Top Chinese model Li Jingwen bares her freckles for Zara and all hell breaks loose
- Spanish fashion house accused of ‘uglifying China’ by showing one of the country’s most successful models without make-up
- Comparisons drawn with last year’s Dolce & Gabbana scandal
International fashion brand Zara has come under fire in China for using one of the country’s top models in a lipstick commercial without first covering up her freckles.
Social media users on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, accused the Spanish company of “uglifying China” by depicting Li Jingwen with little make-up and clearly visible freckles in its advertisement, released on Friday.
“Does it mean that us Asian women all have dull eyes and have faces fully covered by freckles?” asked one internet user on Weibo.
“Sorry that we Asian women don’t have freckles – or only a small proportion of us have,” wrote another user. “You spent such an effort finding a model with freckles, just like searching for a needle in the sea. How hard you’ve been working on this!”
A third one wrote, “Selling products in China had better respect Chinese people’s aesthetic taste. I don’t understand why Zara showed this face with a lot of freckles?”
