According to the article, even Peter Som—one of 16 Asian designers featured in the major shows—had only 3 women of color out of the 18 that walked his runway. Some designers cite the lack of diversity as a result of modeling agencies not having enough non-white models on their rosters.

I can envision the comments to this post already. “Who cares? Modeling and fashion are superficial.”

Like many industries modeling is inhospitable to minorities, which is likely rooted in the West’s longstanding history of racializing beauty and making Eurocentric aesthetics the standard. How much has that thinking changed, or has it changed much at all, especially when it comes to Asian American beauty?

There are successes and setbacks. Asian models walked the most out of any minority group at Fashion Week. This year’s Ford Supermodel of the World winner was South Korean Seung Hyun Kang and the 2006 runner-up was Asian/African-American Chanel Iman. Currently about 7 Asian models appear on Style.com’s database of noteworthy models.

This is when people usually start yelling, “Token! Token!”

It’s a valid response. No Asian woman has ever graced the U.S. cover of fashion bible Vogue. Asian actresses have appeared on a few covers of major women’s magazines for their artistic contributions, but not as symbols of a new idea of beauty.

And while they may be perceived as too foreign for high fashion, Asian women are more than exalted in the hypersexualized world of lad mags, mail order bride catalogs, and “internet modeling.” It poses the question: Is Asian beauty relegated to either booty shorts or a qipao?

Though still struggling, African American and Latina models have had better success than their Asian counterparts. Vogue has put an astounding three African American women on their cover since its inception. Let’s all pat Anna Wintour on the back.