Mochi Blog » Tyra Banks

Lack of Asians in New Season of America’s Next Top Model

Katherine Chen — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:04:15 +0000

“America’s Next Top Model” may be in its 14th season, but the hit show has yet to pick an Asian winner. It looks like Cycle 14 won’t be any different, since there was not one Asian face among the 32 selected for the semi-finals during the premiere, which aired last week.

In previous seasons, Sheena Satana and Jennifer An both came close to winning the Top Model crown (and with that a lucrative $100,000 contract with CoverGirl cosmetics, a six-page spread in Seventeen magazine, and representation by a top New York-based modeling agency). During Cycle 11, Sheena managed to make it to the final six, and was voted off the show for the trouble she had controlling her body and face during the “Planes, Trains and Slow Automobiles” episode. Jennifer fared comparatively better during Cycle 13, better known as the season for all models under 5’7”, by making it to the final four where she was eliminated alongside Erin Wagner.

While few would argue that Sheena and Jennifer are talented models in their own right, viewers may be left wondering why the Asian American model has become an anomaly not only on ANTM but also in the fashion industry. Sure, we do have internationally famous Asian models like Hye-rim Park, Liu Wen and Du Juan, but they arguably have not achieved the same household-name status as supermodels like Naomi Campbell, Heidi Klum and Gisele Bündchen.

In fact, designers may come up short even when they are looking to cast only Asian models. During the latest New York Fashion Week, Daniel Vosovic, a fashion designer and reality-TV alum himself, says that “it was a freaking struggle” to find 15 Asian models for his runway show.

The lack of viable Asian contestants on popular modeling shows like ANTM suggest either that not enough Asians are interested in breaking into the modeling industry or that Asian models are still not in high demand in the fashion world.

While there is no Asian model this season on ANTM, viewers still have many reasons to watch the show, like what comments (and criticism) the ever-fabulous André Leon Talley, editor-at-large for Vogue magazine, will bring to the table. Talley will be making his first appearance on the judging panel tonight on the CW at 8/7 p.m. central.

Photo courtesy of The CW

Congrats to Liu Wen, Victoria’s Secret’s First Asian Runway Model

Jennifer Kung — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:10:48 +0000

As the largest lingerie show, it’s quite a big deal to walk down the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which has been graced by the likes of supermodels Gisele Bündchen, Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks. So it’s very exciting to hear that Liu Wen has been added to the model lineup for this year’s show on Nov. 19, making her the first Asian model to ever participate in the show.

Born in Yongzhou, China, 21-year-old Liu Wen has had a very successful career so far, as she was named one of the top ten newcomers in Oct. 2008 by Style.com. She’s also been featured in multiple editorials in international editions of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and has walked major shows including Prada, Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent.

We can’t wait to see Liu join the stage for the much anticipated show next Thursday, which will be hosted by none other than Heidi Klum. Though the usual Angels, Karolina Kurkova and Adriana Lima, will not be participating this year since Karolina just gave birth and Adriana is still preggers, Chanel Iman, who is a quarter Korean and has recently been added as one of the newest Angels, will be strutting the runway for the first time along with several other top models.

Photo via Style.com

“Colorface:” When an Ethnic Identity is Reduced to Makeup and Trends

Angela Chen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:36:17 +0000

Makeup is magical in its ability to make us something we’re not, but can it go too far? Enter the recent trends of “blackface” and “colorface,” where white models or artistes are painted to impersonate other races.

This resurgence began with the Australian show “Hey Hey It’s Saturday” in which a cover group called the Jackson Jive performed in blackface, to mostly negative feedback. The trend is resurfacing in fashion as well: the Oct. 2009 French Vogue edition has Dutch model Lara Stone painted to look black (and dressed in requisite tribal garb). Even closer to home, an America’s Next Top Model episode required its contestants to be painted and dressed for a ‘biracial’ photo shoot. The ANTM girls wore heavy makeup to embody ethnicities such as Greek/Mexican or Thai/Egyptian and wore clothing Tyra believed these ‘mixes’ would wear.

All of this is derogatory, even in the name of fashion or entertainment. You can argue that it’s for art, but when you’re playing around with people’s cultural identities, it’s just wrong. First of all, when models are painted in blackface, they always end up wearing tribal-looking garb, which reinforces stereotypes of women of color being primitive, or worse, fetishizes them as exotic.

Diversity is sorely lacking in these industries to begin with: why not simply hire a black model to do the job? Why not have a Greek/Mexican model contestant instead of portraying what one “should” look like? Blackface isn’t a reaction to a lack of black models or an appreciation of black culture — it’s a temporary phase where being ‘black’ and ‘tribal’ is popular.

Not to mention the most important point: ethnicity and identity are such heavy, complex and sensitive issues. Pretending to be a different race is insulting, even under the excuse of aesthetics and guise of ‘this race is beautiful.’ Treating race as makeup — something that can be donned and then washed off, demeans the very real challenges and joys of any ethnic identity.

By using the colorface photoshoot concept, ANTM is blatantly making biracial people just characters the girls need to embody. Race isn’t necessarily about what you look like or what clothes you wear; it’s about culture and background and values, which can’t be achieved through heavy makeup and stereotyped attire.

Photo via Racialicious