In-demand Fan Bingbing launches own fashion brand
Notably, Fan had raised eyebrows for frequently visiting the storied (Cannes) festival without representing a film. Some critics even called her a “red carpet moocher”.
Top actress Fan Bingbing, who frequently works with luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Valentino, has launched her own brand called Fan Beauty.
The announcement was greeted by mixed reactions, with detractors dismissing it as a copy of Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty.
The brand will be sold through Alibaba’s Tmall.
Fan first made waves during the Cannes Film Festival seven years ago when she wore Lawrence Xu’s sensational Dragon Robe on the red carpet.
This year, she was a member of the jury for the competition. Other jurors included Will Smith, Jessica Chastain and Pedro Almodovar.
Along with Fan’s role at Cannes, another thing that has evolved is her fashion sensibility and her influence over luxury brands. All major brands are vying to dress Fan.
She has been a known quantity in China since 1999 when she was featured in the television series My Fair Princess.
In recent years, she had also appeared in Hollywood blockbusters such as Iron Man 3 and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
As expected, three dresses that Fan Bingbing wore during the opening night of this year’s Cannes festival quickly sparked heated debate among those in the Chinese media and online communities.
She first appeared in a light blue gown from the Elie Saab Spring 2017 Couture Collection at the opening gala dinner. Chinese viewers generally like her look, which was much less flamboyant this year than in previous years, but was better suited to her professional role as a juror.
Fan later showed up for a photocall in a black- and-white piece from the Ralph & Russo Spring 2017 Couture. Before the kick- off event, Fan was spotted at the juror’s dinner at the Hotel Martinez in a white dress from the Chloe Spring 2017 Ready-to-Wear collection.
Notably, Fan had raised eyebrows for frequently visiting the storied festival without representing a film. Some critics even called her a ‘ red carpet moocher’.
More recently, her image has undergone a change. She’s been awarded for films she’s appeared in at several A-list film festivals. In 2010, she won the Best Actress award for Buddha Mountain at the Tokyo International Film Festival, and in 2016, she won an award in the same category for I Am Not Madame Bovary at the San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain.
She is now more known for being a modern and independent woman. Forbes magazine reported that she was the fifth most highly-paid actress in the world in 2016, with a supposed pre-tax income of US$ 17 million.