And on a related story, the hig-end home decor store Bowring has closed down in the Square One mall. I haven't been in the mall in the past five or six days and this came as a complete surprise. I thought Holt's would be the the first to go. The "exclusive luxury" shopping mall was re-designed about a year ago partly to cater to oversees clientele, such as "rich" Chinese and Hong Kong shoppers (who wear designer sunglasses), and isn't doing so well. I had predicted this.
No-one will document this scene. I happened to be there as the almost empty
Bowring in Square One mall was removing its final items.
Above is the pleasant Square One Mall with a (shocking) closure of the high-end home decor store Bowring.
Below the store on the lower level is the food court with recently renovated seats and additional fast food selections.
These are posters advertising Holt Refrew just outside its entrance. There is a third model but the shot (composition) is less interesting (it s of a South Asian women).
The Asian model is Liu Wen who:
An only child...was born into a working-class family on January 27, 1988, in Yongzhou, Hunan. In her teens, her mother encouraged her to be professional, eat well, and enter the modeling contest, which led to Liu's discovery. Liu originally planned to work as a tour guide.I could find nothing on the blond model.
[...]
Liu started her modeling career in 2005 when she entered the New Silk Road World Model Contest, a contest previously won by international covergirl Du Juan. Although she did not win the competition, Liu soon began working full-time as a model, eventually becoming a national success story after working with fashion magazines like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar that are popular in China.
In September 2007, Liu caught the attention of the international fashion industry when she shot an editorial in clothes designed by Karl Lagerfeld and Viktor and Rolf. [Source: Wikipedia]
What found interesting was the aggressive, almost menacing, look of Wen. Right next to "her" is the blonde model, who looks mousy and timid, and intimidated by the glare.
I think the blonde model is more feminine, prettier and more attractive.
The war (waged by the Asian model of which the blonde model s oblivious other than the aggression) is in reaction to this superiority, and an aggressive stance is necessary for her to win the spot. And she has.
I see this as a metaphor for what is happening in the contemporary West, where superior talent, beauty, and any other skill or quality is not enough and is in fact envied and crushed by others, and especially now by Asians.