Han Jin Editorial for Another Magazine, Fall 2008/Winter 2009

Han Jin from South Korea has been the dominant Asian model on the runways of New York, Milan and Paris since her debut in Fall 2006/Winter 2007. She usually averaged over 50 shows per season (excluding the extra shows she does during couture and resort weeks), which translates to over 100 shows per year. During the Fall 2007/Winter 2008 season alone, she appeared in 64 shows. That is quite a feat for any model, not just for an Asian girl. [Note: Liu Wen of China did more shows than Han Jin this season.]

Han Jin's superstar status on the runways, however has not gained her much editorial work or ad campaign in New York, Paris or Milan. She is, nonetheless extremely popular in South Korea where she appears regularly in Korea Vogue and Korea Harper's Bazaar. Outside of South Korea, her work is harder to come by.

In the last seven seasons since her ascension to the top of the modeling world, Han Jin has booked only three international ad campaigns. The first was a solo effort for Anna Molinari in Fall 2006/Winter 2007 shot by Craig McDean. That ad campaign was hideous and a disaster; it almost destroyed her career. The following season, Han Jin booked an ad campaign with Italian mass retailer, Benetton shot by David Sims. In the ad, she was covered from head to toe in a giant hooded parka that obscured her face and concealed her identity. Her final international ad campaign was for Moschino in Fall 2007/Spring 2008 shot by Peter Lindberg. Although the campaign was beautifully done, it rarely appeared in magazines. Furthermore, there were six other Asian models in that single shot campaign.

So what went wrong? How does a beautiful girl who ruled the runways ended up with so few major work outside of Korea? I think part of the problem is that Han Jin was not getting adequent representation (in my opinion) by her agency outside of Korea. If she had signed with better agencies like Elite or IMG, her career would have taken a more successful turn.

Despite the lack of international ad campaigns (that's where the money really is, folks), Han Jin is still doing extremely well, thank you very much. Her runway appearances alone probably earned her an estimated half a million US dollars per year for the last three years. She also has numerous projects (a reality TV show) and ad campaigns in South Korea that will keep her living well for a very long time.

Here is Han Jin in an untitled editorial for the British publication, Another Magazine (Fall/Winter 2008) shot by Craig McDean. This 24-page editorial stars 11 different models and Han Jin is on the first and only page. Unfortunately (AGAIN), she was plastered with so much make-up that it rendered her almost unrecognizable.