Dazed & Intrigued

Dazed & Confused delivers a 60-plus page visual smorgasbord for its September issue featuring a genius mix of established models, new faces and kids discovered at street castings. Kacper Kasprzyk photographs the cast of nearly 40 models including Joan Smalls, Liu Wen, Emily Didonato, Marloes Horst, Aymeline Valade, Hanna Ben Abdesslem and Ajak Deng in a series of moody black and white and colour shots with blue lit backdrops. The editorial showcases looks from the Fall/Winter 2011 collections with styling by Katie Shillingford, Karen Langley and Robbie Spencer. An element of surprise is gleaned with each turn of the page thanks to the eclectic mix of high fashion faces, commercial models and unknowns.

Lydia Willemina & Teresa Pagh
Source - models.com

Joan Smalls
Source - fashiongonerogue.com

Marloes Horst
Source - models.com

Ehren Dorsey
Source - models.com

Alyona Subbotina
Source - models.com

Ruby Jean Wilson
Source - models.com

Emily Didonato
Source - models.com

Ajak Deng
Source - fashiongonerogue.com

Camille Rowe
Source - models.com

Liu Wen
Source - fashiongonerouge.com

Hanaa Ben Abdesslem
Source - fashiongonerogue.com

Aymeline Valade
Dazed & Confused - September 2011
Photographer - Kacper Kasprzyk
Source - models.com

A Sight to Behold

Vogue China's September issue makes a bold statement with its group cover shot of modelling's finest Asian talent. Photographers Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin bring new meaning to the word sublime with their cover image featuring Sui He, Liu Wen, Ming Xi, Fei Fei Sun, Shu Pei Qin and veteran model Du Juan. It's no secret that I love seeing models brought together for the purposes of a cover shoot and Vogue China's most recent effort delivers with impeccable styling, breathtakingly beautiful models and a clear celebration of all things beautiful. This incredible assembly of established and up-and-coming Asian models affirms the notion that ethnicity in modelling need not be a passing fad. 

Vogue China - September 2011
Photographer - Inez Van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin
Source - models.com

A-List Talent

Lane Crawford, Hong Kong's premier specialist store enlists an impressive cast of top tier Asian models for its Fall/Winter 2011 campaign. Shot by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott, the cast includes Liu Wen, Shu Pei Qin, Fei Fei Sun, Ming Xi and Xiao Wen Ju. Stylist Marie-Amélie Sauvé decks out the Asian beauties in luxury looks from Haider Ackermann, Azzedine Alaia, Balenciaga, Givenchy, Celine, Alexander McQueen and more. What I find most refreshing about this campaign is that the models are not depicted in a way which fetishises their ethnicity. Sauvé deserves major kudos for presenting Liu Wen et al. instead as modern day beauties with mass market appeal.

Fei Fei Sun, Liu Wen, Shu Pei Qin, Xiao Wen Ju & Ming Xi
Lane Crawford - F/W 2011
Photographer - Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott
Source - models.com

Shu Pei Qin, Fei Fei Sun & Ming Xi
Lane Crawford - F/W 2011
Video still - Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott
Source - fordmodelsblog.com

Fei Fei Sun, Ming Xi, Shu Pei Qin, Xiao Wen Ju & Liu Wen
Lane Crawford - F/W 2011
Photographer - Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott
Source - models.com

Ming Xi
Lane Crawford - F/W 2011
Video Still - Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott
Source - fordmodelsblog.com

Dolce's Girls

Stefano Gabbana and Dolce Domenico opt for multiple girl casts for their D&G and Dolce Gabbana Fall/Winter 2011 campaigns. Super photographer Mario Testino shoots an eclectic mix of new faces for D&G's vibrant and youth-oriented campaign starring Tao Okamoto, Aiste Kliveckaite, Marique Schimmel and Melodie Monrose. Shot in a New York subway tunnel, the diversity of the cast of models aptly refects New York's populace.

Continuing on its Fall/Winter 2011 androgynous boy meets girl theme, Dolce Gabbana's campaign lensed by Steven Klein, features Isabeli Fontana, Jac Jagaciak, Liu Wen, Maryna Linchuk, Constance Jablonski and Kate King alternately dressed as men and women. Wen, King and Jagaciak look super cute posing tomboyishly in pants, suspender belts, singlets and bowler hats.

D&G - Fall/Winter 2011
Photographer - Mario Testino

Dolce Gabbana - Fall/Winter 2011
Photographer - Steven Klein

D&G - Fall/Winter 2011
Photographer - Mario Testino

Dolce Gabbana - Fall/Winter 2011
Photographer - Steven Klein

D&G - Fall/Winter 2011
Photographer - Mario Testino
Source - models. com

Who's that Girl...

Multi-girl casts appear to be all the rage with Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana and Louis Vuitton, all opting for a diverse line-up of models with maximum market appeal for their Fall/Winter 2011 campaigns. Jourdan Dunn, Cara Delevigne, Molly Smith, Amber Anderson and actress Felicity Jones front up for Burberry's Fall campaign under the ever-reliable lens of Mario Testino. 

Jourdan Dunn
Burberry F/W 2011
Photographer -  Mario Testino

Molly Smith, Amber Anderson, Thomas Penfound
& Felicity Jones
Burberry F/W 2011
Photographer - Mario Testino

Jourdan Dunn
Burberry F/W 2011
Photographer - Mario Testino
Source - fashiongonerogue.com

An equally diverse line-up of fashion's freshest and youngest new faces including; Daphne Groeneveld, Fei Fei Sun, Nyasha Matonhodze, Anais Pouliot, Gertrud Hegelund and Zuzanna Bijoch make up the cast for Louis Vuitton's Fall/Winter 2011 campaign. Photographer Steven Meisel captures modelling's newest talent in a vintage Rolls Royce at a disused Brooklyn aerodrome.

Nyasha Matonhodze
Louis Vuitton F/W 2011
Photographer - Steven Meisel
Source - models.com

Agnete Hegelund & Zuzanna Bijoch
Louis Vuitton F/W 2011
Photographer - Steven Meisel
Source - models.com

Daphne Groeneveld & Anais Pouliot
Louis Vuitton F/W 2011
Photographer - Steven Meisel
Source - models.com

Dolce & Gabbana opted for a cast of established models; Constance Jablonski, Isabeli Fontana, Liu Wen, Jac Jagaciak, Maryna Linchuk and newcomer Kate King. The following behind the scenes images tweeted by Stefano Gabbana via tumblr, continue the theme of Dolce & Gabbana's Fall/Winter show with the models alternately dressed as men and women.

Isabeli Fontana & Jac Jagaciak
Source - fashionologie.com

Kate King
Source - fashionologie.com

Liu Wen
Source - fashionologie.com

V Magazine's Asia Issue

V Magazine's Asia issue is due to hit newsstands on the 12th of May with Lady Gaga appearing on the cover photographed by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin. Ten percent of the proceeds of sales will go towards the Japan relief effort. The issue features a stunning editorial with the modelling's top Asian talent. Liu Wen, Fei Fei Sun, Shu Pei Qin and Tao Okamoto transform into modern day vixens under the masterful lens of Terry Tsiolis. Newcomers Ming Xi, Sui He and Bonnie Chen also appear in editorials shot by Nick Knight, Glen Luchford and Sebastien Faena respectively. It is truly amazing to see so many top models of Asian descent showcased in one issue. Let's hope that the recent smattering of editorials featuring all-Black and all-Asian casts is not just a gimmick and that models of colour become the norm rather than the exception in the higher echelons of the modelling world.

Fei Fei Sun
Photographer - Terry Tsiolis

Tao Okamoto
Photographer - Terry Tsilois

Fei Fei Sun
Photographer - Terry Tsiolis

Shu Pei Qin
Photographer - Terry Tsiolis

Liu Wen
Photographer - Terry Tsiolis

Tao Okamoto
Photographer - Terry Tsiolis
All images V Magazine - Issue 71
Source - nymag.com

Memoirs of a Gaga
Photographer -  Inez Van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin
V Magazine - Issue 71
Source - beautyisdiverse.com

Sui He
Photographer - Glen Luchford
V Magazine - Issue 71
Source - models.com

Bonnie Chen
Photographer - Sebastian Faena
V Magazine - Issue 71
Source - models.com

Ming Xi
Photographer - Nick Knight
V Magazine - Issue 71
Source - models.com

Givenchy's Asian Odyssey

Givenchy's Spring 2011 Haute Couture presentation featured a cast of solely Asian models. Designer Riccardo Tisci's cast of beauties featured ten of the most prominent Asian models hailing from China, Japan and Korea. Veterans Ai Tominaga and Du Juan joined Liu Wen, Shu Pei Qin, Ming Xi, Fei Fei Sun, Hye Park, Jiang Xiao Yi, Tao Okamoto and So Young Kang in an intimate presentation of the collection inspired by Japanese robot toys and legendary Japanese dancer Kazuo Ohno. Tisci's influence in the modelling world is fast becoming folklore with many a model's career skyrocketing following an appearance in a Givenchy show. The question now is which of these Asian warrior beauties will dominate the upcoming Fall/Winter 2011 shows.

Riccardo Tisci's Asian Revolution
Source - style.com

Ming Xi

Shu Pei Qin

Du Juan

Hye Park

So Young Kang

Fei Fei Sun

Jiang Xiao Yi

Liu Wen

Tao Okamoto

Ai Tominaga
Images courtesy of fashionologie.com