East Meets the Old West in This Vogue China May 2011 Editorial

Western society has always fetishized Oriental culture and drawn inspiration from eastern traditional imagery. Ethnic influences and romanticized oriental imagery are so omnipresent that we tend to forget that Western culture can also evoke whimsical beauty.

Vogue China turned the tables and drew from Western iconography to create a fashion editorial spread evoking the adventures of the old West in the May 2011 issue. Model Liu Wen stars as a cowgirl in this Far East meets Far West editorial shot by Mark Segal. She poses as a fierce Calamity Jane in designs by Ralph Lauen, Miu Miu, Rodarte and Cavalli. Fringes, cowboy hats and lariats might be painfully stereotypical, but Liu Wen’s beauty and Mark Segal’s use of diffused light paint a romantic picture of the old West.