How Covid-19 and e-commerce killed China’s golden age of fashion – while millennial supermodels Liu Wen and He Sui became global names, Gen Zers are forced to look closer to home

Dec 10 , 2020

Modelling during Covid-19 in China. Photo: Jing Daily

Pierre Cardin elevated modelling to national consciousness in 1979, but travel restrictions and China’s reliance on local social media platforms like Weibo and Bilibili have created a very different world for homegrown fashion models today

Fashion producer and founder of the production house Peter Xu Studio, Fengli Peter Xu has shot many high-profile fashion campaigns over the years and deals with models daily. And, having witnessed many of them come and go, his outlook is somewhat bleak in regards to the industry’s cutthroat operations.

“I am not exaggerating when I say that over 50 per cent of models will be unemployed in the future,” he said.

Indeed, the modelling industry in China has a chequered past. Pierre Cardin’s 1979 show at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing was the first to elevate the profession of modelling to national consciousness. Since then, China has produced generations of international supermodels, including Gen X names like Qu Ying and Hu Bing and millennial faces like Lü Yan, Du Juan, Liu Wen, Xi Mengyao and He Sui. Today, Xiao Wen Ju is the current go-to favourite for luxury brands.

What most of these established models have in common is global recognition. The acceptance of China’s modelling industry has undoubtedly been dependent on appearances abroad. Competition from Eurocentric designers has always been a battle. Yet Chinese models also face increasingly prohibitive travel restrictions when working abroad.

“We can’t just travel outside the country on a whim,” said Hu Yifu, a model from China’s LongTeng Model agency. “We often have to renew visas. Even if you can book a job abroad, if you don’t have a visa on hand, you are stuck. This situation is very restrictive.”

Chinese model Hua Yilan. Photo: Jing Daily

Due to these restrictions, Chinese models must make the most of their time abroad. Many attend at least a dozen interviews per day, which is considered normal for Chinese models in most countries – and rewards vary. Runway models make around US$235 per show. Some brand fees can be much higher: roughly between US$1,100 to US$2,400 per show.

Brand-exclusive deals pay more – US$4,700 to US$5,900 per show – yet few models actually break into this circuit. Additionally, the 2020 fashion week season added another hurdle: Covid-19. Many domestic modelling companies worried about sending their employees to runways abroad, which, in turn, hurt their careers.

“Whether Chinese models can increase their value in the domestic market is contingent on attending big shows abroad,” said model talent scout Wu Wenyuan. “If models do not leave the country and can’t get noticed on foreign runways, their ability to make money in China is greatly affected.”

However, not all is doom and gloom. China’s e-commerce business has matured rapidly in recent months. There are currently 7 million Taobao merchants and thousands of newcomers are joining the platform daily. The demand for new models for these online stores has skyrocketed.

In fact, e-commerce work saved the careers of many modelling agencies and models during the pandemic. The demand for local faces even trumped that of international models. Now, Chinese e-commerce models are paid around US$150 to US$300 per hour for Taobao advertisements, while e-commerce models from other countries receive around US$300 for a whole day. Higher-tier models make top out at around US$450 per day.