Five years ago, Liu Wen was just a small town girl from Hunan who entered the New Silk Road World Model Contest to win a computer. Liu may not have taken home first prize from the reality television show, but she did one better than a laptop – Liu caught the eye of John Paul Gaultier who booked her on first glance. Now she’s making waves from Paris to Shanghai, starring in ad campaigns, gracing the covers of magazines worldwide and working with top designers from Chanel to Vivienne Westwood.

In 2009, Liu’s career shot through the roof as she booked the second most runway shows of any model and scored a role in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, making her the first East Asian model to walk the legendary runway. Last month, cosmetics giant Estee Lauder took note of Liu’s signature pout and perfect complexion (she books shows wearing no make-up!) and signed her as the first ever Chinese face of their brand. Shanghai TALK recently spoke to Liu Wen about breaking through the Asian glass ceiling, to get her take on China's fashion industry and find to out how a small-town girl keeps it real on the global runway.

Your career has been a case study in breaking racial barriers. How do you see the international fashion industry evolving to reflect globalisation and the increasing diversity of the industry?

The fashion industry itself is always like a kaleidoscope and its content varies greatly. Along with the evolution of globalisation, this kind of diversity we didn't see clearly before is now presented on a global platform that every corner of the world can share. This trend will become more and more obvious and common throughout the industry.

What direction do you think Chinese fashion is going?

Chinese fashion is making progress, moving from imitation to creation. Many Chinese designers have started producing reflections of their own life and work, so it seems to me that Chinese fashion is beginning to have its own thoughts.

How do you feel that Eastern and Western conceptions of beauty differ?

The Eastern conception of beauty is more implicit, while Western beauty is more explicit.

You regularly write on your Chinese language blog for Sina.com. How do your Chinese-speaking fans react to your meteoric rise to international stardom?

Over the years, more and more people – some I know and some that I don’t – have shown me their support. I am so glad that I am able to share my joy with them whenever I make progress, and that they encourage me when I have a hard time.

The media often depicts you as a small-town girl. How do you bring the values you learned from growing up in Yongzhou to your career?

The communication between people is the same, no matter where you’re from – big cities or small towns. Growing up in a small town, I learned to be simple when dealing with others, and this has proven to be very helpful to my career now. The simpler the better when dealing with this blindingly-beautiful fashion world.

 Your modelling career has taken you all around the globe to some of the world’s most glamorous places. If you could spend a day in any city in the world, where would you go and what would you do?

Paris. Every time I’ve been there, it has been for work and I’ve had no time for myself. I really wish that I could have the time to enjoy a nice cup of coffee at a small café in a certain corner of Paris and just bask in the city’s gorgeous afternoon sunlight.