Ruoxin Xu—known professionally as Raw Xu—is a recent graduate of China’s Central Academy of Fine Arts and a freelance plus-size model who has been seen on the cover of fashion magazines in the country and was included in a social media campaign for Scandinavian brand Ganni. She promotes body positivity both in her art—her graduation work was an interactive installation titled Touch My Belly—and in her modelling career.

While for years she couldn’t buy clothes that fit her at a mall, Xu says change is coming: what is available both in stores and online in China is now more accommodating for people of different body shapes and sizes.

Sonya Danita Charles is a freelance model, marketer and founder of the Vitiligo Association Malaysia. Vitiligo is a condition in which pigmentation is lost from areas of the skin, and can be found in approximately one per cent of the global population. Charles never used to imagine that it would be possible for someone like her to be a model; after years of working on herself, and as the fashion industry has increasingly welcomed diversity, she decided it was time to give it a shot.

The 29-year-old, who has collaborated with Levi’s, Maybelline and Sephora, among other brands, wants to “work hard towards showing the world that models are so much more than just a pretty face, but rather people who are capable of bringing positive and impactful change in the industry”. Charles sees her vitiligo as more than just an opportunity to raise awareness but also her greatest strength. She urges the fashion industry not to cast diverse models only for the occasional show, but to embrace the meaning of inclusivity, and believes she has a responsibility to push for better representation.

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Philippine-born Jullian Culas has been modelling in Asia and across the world for seven years, and is sought after for his curly hair, slim physique and capacity for embodying both feminine and masculine qualities. While androgyny and gender fluidity are popular in the west, they are “definitely still an acquired taste” in much of Asia, Culas says. “It’s quite tough being an androgynous model in Manila. I had to experience New York and Paris to fully discover, embrace, and execute this look, and only then be widely appreciated when I returned home.”

He believes that change starts within and will happen as brands open up to diversified looks, and social media enables more discussion about inclusivity.

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Fathima Zohra, known professionally as Zoe Zora, is a Singaporean model, advocate, content creator and full-time programme manager for an inclusive sports club called Runninghour. A car accident put her in a wheelchair five years ago: in her own words, she had to experience difficulties first-hand to understand the importance of representation. It has taken time and work for the fitness enthusiast to accept her body again, but the struggle has led to her modelling career and her appearance in an initiative for The Body Shop that celebrates and encourages self-love. Zora hopes to empower her community and inspire the industry to celebrate every “minority”. She says: “I want to use my story to fight for better representation for bodies like mine, so no one has to feel the way I did when I became disabled.”

Now based in Milan, Aura Tao is a Taiwanese transgender woman who empowers trans youth and the LGBTQ+ community every time she gets in front of the camera. Ironically, it is through working in an industry that often values set beauty standards that Tao has learnt about self-acceptance. Tao, whose portfolio includes Adidas, Luisaviaroma, and Emporio Armani, says she gradually learnt to look at herself, to accept her asymmetrical face and imperfect skin, and to like what she saw.

While fashion was one of the earliest industries to recognise and celebrate queerness and different gender identities, Tao is using her influence to push the industry towards an ideal state where all prejudices and controversies are removed.

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