[/floatl]Guardian: Breakthrough in fashion for Asia's new supermodelsThe monopoly of white models on the catwalks and in the glossies over the past decade has been immovable, but many fashionistas now believe the future is Asian. As Condé Nast prepares to launch GQ China, its fourth Chinese title, and Vogue India increases its print run to 50,000 copies a month, British model scouts say a new demand for Asian talent is being created that will transform the face of fashion. Carole White, founder of Premier Model Management...thinks the dominance of eastern European girls is changing. "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, White says, "there are tall Asian girls"...Agencies expect next month's 25th London fashion week to hasten change. There was an Asian model in almost every show last February and agencies expect a marked increase in the months ahead. Most prominent were Japanese model Tao Okamoto [align=left], for Moschino, Marc Jacobs and D&G, and Chinese model Liu Wen, for Chanel, Dries Van Noten and Louis Vuitton...London Fashion Week's key backstage photographer, Jason Lloyd-Evans, said: "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.". He predicts Okamoto will be the next big thing. "Her tomboy attitude means she is not fitting any particular typecast"...This autumn, Okamoto is the face of Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors and has appeared recently in French and Russian Vogue...Some cynics, however, have dismissed south and east Asian models as simply a return to the "exotic"...more...
