Du Juan (Nationality: Chinese)-The first Asian model to really break out. Hye Park (Nationality: Korean) was already considered successful in terms of Asian models working in the high fashion world, but Du Juan is the one who managed to secure an impressive number of FW06 ads.
Anyways, so since then, she's been a staple of Vogue China. Also, she's started to appear on runways and this season, quite a few campaigns. Du Juan's FW06 ad portfolio includes:
Gap -She doesn't really look like her in the ad, but it's her. I suppose this is Gap's attempt to reach out to more people, although I'm not sure the whole Gap using low-profile high-fashion models campaign worked.
Roberto Cavalli -I love Du in this campaign. So dramatic and cool.
Swarovski -Sensual, (where is the jewelry on her?)
Louis Vuitton -Another loveable campaign, this one featuring Du and Raquel. Not that you can really see Du's face in the ad, but still. She's like a Vuitton bag hanger in this ad! I wasn't so sure about it at first, but it grew on me!
YSL -Du's outfit here isn't exactly my fav, but it's impressive she managed to get high fashion ads at all. Actually, the contrast between the background and her outfit is pretty cool.
Although according to thefashionspot forums, Du Juan so far, does not seem to have any SS07 campaigns yet. Let's hope she's not a one-hit-wonder!
Du Juan trained to be a dancer when she was young, but according to articles/ interviews of her, she just wouldn't stop growing tall, so she became a model. (She also won some beauty contest thing.)
And bam! everyone fell in love with her after the high-profile and very first Vogue China cover, also starring Gemma Ward. (Remember back when the cover was first released, I said she was my fav Chinese model on the cover?)
Anyways, so since then, she's been a staple of Vogue China. Also, she's started to appear on runways and this season, quite a few campaigns. Du Juan's FW06 ad portfolio includes:
Gap -She doesn't really look like her in the ad, but it's her. I suppose this is Gap's attempt to reach out to more people, although I'm not sure the whole Gap using low-profile high-fashion models campaign worked.
Roberto Cavalli -I love Du in this campaign. So dramatic and cool.
Swarovski -Sensual, (where is the jewelry on her?)
Louis Vuitton -Another loveable campaign, this one featuring Du and Raquel. Not that you can really see Du's face in the ad, but still. She's like a Vuitton bag hanger in this ad! I wasn't so sure about it at first, but it grew on me!
YSL -Du's outfit here isn't exactly my fav, but it's impressive she managed to get high fashion ads at all. Actually, the contrast between the background and her outfit is pretty cool.Although according to thefashionspot forums, Du Juan so far, does not seem to have any SS07 campaigns yet. Let's hope she's not a one-hit-wonder!
Category ›
Botkier -Bianca. Not counting Lindsay Lohan pap photos, the first time I saw this bag was in NY Barneys, where the girl in front of me in line was carrying the Bianca medium in brown. I was like, I really like this bag, and went into a Botkier-online-ogling-frenzy phase.
Chanel -This Chanel supersized bag is one of the few Chanel bags that I actually feel is great for young people. Can you just imagine: a girl in black/grey skinny jeans, ankle boots, huge black shades and this simple but uber cool bag. Oop, I might have just described Kate Moss.
Kooba -Carla and Lena. Kooba bags in general give off a more bohemian vibe. So not all Kooba bags are my thing, but I do like these two. They give off a really relaxed vibe (if that makes sense.)
Miu Miu -Vitello Paggy Shoulder Bag. I saw a girl in a very casual outfit -cute shorts, a tee and black shades -carrying this bag back in the summer, and I stared at her for awhile. The bag is so cute and practical. Actually, I like most of Miu Miu's bags this season, but I already squealed about them to my poor, patient (and loyal reader) friend.
Balenciaga -the Motorcycle bag trascends seasons. While it may not be an IT bag anymore, it's still super cool and edgy. I do love how gorgeous the leather is and how light and practical it is. You can tell by the fact that after a few seasons, the young stylish girls, that's MK and Nicole, are still carrying it.
Chanel -A new young stylish girl fav this season (which will probably go on) is the small Chanel classic-looking bag. I've always thought these Chanel bags look old, but the girls sure carry the bags well and look cool.
Even here on the Burberry Prorsum runway, the same hat looks so different from one model to another. It looks SO much better on Gemma (left) than on Hye Park (right). Maybe its the head shape, I have the same problem. I found a similar hat and it looked awful on me, which is just too bad, because this picture of Gemma is what inspired to me write this blog and go look for a cool slouchy looking beanie like that to begin with. Perhaps I haven't found the right one yet?
On the Marc by Marc Jacob's runway we have these wider rimmed hats. I rather like the wide rimmed beanie thing he has there (left). She looks effortlessly cool there. Then there is the patent leather fisherman hat thing (right). It looks alright, but I think I've gotten over the whole fisherman hat thing back a few years ago and am not ready for it to come back yet.
Ashley looks absolutely AMAZING. That Calvin Klein dress is so sheer, so hard to look good in, and she managed it. And very importatnly, she managed to look sensual, as opposed to slutty, in that rather revealing dress. (It could be that the CK dress was simply extremely well designed too.)
I'm still undecided on her new dark brunette do though, so hopefully there'll be more photos of her soon.
Nicole's brunette locks may be less glam than her previous blonde one, but I'm loving the stylish edge it gives her. I've always wondered, how does she achieve those perfect bangs? Must be a lot of hairspray for them
Since we're talking about Nicole, for those who are out of the loop, Nicole fired Rachel Zoe and hired a new stylist this week. It's not exactly the most grateful thing for Nicole to do, afterall, Rachel Zoe did transform her from a rather trashily-dressed, BFF of Paris Hilton, to the ever-fashionable, stylish Nicole, whom we all look upon now (for style inspiration). But Nicole fired Zoe to get rid of bad influence, so that's definitely a good thing. Look out to see if Nicole's 'style' changes! 
And what does one think of when one thinks of department store and Paris? The Galleria Lafayette of course! According to my guide, it was the second department store in the world (since Marshall Fields claimed to be first, but I'm not too sure about that). Anyway, the point is, that it is so famous that it is practically a tourist attraction in itself. Although I don't think the clothes in there are that great. They're ok, but nothing worth braving the crowd for. And when did Hello Kitty become a fashion brand???
But my favourite department store of all is Bon Marche. It is like the Barneys of New York. The atmosphere there is more upper-scale, elegant, relaxed and well. . Parisian!
These two looks are my favourite, because they're just so cool and girly. I WANT that black shirt and culottes! They look good together and I can totally imagine them to match perfectly with things in my wardrobe.
On the Stella McCartney runway (left), she cut out the front to form cute half heels/half boots worn with stockings. And on the Versace runway (right), they cleverly cut out a bit on the side to reveal footless stockings!
Other more innovative designs out there include these Alexander McQueen (left) kick back ankle boots, which I think has a weird slanted heel (is that physically safe?) and these funky Report Signature (right) ankle boots from Shop Intuition.
My favourite ones are these two from Miu Miu (left) and Paul and Joe (right). I love the perfectly rounded toes and the adorable designs. I want them both!
Then there are these darling soft grey slouchy boots from Urban Outfitters (left) and green pointy boots with a v from Roberto Cavalli (right).
I also like these ankle boots with what looks like scoop necks. It makes them look so chic! I especially like the design of the Steve Madden one (right), it looks so elegant! (left: Nine West)
As I said, these boots were made to be seen. Here are some ideas as to how: 
After a 3 hour ride in a cabinet styled train (as in Anastasia- unfortunately they are not as cool as it looked in the movie) we finally reached Venice where water was everywhere. How gorgeous is this picture of sunset in Venice (right)?
Other touristy things to see is the Basillica of San Marco (left) and the Palace of the Doges (right). I love how the architecture in Venice is so different from that of Paris and Milan. In times of high tide, the piazza (left) is actually flooded and gondolas can actually float on it sometimes. I know, hard to believe. When we saw the postcard pictures, we thought they were computer edited! Oh and that lamp post was where we took a twirling around the lampost picture :P.
Our next stop, which took a grueling 6 hours train ride to reach, was Geneva. Highlights in Geneva include this Jet L'eau spring thing (left), this clock (right)(the missing numbers of the clock are on the outside). . 
