British Vogue Can't Tell Asian Models Apart
LatestOn the same day that British Vogue editor-in-chief Alexandra Shulman is hitting the headlines for her comments to the Daily Mail‘s Liz Jones about how fashion is no-way no-how absolutely positively cross-your-heart-and-thank-your-best-black-friend not racist, it has come to light that the latest issue of her magazine has a little problem. In a trend piece about “the rise of the Asian model,” Vogue has misidentified one of the biggest Chinese models working today, Estée Lauder face Liu Wen, as her compatriot Du Juan.
Liu Wen has been a favorite of top designers — and as a result, she is one of the most-booked show models — for several years now. In addition to her major cosmetics contract, she became the first Asian woman to walk for Victoria’s Secret back in 2009. Du Juan has been modeling internationally with great success since 2006. She’s been featured on the cover of Chinese Vogue several times and shoots editorials for the magazine frequently. She’s been in ad campaigns for everyone from Armani to Esprit, for chrissakes. This is not really the kind of mistake you would expect a fashion magazine to make. But British Vogue‘s problems go a little deeper than even giving one Asian model the wrong name.
Shulman’s magazine has not featured a black woman on a cover since November, 2008, when Jourdan Dunn shared a cover with fellow models Eden Clark and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (pictured). And in the current issue — despite that aforementioned Asian models trend story — not a single page of any fashion or beauty spread was devoted to an Asian model. (The magazine did publish a Japanese-themed spread titled “Neo Geisha.” It starred a white model named Guinevere van Seenus.)
Shulman nonetheless told the tabloid that the industry isn’t racist “in the slightest. There have always been black players on the scene — at the moment look at the stylist Edward Enninful, make-up artist Pat McGrath and [models] Jourdan Dunn, Liya Kebede and Joan Smalls, who are at the top of the tree.”