To those who cast even the briefest of glances towards this season’s shows, He Cong will be a familiar face. Walking in everything from Calvin Klein in New York, to Burberry in London, Bottega Veneta in Milan, and Dior in Paris, according to The Fashion Spot the Chinese beauty walked the most shows for any model of color during fall/winter 17. While designers and casting agents still have a long way to go in terms of changing the outdated tradition of predominantly white catwalks — and we can only hope soon there’ll be no such need to quantify these successes — it’s exciting to see models like He Cong leading an industry-wide shift.
Smart, sweet, and humble, we couldn’t be more happy for her success. Following her breakout season, here’s ten things you need to know about He Cong.

Her introduction to fashion was through Valentino.
I moved to Shanghai for school, so I could major in fashion and design. Valentino came to Shanghai to host a special show in 2013, and I was selected to open and close the show… that led me to give modeling a try.
But she isn’t all about looks.
I don’t think beauty is about the face. Inner beauty and confidence are more sexy. I believe no matter what skin color, hair color, body, face… you are beautiful in every way.
Don’t be fooled by her angelic face. Her most recent prank left her sister very upset.
My sister’s favorite snacks are Oreo cookies, and I removed all the middle cream parts and put toothpaste in it! LOL! She made me buy five packets of Oreos in return.
Modeling has helped her come out of her shell.
I would describe myself as an independent and disciplined girl. I love working and setting targets for myself. But growing up, I was always shy and slow to warm up. That is getting better since I started modeling, because I get to meet and talk to more people from different backgrounds. I think modeling helps to broaden my horizons.
The three words that best describe her are…
Independent, persistent, and shy (because I do not talk much when I’ve just met someone).

Her career highlights are pretty major.
Being ranked as one the top three runway models of fall/winter 17 by models.com, walking for Prada, and my Coach spring/summer 17 campaign with Steven Meisel.
But if she wasn’t a model, she’d be working with kids.
I think I might want to become a kindergarten teacher. I think patience is the key to teaching kindergarten; I love playing with kids, and I enjoy being surrounded by a group of high-energy and fun kids.
She’d like to explore other roles in fashion, beyond modeling.
I hope to model for as long as possible. Hopefully, one day, I can use my modeling experience to work elsewhere in the fashion industry. But if not, I guess I will become a kindergarten teacher.
She’d chose J-Law to play her in a biopic of her life.
It’s because I think we both have very chubby, round faces, and I enjoy her work so much. She seems to be a very fun person, she makes me very happy every time I watch her films and TV shows. Also, I know she is quite tall, so I think she would look very good on the catwalk.
Finally, her mantra is one of peace and love.
If I could change one thing about the world, it would be no more violence. MORE LOVE, LESS HATE!

Credits
Text Ryan White