For decades European Models have dominated magazine pages and catwalks around the world.

Yet a new era is dawning.

As Condé Nast sets to launch GQ China and Vogue India steps up it’s print run to 50,000 copies a month, many fashion industry insiders are betting that the new demand for Asian Models is changing the face of fashion.

“We are now seeing more Chinese and Japanese girls. Eastern European girls flooded the market. There are so many Russians and Ukrainians. But they are all very white and bland. Height remains a problem but there are tall Asian girls”, says Carole White, founder of Premier Model Management (Naomi Campbell and Padma Lakshmi wife of author Salman Rushdie)

Industry insiders are betting next months London Fashion Week will mark the new era.

Asian Models made appearances in almost every London show last Spring…including Chinese model Liu Wen, for Chanel, Dries Van Noten and Louis Vuitton; Japanese model Tao Okamoto, for Moschino, Marc Jacobs and D&G, and 23-year-old Asian-White model, Kiren Modi for Next.

According to top fashion photographer Gavin Fernandes, “There is a popular misconception that south and east Asian models are too bound to the principles of their parents. But those stereotypes have been broken down”

“Perhaps scouts just need to get better at spotting Asian talent.”

Ever since Italian Vogue’s “Black Issue” rocketed Jourdan Dunn into Super Model status the writing has been on the wall that Fashion is craving a more diverse and ethnic look.

26-year-old Indian Model Lakshmi Menon is generating the same sort of excitement working for Gap. Menon has been featured in US Vogue editorial and has rocked the cover of V magazine. Paula Karaiskos, whos agency Storm Model Management represents Ms. Menon says skin color has nothing to do with her success and “The fact that she’s Indian only makes her more interesting.”

London Fashion Week photographer, Jason Lloyd-Evans, says “When I first did the shows about 10 years ago, Devon Aoki was the only Asian girl I noticed. There’s now a huge presence from Korea, China and Japan.”

Tao Okamoto, the face of Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors is predicted to be the next big hit. She has appeared in French and Russian Vogue and is known by her “tomboy attitude”.

Another contributing factor to the new demand for Asian Models is web show Supermodelme.tv.

Debuting in June, the online show follows 10 aspiring models from Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and India as they compete for fame and a $10,000 prize.

The show’s creator, Karen Seah, of Singapore’s Refinery Media, was inspired from observing “a growing market for Japanese and Chinese models”.

Despite the new surge in demand for Asian Models…the Modeling profession has still not been completely embraced by South and East Asian cultures as many Asian girls see modeling as a “hobby”, not a serious career.

Former editor of Asian Lifestyle magazine Henna, says “An increase in the number of Asian models is to be expected, but it will take time.” Omkar also notes that many Asian Models have not reaped the publicity benifits of some of the over-the-top lifestyles lead by Western Models. “Maybe they’re not creating the same buzz as the Kate Mosses because they don’t have the scandalous lifestyle to go with it.”

Once upon a time designers craved “lookalike” Models to serve as a “blank canvas”.

Today designers want distinct and original looking Models and many Asian girls are fitting the bill.

Some critics (haters) are dismissing the whole thing as a fad. Navaz Batliwalla, writer for the Indian Grazia, states ” Exotic stereotyping is boring and a cliché”.

As we see it at Models & Moguls…the word “Exotic” is relative. One person’s “Exotic” is another’s “Generic”. Western Fashion Insiders obviously want to take credit for the recent Asian Model demand from “breaking” Asian Models into European and American Fashion circuits.

However, we are more inclined to believe this surge is more a result of the massive and underreported growth of the Asian global consumer who wants to see her face on the products she buys.

In any case, we love Asian Models and want to see more from all different backgrounds…Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indian, Pakistani, Malaysian, Bengali, Thai, Philipina….bring em on!

Source – The Gaurdian

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