Fan Bing-Bing, apprentice fashion icon

Fan Bing-Bing was a high profile guest at Paris Fashion Week in March for the Fall/Winter 2011 ready to wear lines, standing out at LVMH and Gaultier. She couldn't be missed at the Louis Vuitton show, seated with (from her left) Yves Carcelle, (CEO of Louis Vuitton) Natalia Vodianova, (devastating beautiful model and philanthropist) Bernard Arnault and Helene Arnault (Mr. and Mrs. billionaire owner of LMVH).

The combination of hair and hat might be overly cute:

Fan Bing-Bing could use some coaching on how to keep publicity hungry second raters from using her as a photo opportunity during the scramble after the show. Here she is with Lou Lesage, a French actress with very few credits but who shows up in a lot of coverage of French fashion and film events often by standing next to someone more important than she:

A rookie mistake--getting ambushed by someone so unknown that she is listed only as "and guest" in coverage of the show but who knows how to get her picture splashed over the internet:

(All above photos from Zimbio)

She was the belle of the ball a few days later at Gaultier where Women's Wear Daily breathlessly reported: "Ravishing Chinese actress and singer Fan Bingbing drew a fan club of her own at Jean Paul Gaultier, where photographers and Chinese press couldn’t seem to snap enough photos of the star. The actress may still be fine-tuning her English, but she knew enough to get her point across. "I love shopping in Paris," she said. According to her agent, Bingbing is heading to Cannes for her new film Stretch."

Probably wearing Gaultier--the black transparent top with a circle stitched bullet bra beneath and leather strips for sleeves looks like one of his more subdued pieces. (Photo WWD)

Just getting warmed up for the expected flood of Fan Bing-Bing images from Cannes which starts tomorrow (Wednesday, May 12) although the Iceland volcano may keep attendance down if it keeps erupting.