Hiroko Matsumoto is the first model of Japanese origin to work successfully in France. Hiroko Matsumoto has shown collections, starred in advertising campaigns and photo shoots for glossy magazines.

Her modeling career began in 1960 when Pierre Cardin was traveling in Japan. During the trip, the designer met Hiroko Matsumoto and she followed him to Paris, where she worked as a model for 7 years. In 1967, Hiroko got married and left model business, but continued to work in the fashion industry, she worked as a manager at Herve Leger.



Every year there are more and more models of Asian origin at Fashion Weeks. A little more and white-skinned blondes will become a real rarity in the fashion world. Although quite recently the situation was completely opposite. Collections of European and American designers showcased models with traditional European beauty.

For Chinese and Japanese women, the path to the modeling business was practically closed, but this was not discrimination on the basis of race, it was just that the history of fashion and the modeling business developed. China and Japan influenced fashion only with their cultural heritage, providing sources of inspiration for creating new things and entire collections. Then came asian models and designers, at first there were very few of them, but in recent years it seems that each new season doubles their presence in the fashion world.