A new demand for Asian models is changing the look of fashion's runways.
It's a worldwide trend — French label Givenchy flooded its couture runway with a group of all-Asian girls in Paris last month — so expect to see more and more Eastern faces as New York's shows kick off this week.
"Every season, there's this one great Asian model, but these days there's a whole group of them," says Eva Chen, beauty editor at Teen Vogue. "It's less of that token Asian in a show and more of a really nice consistency of great girls."
This month, fashion bible Vogue featured five Asian models for a fashion spread. In December, the magazine spotlighted eight Asian models in two pages. Just weeks ago, Filipina beauty Danica Magpantay took the title of Ford's Supermodel of the World, three years after South Korean model Hyoni Kang won the competition.
Louis Vuitton announced last month that the next face for its men's-wear campaign would be Taiwanese-American actor Godfrey Gao. He'll be the first Asian male face of a worldwide brand. Following his lead are several other Asian male models who were just used for Ermenegildo Zegna's fall 2011 collection in Milan, which paid homage to China with its overall theme.
Chen says the shift can be attributed to an increase in Asian-American designers, from Alexander Wang to Phillip Lim, as well as to Asia's quickly growing economy.
"The industry even in the past five years has become more global," says Chen. "You see brands like Chanel and Dior having resort collections in Shanghai or Moscow to reach their consumers. They're seeing that there's a huge boom in these countries, with great demand for luxury goods."
Prada announced that its Asian sales, outside of Japan, soared 51% in a recent nine-month period. In a new study by the Boston Consulting Group, the number of middle-class to affluent consumers in China alone is expected to climb from 150 million to 400 million in 10 years.
"Any good business person is observing the changing market and how Asia's expanding," says designer Tracy Reese. "I think it's on everyone's mind, to cast accordingly. You definitely have to be reflective in those decisions."
Reese says that she's also seen a change when it comes to actually casting diverse models for a show.
"I used to have to request agencies to make sure they send over black models, Latinas, Asians," she says. "Now there's a lot more to choose from. They're grooming more girls with different ethnicities."
Though Asian models have had relative success in the past — Tina Chow in the '80s and Jenny Shimizu in the '90s — there has never been a supermodel who rose to actual stardom.
While black models had their champions in Naomi Campbell and Iman, and Hispanic models dominated the field, thanks to buxom Brazilians Gisele Bundchen and Adriana Lima, an Asian model has never become a household name.
That's about to change, says Chris Gay, president of Marilyn modeling agency.
"One-hundred percent, we will see the first Asian supermodel in Liu Wen," he says of one of his clients.
The international face of Estee Lauder since last year, the Chinese-born model is also the new face for Calvin Klein accessories, and was the first Asian woman to walk Victoria's Secret's runway show.
Nipping at her heels: Shu Pei from China, whose campaign for Maybelline launched a few weeks ago; Tao Okamoto of Japan, the face for Ralph Lauren; Sun Fei Fei from China, in shows from Marc Jacobs to Givenchy, and rising South Korean star So Young Kang, who debuted in Chanel's couture show in Paris last summer.
"There have definitely been more Asians walking the runway the past two seasons and it's just a fact that there's more of a demand for these faces these days," says Gay, whose agency represents six other Asian models.
"Just like there's a demand for a French-looking face, or an all-American face, there's now a demand for an Asian look."
I love that Givenchy books the seasoned models like Ai, Du and Ling (last year), not only the popular new girls
Kudos to Riccardo Tisci for using a lot of Asian faces 
What do you guys think?
Véronique Nichanian - Designer, Creative Director of Hermès Menswear (14 Viewers)