Du Juan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Du Juan
杜鹃
Du Juan at Roberto Cavalli
Born	(1982-09-15) September 15, 1982 (age 42) Shanghai, China
Occupation	Actress, model, ballet dancer
Modeling information
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Brown
Agency	IMG Models (New York, Paris, London, Sydney)

Du Juan (simplified Chinese: 杜鹃; traditional Chinese: 杜鵑; pinyin: Dù Juān) was born on September 15, 1982, in Shanghai, China. She is a famous Chinese actress and model. Before becoming a model, she was a talented ballet dancer.

Du Juan made history as the first East Asian model to appear on the cover of Vogue Paris magazine. She has also been on the cover of Vogue China a record 18 times. This is more than any other model or celebrity!

Biography

Early life

Du Juan was the only child of parents who were architects. When she was young, she wanted to be a classical ballet dancer. She trained for nine years at the famous Shanghai Theatre Academy.

However, she grew very tall. She became too tall to find a dance partner, especially when dancing en pointe (on the tips of her toes). Her name, Du Juan, means "rhododendron" flower in Chinese.

Modelling career

Du Juan walks the Anna Sui FW 2009 show.

Du Juan was a runner-up in the Ford Supermodel of the World contest. She started her career on the runway in spring 2006. She walked for many well-known designers like Valentino, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Roberto Cavalli, and Chanel. She even opened and closed Valentino's bridal show.

In 2005, a famous photographer named Mario Testino took her picture for the cover of Vogue Paris. She was on the cover with Australian model Gemma Ward. This made Du Juan the first ever Asian model to be on the cover of this magazine.

After this, she appeared in many advertisements. These included campaigns for Louis Vuitton, Roberto Cavalli, Gap, Swarovski, United Colors of Benetton, and Yves St. Laurent. Getting so many jobs as a new model was very rare. Because of her success, Style.com (a website for Vogue and W magazine) named her one of the top ten models to watch in 2006.

She was also on the very first cover of Vogue China, again with Gemma Ward. Since then, she has appeared in almost every issue of Vogue China since it started in 2005. Du Juan was also on the cover of Time magazine's style and design issue in 2006. In 2008, she was one of the models in the famous Pirelli Calendar, which was photographed in her hometown of Shanghai.

Du Juan reached number 14 on Models.com, a website that ranks models. She has also been in ad campaigns for brands like Giorgio Armani, Esprit, Anna Sui, Uniqlo, and David Yurman.

She has appeared in fashion stories for many magazines around the world. These include Allure, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, V, and i-D. She has also been on the covers of Elle, Harper's Bazaar, and Numéro in different countries.

In 2010, Du Juan was in a music video for the Cantopop singer Jacky Cheung. She played his love interest in the song "Double Trouble."

Acting career

Du Juan started her acting career in the movie American Dreams in China. This film was directed by Peter Chan and earned a lot of money. In the movie, she played Su Mei, who was the only female main character. For this role, she was nominated for two awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards. These were for Best Supporting Actress and Best New Performer.

Personal life

Du Juan's favorite fashion designer is Alber Elbaz, who worked for the brand Lanvin.

Her given name, Juan (鵑), means "cuckoo" in Chinese. However, when combined with her family name, Du Juan can also mean "rhododendron".

Filmography

See also

In Spanish: Du Juan para niños