Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2016: Cultural Appropriation or Business Smarts?
When I saw the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show posts popping up in my WeChat moments feed, I knew exactly what to expect from the Interwebs…
When I saw the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show posts popping up in my WeChat moments feed, I knew exactly what to expect from the Interwebs…
My first reactions to the outfits were 1) typical Victoria’s Secret extravaganza: Impressive, outlandish, borderline comical, and so much fun to watch. 2) Oh cool it looks like Chinese New Year came before Christmas! And finally 3) LOOK AT ALL THE CHINESE MODELS!!!
But why don’t they get to wear the dragon I’d want to wear the dragon if I were one of the four Chinese models in the show but I guess that would be typecasting and would this be considered cultural appropriation but since I’m Asian does that mean I’m qualified to judge on what’s cultural appropriation or not and if it is cultural appropriation but I sort of like it what does that make me!?
*audible gasp*
Lo and behold, Cosmopolitan responded with “Why Can’t Victoria’s Secret Stop Designing Racist Lingerie?” The article has since been pulled from their website and I was only able to read the original article once in full before the cached page was updated with “Everything There Is to Know About the 2016 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.”
This one I loved. Sass for days, and on their second try, the authors Helin Jung and Rachel Torgerson highlighted the three black models who walked the show in natural hair, and another who walked while pregnant. Talk about commitment to the job! I dig the wider spotlight and the quick save.
The Chinese (WeChat) netizens ate it up, just in time for the Shanghai flagship opening. Bit of a mixed bag of reactions, sure. Most of the articles on WeChat were raving about the “Four Chinese Beauties Taking Over Victoria’s Secret!” and “Spring Festival Lingerie Show!” The national pride is palpable, and good on them. China has become an undeniable presence in the world, and I share their excitement. No mention of cultural appropriation specifically, but some have pointed out that the “Chinese style” in the outfits didn’t really reflect traditional Chinese aesthetics.
As a former model from Taiwan, I was happy to see a total of four Chinese models on stage. Growing up in Taipei, it was common to see only Caucasian models on the magazine covers. There’s even a popular Japanese fashion magazine called ViVi that mainly casts mixed race models. Strange, I know, but that’s how it used to be. That’s how it still is, sometimes. Heck, even the Taiwanese designers would sometimes cast me as the sole Asian model in a lineup of Caucasians.
Luckily for me, by the time I started modeling the Chinese market had begun to gain notice. Brands started to include a token Asian model here or there. Even as I cringed at the blatant attempts to appease the Chinese consumers , it represented an important shift in the modeling industry. I didn’t complain, but I did hope there could be more Asian models at the top, and it thrilled me whenever I saw one in an editorial or on a cover.
That said, did it really need to be four Chinese models in the VS show? There are women of other Asian ethnicities that could have benefited from this “diversity” initiative. Asian women don’t all look like Ju Xiaowen, Liu Wen, Sui He, and Xi Mengyao, and friendly reminder: Asian women are not all Han Chinese women.
I don’t claim to know if the four Chinese models are all Han Chinese, more that their features are commonly associated with our ethnic group. Yes, it would be laughable to claim that models can represent their race. I’m a meager 5'9" and already an anomaly amongst my fellow Taiwanese, and the extreme weight requirements of the modeling industry is an important subject for another day.
Victoria’s Secret has huge global reach, and getting those coveted wings opens doors to extraordinary opportunities. Like them or not, modeling is a tough job. Sure, many of these girls are born slim, and few in the world are blessed with the genetic makeup that gives you Amazonian height along with beautiful proportions (I don’t like them, either. Not really. OK, maybe a little bit).
But there’s no denying these women work hard as hell to stay fit and disciplined in a competitive industry full of rejections, temptations, and impossible standards of beauty. I applaud every single woman who has come this far.
So to all of the Victoria’s Secret Angels, congrats on your incredible achievements that earned you the spot on the runway (except… Is it just me or is Kendall Jenner’s walk still wobbly?). Kudos to Cosmopolitan for your updated article.
And to Victoria’s Secret: Great job on another fun show and good efforts in representing diversity of race and culture. The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is a global event and an amazing platform, and it means a great deal for women of all types to be represented. I respect your business smarts and effective befriending of Chinese consumers, and I loved seeing Maria Morges with her TWA.
