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Paper short abstract

Whiteness functions as a commodity in China’s fashion market, but at what cost to the migrant models who embody and sell it? Drawing on my multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork, this paper examines the interplay of racial privilege and precarious labor in transnational fashion modeling.

Paper long abstract

While the racial politics of fashion have received growing attention in media, anthropological, and sociological scholarship, the role of transnational migration in shaping these politics remains under-examined. This paper explores the racial politics of China’s fashion industry, where surging demand for a “global” aesthetic has fueled a booming job market for transnational fashion models. It focuses on the influx of predominantly white Eastern European models into China’s fashion hubs, such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, to promote Chinese-made products. Drawing on my participant observation and in-depth interviews with foreign models and Chinese fashion professionals conducted between 2021 and 2026, this paper traces how racialized identities—particularly whiteness—are negotiated and commodified through the daily practices of their aesthetic work. It argues that while this modeling market perpetuates white superiority in media consumption, it simultaneously produces precarity for the migrant models who embody it. Their experiences reveal that whiteness in China is not a monolithic category conferring univocal privilege but is instead highly stratified and contested. The paper further shows how the transnational circulation of aesthetic labor intersects with China’s shifting national self-imaginary. As China positions itself as a global power and an emerging center of fashion, the symbolic value of the white body becomes increasingly unstable, caught between enduring racial hierarchies and new assertions of Chinese ascendancy. This study contributes to anthropological debates on race, migration, and the political economy of beauty by highlighting the layered and dynamic nature of racialization within the cultural industries.