Sultry Shanghai stunner scores in Elite Model competition
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(From left) Second runner-up Emily Smith from the UK, first runner-up Caterina Ravaglia from Italy, champion Julia Saner from Switzerland and the other second runner-up Manon Pieto from France at Elite Model Look finals in Sanya. |
Good sense
A professional model also needs systematic training - body shaping and workouts, practice on runways and learning about fashion shows and even how to direct them.
"A good model should develop good fashion and music sense," Xi says. "She needs to know what goes into making a good fashion show. Even the incidental music is specially composed or selected in accordance with the theme and mood."
Xi's feet are usually sore after hours of "catwalk training" in high heels.
The worst feeling in modeling is not the pain, however, but the waiting and uncertainty, she says.
"No model can escape the inevitable waiting - waiting for casting, rehearsal and performances," Xi says. "It seems like a passive and stressful work life, mainly because we are always faced with unknowns and factors that are uncontrollable."
British model Agyness Deyn, with short blond hair, is one of Xi's favorites. Distinctive, confident and clearly a woman of attitude, she is widely expected to be a supermodel.
"The industry needs innovative things, and models are required to be both confident and different from others," says Xi. "The Elite Model Look usually doesn't select the one with the best catwalk skills, but the one whose fresh face and style will create a big new market."
Money and fame are the big attractions, and modeling doesn't require high educational qualifications.
"But modeling is short-term and highly competitive," says Xi, who doesn't see it as an enduring career.
"Not many young models get big breaks and are invited to big fashion shows and commercial events," she says. "They don't have a steady income and the fashion industry has low seasons."
If a model does achieve real celebrity, she faces challenges of hectic schedules, physical and mental stress and the anxiety of competition and knowing she will one day be replaced by a younger star.
Xi's advice to the newcomers: "It takes real passion, patience, hard work and perseverance.
"It looks easy and brilliant, but it's not."
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