China's Janet Jackson moment
(City Weekend)
Updated: 2004-03-29 09:42

Question: How should an avant-garde celebrity style icon dress?

When Janet Jackson flashed her flesh at global TV audiences during the February TK TK EVENT, she grabbed global headlines, and prompted the implementation of a broadcasting delay to ward against future repetitions. For Chinese TV host Li Xia, her choice of slippery attire may not have caused a media industry shake-up, but they've certainly put her in the headlines.

Throughout her career, the original MTV VJ and pop world luminary Li Xia has famously pushed the fashion boundaries with her bold and (sometimes) beautiful clothes. But sometimes, those boundaries can be pushed too far.

In March 2002, Li stroked (**TK) with He Jiong through the "star avenue" (**TK) in Shenzhen. For the event, she wore a skimpy pink vest - and when she raised her hand to the audience, the strap slid down her arm and she flashed the audience. Li recovered her clothing very quickly, but the camera lenses caught all, and the moment was recorded for posterity.

For a period of time, Li's clothing took a more conservative turn - but it was only a matter of time before another slip-up befell the style queen.

In early march this year, Li chose to wear a revealing outfit to a charity ball, held at the Kerry Center in Beijing. From the front, the dress appeared to be a traditional black high-collar gown. Turn to the back, however, and the dress fell away into a vast expanse of bare flesh, the material held up by a few metal links.

And just as she turned quickly to the left, once more, she popped out of her gown.

Coming in the month after the Janet Jackson incident, many people on China's chatrooms accused Li of a breast-trick to get herself some media attention. Some claimed that if this kind of behavior sparks a storm in the US, then imagine what it does in China. Others questioned whether or not it was necessary to play the sex siren at a charity ball.

Could Li Xia really not foresee what would happen if she wore such delicate clothing to a party? Li herself denied that her slip up was by design - and more to do with the design of her clothing. "If I want to expose myself, why not pay attention to the front side?" (*TK) asked Li.

And in response to the questions of why she felt the need to vamp up her clothes in the first place, she answered as rock luminaries before have answered: "Do you think I'm sexy?"

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