^At a glance, yes, it does seem like she’s “dramatically” slowing down in terms of “everything.”
Personally, I think Liu has been consistent in terms of everything over the course of her career. 2012 and 2013 being her better years all round collectively – though 2014 was quite good too (picking up some steam, really). 2011 & 2010 were relatively stronger in editorials – was frequent and a lot more diversity in publications and photographers, etc.
But yeah, Liu wasn't necessarily acing all four grounds... but to put it into perspective, Liu actually did great with what was given at that time, kudos to her; and to this date her body of work collectively is not excellent (in bluest blue-chips), but great, IMO. If we were to do a "rank" here is what she has accomplished in terms of prestige:
runway (walked literally every big designer, topping 74? shows in her prime),
ads (only cause of EL and CK repeat, although Cavalli, Boss, Dolce are nice too!),
eds appearances (primarily vogue, which she appeared in all big four with a few editions missing) and then
covers...
And if I may, I think we could all agree to some degree that this “issue” that we perceive with Liu right now…
is because of the lack of the more blue-chip materials, no? That, yes, hasn’t been that consistent (despite EL and CK repeat – although CK is hardly “blue-chip”), if we were to look from that angle.
I think we are all well aware of who Liu is, and at her level (however you want to interpret that as), she should be obtaining the crème de la crème. Why hasn’t she gained them? Don’t know. Is it a matter of Liu or her mgmt or these taste-makers? Ultimately and strictly business, as usual?
And this is not directed at no one particular, but I think we ought to give credits to Liu for nabbing whatever she could, even if they aren’t the bluest of them all.
These are just my opinions. Others are encouraged and welcome!
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hishirley, if they aren’t doing it, then you should be hired and get paid to translate for us. All of Liu’s interviews in Mandarin – articles, public appearances and those videos should definitely be translated. Up for the job?
And wow. Well, no wonder Liu is a workaholic. That’s kind of sad actually. Not getting the bluest blue-chip, but also not the support of China’s people? Note: I am generalizing here and don’t mean to say all. To put it into context, when I say support, I mean do they simply don’t care for Liu mainly because of her as a person or more so with her kind of beauty? Interesting.
Do you happen to walk pass by or shop at EL by chance? Do you see anything that is Liu? Have you ever seen Liu on your TV or shown around you, like not even once? Do you know or aware of Liu’s absence from the advertisements of EL products? How about her other ads for La Perla, for example? How are those doing? How about her commercial ads like Erdos and the like? Any coverage/output/sign of those?
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hishirley, if you like to or prefer to, you could rather PM instead.
As for those lesser known models and ‘celebs’ – I could see how they could gain status and I agree with you. And as for the household names, that is a given – stars are held to the highest form of commodity in entertainment…
But what about Liu, right? And you are right, perhaps Liu is not the type who wants to be in the public 24/7 or at the caliber as actors and singers. Yes she’s a model but maybe just that – that is what makes her happy for now. And not to get the wrong idea, but yes, Liu doesn’t come off as a status-seeker type (although, some of us want her to be even greater in terms of her career and longevity and with that, come along an expectation of solid blue-chip work). Liu’s pretty laid back and ‘normal’ and simply performing her job. I like that. We all like that, no? To say that this lifestyle doesn’t change her.
Okay, obviously we don’t know what Liu wants (and we shouldn’t make value judgments). But I like others, care for Liu and that we want better and greater things for Liu. She should. She still got years.
Hopefully we aren’t overreacting but just concerned. May Liu keep surprising and prove us wrong!
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A shout out was given to Wen from Australia's
The Age newspaper...
weibo/needapacemaker
Liu spent some days in Cotswolds for her blog series, here some cadids shots:
first two: twitter/oldfarmdorn & latter two: twitter/kinghamplough