Asian model continues quest for more diversity in beauty and fashion

(AFP PHOTO / TIMOTHY A. CLARY)

Liu Wen, the Chinese model who also was the first Asian to ever walk a Victoria's Secret runway, has been signed as the first Asian face modeling for beauty giant Estée Lauder.

The move follows the diversity-endorsing campaign by Rimmel London, one of Lauder's competitors, which just tapped stars including the African American Solange Knowles and the Hispanic Alejandra Ramos Munoz as faces for the brand.

Diverse ethnicity and diverse body shape are big trends in beauty and fashion right now: French Vogue put Rose Cordero on its March issue, the first black cover model since 2002, and Lancôme hired Vietnamese-American YouTube beauty vlogger Michelle Phan as its official 'video make-up artist' and thus one of its most-seen public faces.

As for body shape, recent developments have seen French Elle publish a 'Spécial Rondes' (plus-size issue) at the end of last month, and so-called fashionistas, or plus-size fashion bloggers, are currently gaining popularity and influence on the web: for a good selection, visit Refinery29 at http://www.refinery29.com/our-plus-size-fashion-resource.php or The Guardian at http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/jan/30/fat-fashion-blogs.