According to an article by WWD, Chinese transgender celeb, personality and pioneer, Jin Xing, has been selected as the face of Dior’s J’adore fragrance.
53-year old Xing is a former male ballet dancer and army colonel, and was also the first person in China to publicly undergo gender reassignment surgery in 1995.
To announce the collaboration, Dior unveiled a video in which Xing speaks about the value of individuality and independence, as well as the bumpy ordeals she has experienced as a result, including difficulties in becoming a woman and a mother of three adopted children.
Xing became well-known in 2013 when she judged China’s debut of 'So You Think You Can Dance,' where she won over audiences with her sharp tongue and heartfelt nature, before going on to host her own program, 'The Jin Xing Show' between 2015 and 2017.
“When I chose to become a woman, to become a mother, a wife and face society anew, at the time 80% was worry, doubt and even contempt,” Xing shared in a video, alongside the hashtags #DiorStandsWithWomen and #NaturalRealMe.
“I told myself at the time, you made the right decision but you need to give society and people time to digest and understand. People who previously doubted me and despised me now have evolved to like me and become my fans or people who appreciate my work.”
The partnership has been met with excitement and a lot of praise from social media, with users saying Xing represents “courage, optimism, bravery and happiness.”
Ms Vickie Zhang, a marketing expert from Beijing, also told the Global Times that women's perfume can very much be a gender-specific product that stresses 'femininity' in promotional materials so that consumers will desire feminine beauty.
“However, we are now in the time when the public, especially the target consumer group for women's perfume, have changed their minds about what defines women's values and so have begun to desire things that have traditionally been seen as more masculine traits, such as being independent and tough,” she said.
