The WOW Report

  • WOW Report
  • About
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race Live!
  • WOW Presents Plus
  • What to Watch
  • Store
You are here: Home / Culture / Ads & Mags / #RIP: Pioneering Model, China Machado

#RIP: Pioneering Model, China Machado

By Trey Speegle on December 18, 2016 9:36 pm

14681668_1276713742371292_5017481575727930508_n

Photographer Richard Avedon called her "probably the most beautiful woman in the world"

Photographer Richard Avedon called her “probably the most beautiful woman in the world”


China Machado moved to Paris and found work modelling for Givenchy. She was asked to model for Balenciaga, but he was out of town so they sent her to Givenchy instead.

“They thought I was filling-in for a sick girl, so they grabbed me, put me in clothes, and threw me into the room where they were showing the collection. I barely knew anything about walking like a model, so I just copied the girl in front of me. At the end of the show, gorgeous Givenchy comes up to me and says,

‘Would you like to be in the cabine?’

—that’s what they called the group of models who worked for the house. That’s how it all started.“

China Machado was born in Shanghai, China. Her Portuguese father was from Macau, her maternal grandmother is from Goa. Her father met her mother in Hong Kong. At the age of 19, she met the Spanish bullfighter, Luis Miguel Dominguín. She moved with him to Rome, where she had bit-roles in films. After the relationship ended, she changed her first name to China (pronounced CHEE-na) and later worked for Christian Dior and Balenciaga. She became the highest-paid runway model in Europe, earning $1,000 a day.

In 1957, she married the actor Martin LaSalle. and the couple settled in New York City where Machado met Diana Vreeland. It was through Vreeland she developed a very close friendship with photographer, Richard Avedon. She called him the,

“great mentor in her life.”

Avedon said that she was,

“probably the most beautiful woman in the world. It was 1958, and the publishers were saying, ‘We can’t put this girl in the magazine [Harper’s Bazaar]. Everyone in the South will quit subscriptions and no one will want to advertise with us!'”

But they were published in February 1959, because Avedon had threatened to quit [his contract] if they didn’t use them. Machado’s subsequent modeling success opened the door for generations of models of ethnicity, from Iman to Naomi Campbell.

Machado worked for Avedon exclusively for three years before he got her a job as Harper’s Bazaar‘s Senior Fashion Editor where, eventually, she became the Fashion Director and ventured into other endeavors in publishing, fashion, and television. In 1989 she was added to the International Best Dressed List.

I was lucky enough to be a Facebook friend of hers, along with nearly 5,000 other fashion editors, photographers and admirers. She posted these photos here in the last several months along with this this quote in November just after the election of Donald Trump,

“I am an American, I love this country. I immigrated to this country in 1960. It has given me everything! The American people gave me kindness, a career, a warm welcome and most of all my American family. Three generations… Please do not change…..This is the America I know.“

China died on Sunay at Stony Brook University Hospital, one week before her 88th birthday.

15252632_1324137837628882_677547526648864094_o

15493319_1345586495484016_5575165955312143287_o

15289327_1333045736738092_7372164746291719012_o

14707992_1276713749037958_5757792804590971638_o

15171035_1317846844924648_6748483732285118767_n

470179_363397057036303_1029018702_o

14883558_1290394251003241_289586351742089196_o

screen-shot-2016-12-19-at-5-10-18-am

Show the love:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr

Filed Under: Ads & Mags, Culture, Fashion, RIP

More

#QWERRRKOUT Tuesday: “My Performance Style Consists of Classic Drag Drama Served with Comedy & Stupidity”- Dulce Strutts

#QWERRRKOUT Tuesday: “My Performance Style Consists of Classic Drag Drama Served with Comedy & Stupidity”- Dulce Strutts

by Paisley Dalton on June 6, 2023 2:34 pm

Tennessee’s Drag Ban Ruled Unconstitutional, Sparking Joyous Weekend Pride Events

Tennessee’s Drag Ban Ruled Unconstitutional, Sparking Joyous Weekend Pride Events

by Andrea James on June 5, 2023 12:17 pm

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Trending


Alyssa Edwards & Sutton Stracke Show You How to Be a Polite Southern Lady

#WOWReview: Nora Burns’ ‘The Village: A Disco Day Dream’ Re-Opening Night & After-Party (Pics!)

Tennessee’s Drag Ban Ruled Unconstitutional, Sparking Joyous Weekend Pride Events

#ViralVideo: This ‘Padam Padam’/ ‘Golden Girls’ Mashup is Just What You Need Today –Watch

#QWERRRKOUT Tuesday: “My Performance Style Consists of Classic Drag Drama Served with Comedy & Stupidity”- Dulce Strutts

About

From the creators of The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Party Monster, Million Dollar Listing, RuPaul's Drag Race, I Am Britney Jean, Big Freedia, and more.

Check Out Kayvon Zand’s “Koloocheh” feat. Jackie Cox & Melanie Karimi
Trans Advocate & Activist Munroe Bergdorf Stars in ANOHNI and The Johnsons New Vid for Single “It Must Change”- Watch
The Pop Tarts! RuPaul! Anna Nicole Smith! Alec Mapa & Stephan Horbelt Join Us for the WOW Report for Radio Andy!
King Charles & Queen Camilla! James Marsden! Liz Taylor! Shakira! The WOW Report for Radio Andy!
Nina West! Met Gala 2023! Jerry Springer! Willie Nelson! The WOW Report for Radio Andy!

© 2021 World of Wonder Productions, Inc | World of Wonder is a trademark of World of Wonder Productions, Inc | Privacy

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in