Chrissy Wants To See More Asians In The Industry

Chrissy Teigen isn't here for the lack of Asian rep in the modeling industry. On Feb. 17, the supermodel and Twitter personality gave an interview with E! News calling out the rampant lack of opportunities for Asian models and actors. E! News caught up with Teigen at the Sports Illustrated Swim 2017 launch party, where the SI alum was celebrating her newest spread in the 2017 Swimsuit Issue. Teigen said she not only wants to see more opportunities for Asian models, but she wants to see opportunities which don't fall into stereotypical traps.

"I think it's really important to start embracing people...seeing them in roles that are not necessarily 'That Asian Girl' or 'That Asian Boy,'" she told E!. "I want it to be a normal thing to be able to see Asian models, and I think Asian models are really underrepresented in the industry, especially on the runways or in magazines."

She added that "in movies you're like 'Oh, this Asian girl is dating this white guy'—I want that to be normal."

The Fashion Spot reports that only 7 percent of models in the 2017 spring runways were of Asian descent, and according to Teen Vogue, only 1 percent of leading roles in Hollywood go to Asian actors.

Teigen has been outspoken about diversity before, like that time she eye-rolled at the fact that all the 2016 Miss Teen USA finalists were white.

Teigen's comments come just after the chatter surrounding this appropriative Karlie Kloss Vogue shoot, for which Kloss, who is white, dressed as a geisha and a kabuki actor, and posed alongside a sumo wrestler. Kloss apologized on Twitter, but the fact that the spread was conceptualized, styled, shot, edited, and published is a symptom of the industry issues Teigen is drawing attention to.

Hopefully with industry professionals echoing the concerns of bloggers and activists, there won't be another Kloss moment — but there will be more opportunities for folks of Asian descent to show their skills on and off the runway.