Why brands love Eileen Gu 

Gu’s bankability rests not just on her athletic abilities. Her build—she stands a lanky 5’9—matches the classic fashion model physique. She also has cross-cultural appeal in two huge markets, the US and China: She was born and mostly raised in San Francisco, but speaks Mandarin fluently.

Her Instagram following topped 1.1 million followers, and her Weibo account is nearing 5 million. Even small offhand remarks—like where she would like to go on vacation or who she is spending Valentine’s Day with—trend nationally on the Chinese social microblogging site.

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