French beauty brand L’Oréal Paris have announced Soo Joo Park as their first Asian-American global ambassador.
The Californian native broke the news on her 29th birthday via Instagram this week following a successful AW15 season walking the runways of the fashion capitals. Known for her platinum locks, Park is already the face of New York haircare brand Redken and has been a firm favourite of Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel since her debut in the AW13 campaign alongside Japanese model, Chiharu Okunugi.
Park currently resides as one of Models.com Top 50 Models, and has be recognised by the likes of DKNY, Mac Cosmetics and Tom Ford to front their brands. The news comes in the wake of a shift in consumer marketing. In 2010, Chinese supermodel Liu Wen was named the first Asian face of Estee Lauder’s global brand. Just this month songstress Rihanna was appointed as Dior’s first ambassador of colour, breaking a seven decade tradition. Alongside a new wave of Asian models to hit the industry – namely Asian-Australian beauty Fernanda Ly, who took Paris by storm with her candyfloss hair on the runway of Louis Vuitton, Park is part of a cultural shift in the industry. Past spokesmodels for L’Oréal Paris have included actresses Naomi Watts and Frieda Pinto, and model Karlie Kloss. In reaction to the news Park noted, “People are starting to understand that the world is getting smaller and you see different faces everywhere.” Let’s hope the industry continues to embrace this cultural shift.
