For decades, the most beautiful Asian models were invisible, ignored by fashion in favour of other ethnicities. Now things are changing for these women. By Ben Arogundade, author of the book Black Beauty.

MANY FASHION FANS PRESUME that the first non-white beauty to break into mainstream fashion was African American. The truth is, she was actually a beautiful East Asian woman namedChina Machado. Discovered by photographer Richard Avedon in at a New York runway show in 1958, he made history by pressing for his images of the Shanghai-born beauty to be included in the pages of fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar. It was the first time they had ever featured a non-white model.

THE FIRST EAST ASIAN BEAUTY: Chinese-born model China Machado was the first non-white beauty to crossover into mainstream fashion, courtesy of photographer Richard Avedon, who took this shot for Harper's Bazaar in 1958.

Although there was rejoicing amongst Asian women that one of their own had suddenly been brought into the fold, there was resistance to this bold new diversity from within fashion. Robert F. MacLeod, the magazine’s publisher at the time, told Avedon, “Listen, we can’t publish these pictures [of Machado]. The girl is not white.”

Today, the beauty landscape is very different, with a plethora of East Asian models such as Sui He, Fei Fei Sun and star of The Wolverine film Tao Okamoto holding their own amongst the most beautiful white and black women in the cat fight for work. Chinese beauty Liu Wen is currently ranked at number five in models.com'sworld listing, standing out as the first Asian face of Estée Lauder, and with multiple Vogue China covers and campaigns for clients from Calvin Klein to Lane Crawford.

It is a far cry from the racism experienced by China Machado just half a century earlier, and although the inclusion of the most beautiful Asian women models within fashion is partially driven by China's rise as an economic superpower, nevertheless, these new girls look here to stay.

The biographies of many of the new generation of East Asian models and actresses are available above, written by Ben Arogundade, author of the best-selling book Black Beauty.

THE STORY OF HOW Tao Okamoto found modelling is a classic. “When I was in junior high I was walking down the street and this guy just came to me,” she recounted to Stylecaster.com. “Then I thought like, oh, maybe I can do something to use my height and looks.”

Born on May 22, 1987 in Tokyo, Japan, Okamoto, plucked off the street like countless other beauties before her, sought the approval of her parents before she took the plunge. They advised her to get herself a good agent, and so she sent some pictures of herself to a local model agency. After being taken on, Tao worked in Japan for five years before moving to France in 2006, where she made her debut on the Paris runways for Ungaro and Martin Grant.

MODEL HEIGHTS IN NEW YORK

But it was when she moved to New York in 2007 that Okamoto rapidly became a designer’s favourite, initially doing runway for Marc Jacobs, plus a Moschino ad campaign shot by Peter Lindbergh. The distinctive feature that catalysed her success was her hair — a beautiful Vidal Sassoon-style black bowl-cut bob, last seen on Sixties supermodel Peggy Moffitt. It led to her being cast in dozens of shows, most notably that of designer Phillip Lim, who liked her cut so much that he decided that all the girls in his fall 2009 show should sport the same hairdo. “It was amazing,” remembers Okamoto. “I thought he was joking when he first told me.”

From there Tao has gone from strength to strength, working for designers such as Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Armani, D&G, Tommy Hilfiger, Kenzo, Kenneth Cole, Gap and Benetton. In 2009 the Japanese native became the face of Ralph Lauren, and in November of that year VogueJapan dedicated a whole issue to her.

THE WOLVERINE GIRL'S BOYFRIEND?

Currently ranked at number 30 in Models.com's hot girls, Okamoto recently branched out into film, reaching the Hollywood heights as the character Mariko Yashida, Hugh Jackman’s love interest, inThe Wolverine, in which our hero travels to Japan to train with a samurai warrior.

Okamoto, who remains cagey about who she is currently dating, confessed that when she was younger she once had an English boyfriend while studying as an exchange student, who was less than comfortable with her interest in Jackman. “He was very jealous that I liked Hugh Jackman so much,” she recalled.

ASIA'S NEW HEIGHT

Like many other stars of modelling and movies, Okamoto’s success is not simply down to talent, but also timing. As the East Asian nations grow in economic power, producing a constant stream of wealthy new customers in its wake, the entertainment industry has responded in reflecting the aesthetic of these new entrants. It is the beginning of a trend that looks set to intensify.

FROM FASHION TO FILM: Japanese beauty Tao Okamoto is one of the new crop of Asian girls currently making waves in fashion. The Asian model ranks at no. 30 in models.com's list of top supermodels and is a regular in the pages of the Asian editions of Vogue. She stars opposite Hugh Jackman in Wolverine, the movie.

EVER SINCE SHANGHAI-BORN beauty China Machado exploded onto the scene as fashion's first non-white supermodel back in 1959, Chinese models have struggled to break into the industry. Hampered both by racism and the traditions of their own culture which frowned upon modelling as a profession, Chinese models were neither seen nor heard within fashion magazines or advertising campaigns.

BEAUTIFUL CHINA BREAKS

Now the picture is very different, and most recently the speed of change has been nothing short of remarkable. The last five years has seen a plethora of beautiful young Chinese women break into mainstream fashion, led by Liu Wen, the 25-year-old model from Yongzhou, Hunan, who has chalked up campaigns for Calvin Klein, Dolce and Gabbana, Oscar de la Renta, Estée Lauder and many others, ever since she arrived on the international fashion scene in 2007. The growing power of these young Chinese women within the industry is marked by Forbes 2013 list of the world's highest-earning supermodels, which placed Wen at number five, with $4.3 million — ahead of supermodels Joan Smalls, Carolyn Murphy and Lara Stone.

CHINESE WOMEN RIDE ECONOMY

So, why are Chinese fashion models suddenly so popular? The answer is about economics, as opposed to some liberal desire for equality within the fashion industry. The fact is, China's burgeoning economy that has made them power players within the luxury goods market, and consequently, mainstream fashion has been forced to reflect the faces of these wealthy new customers within their advertising campaigns.

For the girls themselves, it's all good news, and now Google's stats are tracking just how popular Chinese women models are around the globe. Our top 10 list ranks the most beautiful according to the number of Internet users who type their names into their search engine every month. By now, you can guess who's number one, but there are nine other Chinese beauties who are hot on her heels.

CHINESE FASHION MODELS IN BLOSSOM: The world's top 10 Chinese fashion models, according to Google search, reveals the extent to which these ambitous and beautiful young women have quickly assimilated into the mainstream, after being non-existant in fashion less than 60 years ago.

IT WAS 1956 WHEN China Machado, an unknown young model from Shanghai, became the first non-white beauty to break through fashion’s apartheid system when she began working as a fitting model at the House of Givenchy in Paris. By 1959 she was famous: discovered in New York by fashion photographer Richard Avedon, who photographed her for the February edition of Harper’s Bazaar. It was the first time an East Asian model had ever featured in a mainstream fashion magazine. THE FACE OF ASIAN BEAUTY: The world's top 10 East Asian fashion models, according to Google search, consists of eight famous Chinese supermodels, one from Japan and one from Taiwan/Canada. The top 10 Asian supermodels list is also made up of two male and eight female models. Guess who's no.1? 

FAMOUS ASIAN FASHION MODELS ARRIVE

Now, over half a century later, famous Asian supermodels are enjoying their best time ever, as the fashion industry increasingly looks toward Asia for its financial future, and the burgeoning economy that has made them power players within the luxury goods market. Mainstream fashion has now been forced to reflect the faces of these wealthy new Asian customers within their advertising campaigns, particularly the Chinese. The size of the country's fashion industry is predicted to triple in size, to £128 billion, by 2020.

The last five years has seen an explosion of East Asian supermodels within high fashion. For the first time ever, industry website models.com lists eight Asian girls amongst the top 50 models in the world (16 per cent of the total). They now work side-by-side with their white, and black counterparts across fashions major campaigns.

ASIAN MODELS LAND CAMPIGNS

In 2011 famous Chinese beauty Liu Wen — models.com’s highest placed Asian supermodel at number three — became the face of Estée Lauder. In 2013 Wen — the daughter of a construction worker — featured at number five in Forbes list of the world's highest-earning supermodels — the first time an Asian model has ever featured. Alongside this, Taiwanese male model Godfrey Gau secured a campaign for Louis Vuitton, while, Sui He — (number 13) — the first Asian supermodel ever to open a runway show for Ralph Lauren — fronted campaigns for H&M, Karl Lagerfeld and Shiseido. Simultaneously, Japanese supermodel Tao Okamoto, at number 37 in the rankings, has recently enjoyed a big popularity boost following her role in the movie Wolverine, with Hugh Jackman.

The Asian fashion market now has its own editions of Vogue, and with it, Chinese and Japanese-focused fashion photography and images of famous Asian supermodels has created a new visual universe which runs in parallel to the European fashion scene.

HIGH FASHION HIGH HOPES

Ever since the 1960s it has been black supermodels that have enjoyed the status as fashions ascendant ethnic minority group, but now this is shifting. Compared to the eight Asian girls featured in models.com’s top listing, there are only four black models in its top 50, although Puerto Rican-born beauty Joan Smalls is ranked number one. One of the fashion industry’s most contentious issues for the coming era will focus around which non-white models will secure what work, from what is a strictly limited pool, now that Asian, black and also South Indian fashion models are all competing against each other within the new multi-ethnic beauty landscape.

THE TOP 10 FAMOUS ASIAN SUPERMODELS

The rise of the Asian supermodel within this new arena is well illustrated by the fact that there are now enough famous ones to compile a list of the top 10 Asian girls. While models.com ranks its girls according to the number of campaigns they do, and the money they earn, I have compiled a unique listing which ranks the top 10 Asian models according to their global popularity via Google searches. My world top 10 is a diverse list that includes both male and female supermodels, plus all the top names, including Liu Wen, Sui He and Tao Okamoto. Check out who takes the number one slot — you may be surprised.