With Yulia Klyueva

Russian model Yulia Klyueva (179cm without heels) likes Shanghai's exclusive M1NT nightclub, fur coats, diamonds and caviar on bread "three or four times a day", but she fears her lavish tastes will soon be drowned out by the re-branding of designer China.

Whereas domestic fashion magazines and catwalks used to be awash with waiflike blondes bearing a Slavic pallor to lend local brands the tacit stamp of foreign approval, times have changed.

Now Chinese designers are going back to the source: opting for the more feline faces and elongated eyes of homegrown models to proudly trumpet their arrival in foreign markets. And this can only mean one thing, as the 24-year-old stunner from Vladivostok told China Daily reporter Matt Hodges over a caramel frappacino.

Q: So are we about to witness "the death of the foreign model" in China?

A: I think in a few years there won't be any foreign models here. I remember when it was all foreign models. Then about 18 months ago it was more like fifty-fifty. Now it's mostly Chinese. Last month I did a shoot for Max Mara and there were about 15 Chinese models and only me and one other foreign girl.

Q: What happened?

A: Two or three years ago they thought foreign models were more glamorous. We had 'foreign face value'. But now they put the Chinese model on the poster and sell their product in Europe. They have already reached that point. They even have fashion magazine laws which can protect Chinese models. Photographers tell me sometimes, "I'd love to shoot you but I can't."

Q: What about the impact of the global credit crunch?

A: There's less free champagne now (laughs). I'd say business has dropped by 30 percent. This spring was terrible. Lots of brands canceled shows. Others booked half as many models, but ones who could wear twice as many clothes. It's difficult to survive now. I hope autumn is better.

Q: When you look at ads, what do you see that we don't?

A: You see the girl jumping on the beach in joy, with sweat on her cheeks. I see that it is not sweat but tears from all the bright lights and repeat takes. Once I was shooting a commercial and it was so cold my skin went blue. The guy called my agent and said, 'Can you get her to take the blue out, please. We don't like the blue.'

Q: Linda Evangelista once said she wouldn't get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day. What about you?

A: Ha. I wish. I don't wake up for less than 3,000 RMB - but don't write that, or some brands might not pay me more.

(China Daily 10/10/2009 page14)