Model of the Week: Du Juan

One thing I noticed about the recent runway shows – the increasingly diverse roster of models. There’d been grumbling in the industry for a few years about runways being too blonde, too white, too generic. Now we’re seeing so many more young models from all over the globe. Including, increasingly, more Asian faces. A couple of years ago I wrote a post about how disproportionately underrepresented in fashion Asian women have been. White faces still predominate, and it will be a long time before that changes, but the number of models with roots on the Asian continent has skyrocketed. Among them, Shanghai native Du Juan has been building a name for herself for about five years now, making her among the most established Asian models. Du began modeling after being told she was too tall to continue the ballet career she’d been pursuing. Since then she’s walked countless shows for top designers, appeared in all the top magazines and became the face of L’oreal’s Chinese marketing.

with Raquel Zimmermann

with Coco Rocha and Chanel Iman

Model of the Week: Jourdan Dunn

Here’s a (relatively) new face, who we’ll surely go on seeing more of.  She’s got her work cut out for her. It would be nice to reach a time when a model can be celebrated just for her beauty, without having to go into a rant about the ongoing race discrimination in the fashion and beauty biz. As we know, the fashion industry cottoned on, not that long ago, that not only do non-Caucasian women exist, they actually buy shoes and clothing and are interested in looking stylish. I’ve been looking at recent runways a lot and I’ve noticed more diversity there than ever before. It’s great that we’re starting to see more than one token person of color in fashion. There’s a lot of bright rising stars from all around the world, hoping to break the all blonde, all blue-eyed stranglehold. Seriously, with all the blue-eyed blondes (lovely though they may be on their individual merits) it was beginning to look like a Hitler Youth rally out there. That’s why it’s so nice to see the success of sophisticated British beauty Jourdan Dunn. Jourdan has a flawless face and  figure, of course, but what makes her outstanding is the sense of serene thoughtfulness she seems to exude. Or maybe I’m just imagining that. Anyway, she just seems thoroughly self-possessed, modern and smart.

with Chanel Iman

with Chanel Iman

Seven months pregnant on Jean Paul Gaultier’s runway

with Karlie Kloss