Liu Wen

Early life

Liu Wen was born on 27 January 1988 in Yongzhou, a city in China’s Hunan province, the only child of a construction worker. As a teenager she grew noticeably taller than her classmates and developed a habit of hunching to minimise the difference; her mother, looking for a way to correct her posture, encouraged her toward modelling — a practical fix that became a career.

In 2005, at seventeen, Liu entered the New Silk Road modelling contest, reportedly drawn less by ambition than by the laptop offered as a prize. She won her regional heat in Hunan but did not place at the national final. The result was nonetheless enough to attract a modelling offer in Beijing, and she relocated the same year to begin working — a slow start, since her look did not immediately match what Chinese commercial clients were booking at the time.

Breakthrough and international debut

Liu’s first significant editorial came in 2007, in Chinese Cosmopolitan, styled by Karl Lagerfeld and Viktor & Rolf — a signal that international eyes were starting to notice her. By February 2008 she had appeared in four separate features for Chinese Vogue, and that same season she made her international runway debut, walking for Burberry, Trussardi and Chanel in Milan, and Jean Paul Gaultier and Hermès in Paris.

The pace accelerated fast. For the Fall 2009 season she walked an extraordinary 74 shows across New York, London, Milan and Paris — the highest total of any model that season, and a record for a model of Asian descent walking in a single season. The following season she walked 70 shows, ranking second only to French model Constance Jablonski.

Breaking barriers, 2009–2013

In 2009, Liu became the first Chinese model to walk the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, a runway she would return to through 2012 and again from 2016 to 2018. The same period brought cover credits in Vogue Germany, Vogue Spain and Vogue Italia, and — notably — the cover of American Vogue, making her the first Chinese model to appear on its front cover.

In April 2010, Liu was named a representative for Estée Lauder alongside Constance Jablonski and Joan Smalls, becoming the first East Asian spokesmodel in the brand’s history. Two years later, in March 2012, The New York Times put her on the cover of its Style Magazine and dubbed her "China’s first bona fide supermodel" — a label that stuck. In 2013, Liu became the first Asian model to appear on the Forbes list of highest-paid models, ranking fifth with reported annual earnings of $4.3 million.

Supermodel status and digital influence

In July 2014, Models.com elevated Liu to its "New Supermodel" tier — the first Asian model to receive the designation. That same year, American Vogue singled her out for having, in the magazine’s words, by far the largest social-media following of any working model, crediting her with leading a new, digitally native phase of the industry. Her reported Forbes earnings rose to $7 million in 2014.

In October 2014, Liu became the first person in the world to wear an Apple Watch on a magazine cover, in Vogue China’s November 2014 issue — a launch moment for the product as much as for her. In 2017, Chanel appointed her a global ambassador, and in March of that year she appeared on American Vogue’s 125th-anniversary cover alongside Adwoa Aboah, Ashley Graham, Gigi Hadid, Imaan Hammam, Kendall Jenner and Vittoria Ceretti — the second Chinese model to appear on the magazine’s front cover, and the first to do so outside a foldout gatefold.

Recent record, 2020–2025

Liu returned to American Vogue’s cover in April 2020, and again in May 2023 — her third cover for the title, making her the first person of Chinese descent to reach that count. In 2024 she became the first model of Asian descent to appear solo on the cover of French Vogue. For Fall 2025 she booked eight major campaigns in a single season — Balenciaga, Burberry, Fendi, Giorgio Armani, Givenchy, Prada, Saint Laurent and Versace — a personal record and among the busiest campaign seasons of any model working that year.

Across her career Liu has also fronted campaigns for Alexander McQueen, Bottega Veneta, Calvin Klein, Chloé and Givenchy, and appeared in editorials for i-D, Numéro, GQ, V Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Allure, Interview, W and British Vogue — a run of credits that, alongside her runway record, is the basis for the Runway, Campaigns and Editorial pillars of her current Index Rating below.

Why is Liu Wen ranked #4?

• Walked Balenciaga and Chanel Haute Couture in July 2026.
• Prada campaign credits and a V Magazine cover in 2026.

Confidence: High confidence · evidence reviewed. Scores may change when a source is corrected or new work enters the current window.