It may be a sign of changing fashion sensibilities. Or a sign that she has broken fresh ground. Whatever it may be, Chinese model Sun Fei Fei has become the first Asian to feature on the cover of Vogue Italia.

Sun has been featured in high-profile campaigns for brands such as Calvin Klein, Valentino and Diesel. She has also been on the covers of Chinese Vogue and Elle.

Now she can add this cover to her already impressive curriculum vitae, the Daily Mail reported.

Although Sun and her compatriot, fellow Chinese supermodel Du Juan, have previously featured in the pages of Vogue Italia, this is the first time that an Asian model has made the cover of the glossy.

The model made her international catwalk debut in the UK for Mulberry and up-and-coming designer Nathan Jenden in September 2009.

She was featured in a fashion editorial in British Vogue.

UK’s The Sun photographed her for the cover of i-D, the newspaper’s fashion magazine.

She went on to rub shoulders with the best names in the industry – British designer Vivienne Westwood and Belgian Dries van Noten to namea few.

The model has also landed starring roles in some of the biggest beauty campaigns on the planet, including being the face of DKNY’s Be Delicious fragrance and Calvin Klein’s One.

However, Sun is not the first Asian model to be on the cover of Vogue in Europe.

That title goes to compatriot Du, when she appeared on the cover of an issue of French Vogue in 2011.

French Vogue is no stranger to making race-related headlines either.

The French glossy caused an uproar in October 2009 when it published an editorial shoot that included images of white models with blackened faces, the report said.

The shoot, which featured Dutch model Lara Stone, passed unnoticed in France but caused a storm in the US, with critics describing it as “culturally insensitive” and “a step back in time”.

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