itu jadi model vid clip josh groban untuk regional asia doank.. jadi wajar kalo yg di belahan dunia sana gatau kalo mariana jadi model di clip broken vow itu..

January 15, 2008 at 3:21 pm

Tifa, gimana dgn rencana go international loe? Kita dukung!!

January 15, 2008 at 7:15 pm

gue mah go nasional dulu aja len.. hauahuahua..

cheyqua says:

January 16, 2008 at 12:32 pm

woohohooo, I love this article!!
btw, anna wang sapanya vera wang yaa? huehehe..

Koukla says:

January 16, 2008 at 12:36 pm

Ini perempuan pada cantik2 amat, makannya apa ya?

lovemybags says:

January 16, 2008 at 12:52 pm

gua suka banget ma [b]devon aoki[/b]
kalo asian model yg skrg sering nongkrong di runway, g gak gitu suka2 banget.
apalahi hye park, mnrt gua gak spesial2 amat he he he

menurut gua kalo model indo kayanya yg bikin susah go int’l nya juga masalah attitude, kan di luar jadi model setengah mati bo kerja kerasnya. kalo di indo kayaknya gampang banget jadi model…
dan honestly sampe skrg gua blm pernah liat model indonesia yg punya karakter cukup untuk berhasil di int’l

January 17, 2008 at 12:53 am

Tifa, go interlokal dong jeng, biar tetep pake inter-nya hahahahahah!

DYS, Nadia Mulya kah? tapi dese pendek sayangnya dan giginya sedikit maju bukan?

omong2 mariana, dia sekarang rambutnya bondol pendek. . dan sabtu ini, gw motret dia. . yay! siap bereksperimen. .

sisil says:

January 17, 2008 at 11:20 am

Hmm klo si Maggie Q juga model kan yah dulunya ato masih mpe skr? Aku suka tuh mukanya… Devon Aoki juga aku suka, unik! Pokoknya pada cantik2 semua deh ibu2 model yg di foto.

January 17, 2008 at 12:02 pm

celia: thx info nya… gw jg suka si mariana, ga bosenin liatnya.

ijoli: iyaaa.. nadia mulya.. hehe br inget lagi namanya

purplerebel: wekss gw malah ga tau nama chinese dia, iya dia ternyata dr China yah.. ck..ck cantik bangets…gw jg br tau pas tak google kmaren br baca.. mungkin rada ‘tan’ krn dr bagian selatan nya cina kali ya? ini kt temen gw siy yg dr Cina, katanya semakin ke utara semakin fair kulitnya, dan di selatan lbh gelap, malah yg deket perbatasan dgn Rusia, lbh Eurasian gt physical feature nya, mancung2 dan tinggi2x .. kaya mix asia dan eropa, kerensss gak tuhhh.. dan kalo ga salah di Macau, juga cantik2 tuh krn byk campurang dgn portugis =)

Tifa & Lena: hehe thx info ttg video si josh groban nya.. ternyata emang edisi asia toh.. tp gpp lah, uda keren jg mariana kepilih =)
dan TIFA, kita dr FD semua pasti mendukung utk Tifa Go Internasional =) ikutan kontes ELITE tuh sptnya bisa jd jalan ke internasional yah..

Cheyqua: hehe iya sama2 marga wang.. jgn2 ntar bs di-book tuh ama si mrs. vera wang utk campaign nya .. ;P LOL

Koukla: hehe iya tuh pd makan apa yah? mungkin ibu mereka pas hamil mereka, suka melototin majalah2 fashion dgn model2 yg cantek2 dan kutilang, jd nya pada bagus2 deh pas gede =P *haha tahayul bgt gak siy gueee.. lol

lovemybags: gw jg dulu suka mikir bgitu, sptnya physical feature asian models yg suka dipilih ama designer2 barat kok B banget aka BIASA bangets.. tapi kesini2x senang jg siy liat tambah byk model asia esp. bbrp seasons belakangan ini, jadi ada variasi…. liat caucasian models terus menerus bertahun2x di runway jg bisa bosenin siy..
yah smoga aja ada model indonesia in the future yg bisa berhasil beneran scr internasional, it’s a lot of hard work for sure, casting, go-sees, etc…blm lg harus siap scr finansial jg..kalo blm dpt booking, hrs bisa nyambi kerja dimana2 utk hidup biasanya model di sini pd nyambi kerja di retail, restoran, temp jobs etc….
tp skrg kan uda byk acara2 TV tuh yg ttg permodelan dr ANTM, VH1 smartest model, make me a supermodel.. bisa dpt gambaran utk model2 indonesia yg mau Go internasional.. tak doain bakal ada satuuu aja ;( siapa tau penerus FD di sini anak2 perempuan member2 FD ada yg jadi model hehe

thornandes: iya si nadia mulya.. wahhh james, share dongg pemotretan mariana nya utk FD.. behind the scene nyaa =)

sisil: iyaaaa si Maggie Q gw inget bgt dulu suka liat di majalah female spore.. gw jg suka banget muka dia.. mukanya mahal yah *hehe kaya ada muka murahan apa? gak tau jg dia masi jd model or not, tp terakhir gw nonton dia di film Balls of Fury.. cantikkk bgt diaaa.. apa skrg dia nyebrang ke hollywood?

January 17, 2008 at 12:31 pm

Mba DYS, iyaaaa aku inget dia gara2 ntn Balls of Fury! Cantikkkk sekaliiii! Mukanya mahal memang *hehe*. Bagus articlenya, thanks mba DYS!

January 17, 2008 at 3:42 pm

maggie Q bukannya emang born in hawaii yah?

jadi dia nyebrangnya justru ke HK, kalo hollywood istilahnya tinggal ngesot aja ha ha ha

stardust says:

January 17, 2008 at 5:18 pm

kalo g seneng liat Ai tominaga , muka ok body jg keren bgt, nga kalah sama model2 bule hehhehe… setelah itu devon jg ok , cuma devon udah termasuk blasteran sih ,makanya mukanya ok bgt, rada2 unik gimana gtu.. kalo yg buat yg 100%asian, polling g jatuh ke Ai, padahal udah punya anak lho kalo eke nga salah ya..keren..keren bs tetep aja singset bodynya euy.

franz_ferdinand says:

January 24, 2008 at 5:38 pm

hihi ujjwala raut juga keren tuh. dari india

January 26, 2008 at 11:59 pm

sisil: sama2x sisil =)

lovemybags: thx for the info, gw br tau dia lahir di hawaii.. =) hawaii ke mainland USA jg jauh siy hehe

stardust: iya siy biasanya yg blasteran emang unik2x,.. dulu pas ms kerja di indo, gw sempet picky bgt milih model maunya yg blasteran aja soalnya tulang nya bagus dr angle mana2 jg bagus kalo di foto.. ga bole gitu siy benernya hehe iya si Ai uda punya anak, dia ama anaknya jd iklan utk GAP

franz: iya niy gw emang ga masukin model dr asia selatan (india etc) walaupun dr asia jg.. soalnya uda pernah bahas model2 India dikit di blog FD pas launching nya Vogue India.. sengaja emang tak masukin yg lbh oriental mukanya =) model dr daerah sana yg gw juga suka, si Padma Laksmi sama Yasmeen Ghauri (campuran jerman dan pakistan/afghan ya? lupa)

February 6, 2008 at 12:10 am

DYS, kamu stylist ya , hehehhe

andzhang says:

May 7, 2008 at 8:59 pm

absolutely love this blog!!!thx banget..gw iseng2 google fahrani malah ketemu blog yg keren banget kyk gini!!
Yup..Du Juan,Maggie Q,Qi Qi,Ai Tominaga memang muka2 high class…(emang ada muka low class,hahaha)

savitri says:

December 15, 2008 at 3:51 pm

asian model why not???????
kulit lebih putih, dgn rambut gelap, efek dramatis yg sempurna bukan?????????

mchello says:

April 30, 2009 at 4:08 am

I like the way those girls performe!!!!
It’s getting better and better….soon the rule!!!
marceldirk13@hotmail.com for sharing your ideas!!