中國未來的頂級模特從T臺轉向網絡
Tian Yuan Yuan is China’s top Internet model, a title she earned by promoting products from skin-tight leggings to rabbit fur bags through online shopping site Taobao Marketplace.
田媛媛（音）是中國的頂級網絡模特，她在網絡購物網站淘寶網上展示從緊身褲到兔皮手袋等一系列產品，從而獲得此稱號。
Tian is one of 35,000 models who pose for virtual storefronts on Alibaba Group’s Taobao, a consumer-to-consumer website similar to eBay where people can sell American board games, antique jade, and just about everything else imaginable.
阿里巴巴集團的淘寶網上共有3.5萬名爲虛擬店面做宣傳的模特，田媛媛是其中之一。淘寶網是一個客戶對客戶網站，類似於 eBay，在這裏人們可以賣美國的棋牌，可以賣古董，以及任何你能想到的東西。
With little to differentiate between more than 6 million electronic storefronts, models like Tian have become the main attraction. Taobao ranks the girls based on sales of the products they pitch, as well as their popularity among vendors and fans who can vote on the website. Sellers can then make an online booking to hire a girl to pose with their product.
600多萬個商家們之前的區別很小，於是像田這樣的模特就變成了主要的吸引點。淘寶根據他們展示的產品的銷量以及供應商和粉絲們的投票來評判這些模特。然後，商家們可以通過在線預約來僱用一位模特爲他們展示產品。
“A good model is important for sales,” said 22-year-old Tian. “Both your facial expression and body language should match the style of clothing. For example, I will move and pose gently with office dresses, while I act cool in American style clothes.”
“一個好的模特對於銷售來說很重要，”22歲的田媛媛說。“你的面部表情和肢體語言都應該與衣服的類型相符。如果穿上辦公室女裝，我的舉止會優雅一些，如果是美式服裝我則會扮酷。”
The leggings she modelled sold some 14,000 units in a single month. She also helped shift more than 6,000 rabbit fur bags.
經她推廣的緊身褲月銷量達到約1.4萬條。她還幫助商家賣出了6,000多個兔毛手袋。
The models can make as much as 10,000 yuan ($1,600) a day, a far cry from the five-figure payouts top supermodels bank for a photo shoot, but a healthy sum considering average per capita full-year income for urban Chinese was just 21,810 yuan in 2011.
這些模特一天最多可賺1萬元錢，雖然和頂級的超級名模一天數萬元的收入差距還很大，但是考慮到中國城市人均收入在2011年只有21810元，她們的收入還是很不錯的。
Alibaba is not alone in offering logistical support to small online businesses. EBay Inc, for example, owns online payment service PayPal that helps small vendors accept credit card payments. But Alibaba’s models-for-hire service is unusual in that it does back-end jobs such as photography as well as being a platform that supplies the models themselves.
阿里巴巴並非是唯一一家向電子商家提供後勤支持的平臺。比如，易趣擁有在線支付服務貝寶（PayPal），這項服務使得小商戶可以接受信用卡支付。但像阿里巴巴這種提供待聘模特的服務不太常見，因爲它不僅提供拍照之類的後臺工作，也是一個提供模特的平臺。
A Taobao store owner can use the free platform to search for models by price or look, or even by specific body part such as hands or legs. Models classified as “Japanese” or “Korean” tend to look younger while “European” and “American” models have more Caucasian features.
淘寶店主可以使用這個免費平臺，根據價錢和長相（或者甚至是某個特殊的身體部位，如手或者腿）來搜索模特，被歸類爲“日本”或者“韓國”的模特往往看上去更年輕，而“歐洲”和“美國”的模特則擁有更多的白人特徵。
“I used to rely on models provided by modelling agencies but because each agency has only a limited number of models, it couldn’t meet my business needs,” said Huang Shanlei, who sells lingerie on Taobao Mall.
“我們以前常常使用模特中介提供的模特，但是由於每家中介擁有的模特數量都有限，所以它們難以滿足我的商業需求，”在淘寶商城出售女性內衣的黃珊磊（音）說。
Working with Taobao models was easier because most of them were free agents with fewer restrictions on the types of assignments they could accept or on how the photographs from a shoot could be used, Huang said.
黃說，與淘寶模特一起工作會更加容易，因爲她們中大多數都是自由人員，她們可以接受什麼樣的任務，或者她們拍攝的照片應該怎麼使用，這些都很少有限制性的規定。
Model Li Qiqi poses for different stores back to back on most days, sometimes in more than 200 outfits a day. With big doll eyes, she describes her look as “Korean office lady”.
模特李琪琪（音）在大多數日子裏都會連續爲不同商店工作，有時候一天要傳200多套服裝。因爲有着娃娃般的大眼睛，她描述自己的面貌像是“韓國白領麗人”。
“If you model on Taobao, you focus on the specialties of the outfit and the features of the outfit. You make sure you don’t block it when posing,” said 24-year-old Li, a Shanghai native.
“如果你在淘寶上當模特，你要注意服裝的特點和特徵，確保自己不能喧賓奪主，”這位上海本地人，24歲的李琪琪說。
Another appeal for vendors is that they can find plenty of Asian models. Asian women are underrepresented among the world’s supermodels, in part because few have the height to compete in an industry where 170 centimetres (67 inches) is considered short.
對於經銷商來說，另一個吸引他們的是他們可以找到大量的亞洲模特。亞洲女性在世界超級名模的舞臺上表現不多，部分原因是她們身高較矮，而在這個行業中170cm的身高都被認爲是偏矮的。
Earlier this year an Alibaba Group executive mused on Chinese microblogging site Weibo that the pretty models advertising items for sale might also be hired to deliver the goods in person to a buyer’s home. An Alibaba spokeswoman said there were no immediate plans for such a service, but the firm might later revisit the idea.
今年早些時候，一位阿里巴巴的高管在微博上說，爲某個商品做廣告的模特也有可能被要求親自送貨上門。一位阿里巴巴的發言人說目前還沒有立即提供這種服務的計劃，但是他們公司以後可能會重新討論這個主意。
Some traditional modelling agencies see Taobao’s system as the way forward.
一些傳統的模特中介機構認爲淘寶的系統是未來的走向。
“We are searching online from this year and in fact we believe this trend will be the future,” said David Lim, deputy chief executive of model agency Elite Greater China.
“我們從今年起開始了網上搜索，事實上我們相信未來的發展正是這種趨勢，”一家名爲“大中華精英”的模特機構的副總裁 David Lim 說。
“China is the most important consumer market for many brands and definitely using Chinese models for their product promotion is natural.”
“中國是很多品牌最重要的消費者市場，而在產品推廣上使用中國模特顯然是一個非常自然的事情。”
China’s e-commerce industry is set to become the world’s largest by 2015, according to Boston Consulting Group.
根據波士頓諮詢集團，中國的電子商務行業將於2015年變爲世界最大。
Alibaba does not disclose transaction figures for Taobao Marketplace but its sister platform, Taobao Mall, which caters to larger businesses, is expected to see more than 200 billion yuan ($31.45 billion) worth of products traded this year, with clothes making up around 30 percent.
阿里巴巴沒有透露淘寶網的交易數據，但是它的姐妹平臺淘寶商城（針對規模更大的商家）今年的產品交易額預計將超過2000億元，其中衣服佔到了30%左右。
