Black Models See Rising Representation in China
Very slowly, the Chinese fashion industry is embracing racial diversity and some are looking to capitalize on that opportunity.
LONDON — While the Black Lives Matter movement is spurring swift change across the fashion industry, and society as a whole, in the U.S., the demand for Black models in China is also on the rise because of a new wave of designer brands that see inclusivity as an integral part of their DNA, and a more open-minded social environment that champions SinoAfrican relations.
China has a very different dynamic and history with Black people compared to the U.S., where the majority of African Americans were brought to the continent as a result of the slave trade. Most Black people living in China are there to do business or study by choice, and the majority of the population in China holds a neutral-to-friendly view toward them, as China’s history books would describe how its “African brothers” helped the country regain its seat at the U.N. in 1971.
On a diplomatic level, China is the biggest supporter of many African nations. It has pledged more than $150 billion in loans to the continent between 2000 and 2018 as part of the New Silk Road initiative, and in June, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to cancel the interest-free debts owed by several African countries as part of Beijing’s move to help the region during the coronavirus pandemic.
China also built the first electrified railway from Addis Ababa to Djibouti in 2018, based on China’s highspeed railway, and many other huge infrastructure projects that previous colonial rulers considered unworthy to invest in.
Still, Black representation in the Chinese media is rare, and when it appears it can raise eyebrows among some more conservative observers.
Hong Kong jeweler Chow Tai Fook, for example, posted three campaigns featuring the hands of a Black model playing a game with an Asian model for China’s Children’s Day on June 1. This kind of interracial depiction from a Chinese brand generated heated debate, with more than 19,000 comments and 300,000 likes on the post.
Some expressed their extreme and nationalist views, but the majority of the comments defended and praised
Chow Tai Fook’s inclusive casting. One user said: “Thank you Chow Tai Fook, this is the right attitude a Chinese brand shall have, respecting different races and values equality.”
For a long time, fair skin has been associated with beauty, wealth and prosperity in China. Skin-whitening products are some of the bestsellers for beauty brands, from Lancôme’s Blanc Expert range and Estée Lauder’s Crescent White series to Chanel’s Le Blanc skincare and makeup lines. While Unilever has dropped any references to white or whitening on skin- care labels in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, the majority of luxury beauty brands have not yet taken a stance on this issue.
But with more Chinese traveling around the world and staying connected via social media receiving information from all sorts of cultures, the country’s ideal of beauty is changing. Leading Chinese models like Liu Wen, Lina Zhang and Chu Wong are some of the most in-demand faces in fashion at the moment, and their success is shifting the country’s decadeslong obsession with Western facial features, such as double eyelids and a sharp jawline, toward more a progressive and diverse beauty standard.
This kind of open-mindedness is helping the fashion industry in China to become more inclusive toward Black models.
John-Paul Pietrus, a photographer who has been working with Chinese fashion publications for more than a decade and shot the first Chinese fashion magazine cover featuring a Black model — Ajak Deng wearing Comme des Garçons in 2012 for Modern Weekly produced in China (Vogue China put Naomi Campbell on the cover of its January 2009 issue, but it was not photographed in the country) — said he can feel there is an increasing demand for Black models in China.
“The first time I shot a Black model in China was in 2004 for Jalouse, when Elite was having their international model competition in Shanghai,” he said. “I wanted to do a big portfolio that showcased cultural diversity. I didn’t want the cliché of having a white girl in front of a concrete jungle sort of colonial thing. Instead, we shot Aye Tounkara all around Shanghai. ►