Meet the Chinese models making fashion history

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The annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show captivates the world like no other fashion event. An estimated 800 million people around the world are set to watch.

This year, more than 55 models are in Shanghai for the lingerie brand’s first show in Asia taking place on November 20. It will be broadcast around the world the following Monday.

Victoria’s Secret has cast a record eight Chinese models among the most diverse lineup in the show’s history. Some of them are established names and faces like Wen Liu and Ming Xi, but for many, the historical strut down the runway marks their global introduction. CGTN Digital is in Shanghai to take in the fashion phenomenon.

Meet the Chinese models

Estelle Chen

The second time around proved successful for Estelle Chen, who was selected for this year’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. She tried out last year but didn’t make the cut. The 19-year-old has catapulted into high fashion via the Elite Model Look competition. Her credits include the Louis Vuitton cruise shows.

Her parents both hail from Wenzhou, a city on China’s east coast, south of Shanghai. Chen was born in China but raised in France. She said that even though her dad comes from a fully Chinese background, he taught her more about French culture, while her mom schooled her in Chinese heritage. Chen said she feels like she grew up with both cultures because she returned to China every year for one or two months.

Most first-timers use the show to boost their global profiles and further their modeling careers, but Chen has different plans. She wants to study economics at the prestigious HEC Paris once she’s walked in Shanghai. Chen has spoken frankly about the inadequate representation of Asian models on the catwalk. In 2016, she took part in Instagram’s #RunwayForAll campaign, which focuses on promoting models from diverse backgrounds.

Sui He

Sui He became the second Chinese model to walk the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2011. She has done every show since. Sui He is the first East Asian model to open a Ralph Lauren runway show. She also appeared on the cover of W Magazine as a relative unknown. In 2012, she became the face of Shiseido makeup, making her the first Chinese model to represent the Japanese beauty giant.

Sui He’s breakthrough season was Fall/Winter 2011. Due to her success, she was named one of New York Magazine's Fall 2011 Top 10 Faces. At the age of 17, while a junior in high school, Sui He entered a Chinese modeling contest and won. Afterwards, she signed with China's Bentley Culture Development Company in Beijing. She was also part of the cast of the 2015 film “You Are My Sunshine”.

Xiao Wen Ju

Xiao Wen Ju was the first model of Chinese descent to be the face of Marc Jacobs.

After gaining attention with her appearance on the cover of Harper's Bazaar China in May 2010, she debuted in New York City at the Fall Honor show. Since then, she has graced runways around the world for designers including Shiatzy Chen, Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Prada.

In addition, Wen Ju was picked for Lane Crawford's F/W 11 campaign, along with other top Chinese models like Ming Xi and Shu Pei. She has also appeared on the cover of Vogue China and Numero China.

A native from northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Xiao Wen Ju appeared on the cover of Vogue Italia in 2015. In 2016, she became a face of L’Oreal. She walked in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show last year, becoming only the fifth Asian model to do so after Liu Wen, He Sui, Shu Pei and Ming Xi.

Wen Liu

Wen Liu is the first model of East Asian descent to walk the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, the first spokesmodel of East Asian descent for Estée Lauder and the first Asian model to ever make Forbes Magazine's annual highest-paid models list.

In 2012, The New York Times named Liu "China’s first bona fide supermodel." In 2017, she became the first Chinese model to ever appear on the front cover of American Vogue. In an April 2014 article about social media's rise in the fashion industry, Vogue remarked that she had "by far, the biggest social-media audience of any model."

Throughout her career, Liu has challenged issues of diversity in the fashion industry. In 2009, she made headlines on her Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show bow. The next year, she became the first Asian model to land an Esteé Lauder cosmetics campaign. An only child, Liu was born into a working-class family in Yongzhou, Hunan.

Ming Xi

Ming Xi’s professional modeling career started in 2009 after she attended a TV competition. Her international modeling career took off in 2011 after she walked her first well-known runway show for Givenchy. In the same year, she modeled the Givenchy ready-to-wear collection and appeared as the face of Givenchy’s Fall/Winter publicity advertising campaign. Ming Xi also appeared in Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Now regarded as one of the world’s top supermodels, her services are highly sought-after. Two years after she graduated from college, she participated in the Elite Model Look competition, held by the leading Elite Model Management agency. Xi ranked third. Shortly after the contest, she was offered a contract with Givenchy.

The 2017 Victoria’s Secret show is a homecoming for Xi, who was raised in Shanghai.

Xin Xie

Xin Xie is from Guangdong Province and now splits her time between New York, London, and Guangdong. The 22-year-old up-and-comer has already walked the Miu Miu Resort 2016 show and appeared in editorials for Vogue China and Vogue Me.

As it stands, Xie’s Instagram followers number just over 4,000, a figure that pales in comparison to fellow Victoria’s Secret models like Gigi Hadid (36 million) and Taylor Hill (9 million).

For Xie, the show might just be the boost she needs to make her a global name. This will be her first time walking in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

Mystery Model

One lucky reality show contestant is getting the ultimate prize. As the soon-to-be-revealed winner of "Road to the Runway China" online reality show, she will be strutting down the runway at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

The mystery model will make her professional debut on the runway for fashion's biggest night. Will she be the modeling industry's next rising star? Time will tell.

CGTN Digital will be behind the scenes at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, giving you a chance to meet some of these models up close and personal as they get ready to make fashion history.