Racial Diversity In Modeling

[agee]

Originally Posted by blueorchid

I've never gotten a bad feeling about the lack of asians on Vogue Nippon because I've always gotten the impression that that magazine is really, really a niche magazine in Japan that caters to those interested in western ideas about fashion (I mean the editor is white, for god's sake..). There are probably multitudes of magazines in Japan that are more general and closely assocated with Japan, etc.

One thing that sometimes worries me about foriegn editons of Vogue using local models and celebrities (such as China, Korea and Taiwan) is that people on here complain so damn much when there is an asian model or celebrity on these mags, unless they have been deemed a favourite. Also look at Vogue India, which mostly features Bollywood stars. You rarely hear people discussing those editions, and when they do they are mercilessly mocked (esp. Taiwan and India). But I think it's admirable that, despite aesthetic troubles, they focus on cover stars that are relevant to their localities and not random Eastern European models.

I see your point about the interest in western ideas about fashion, but to me you can achieve that by putting western clothes on Asian models. I am not saying that the model on every cover and ed has to be of Asian descent but the look of majority group should not be woefully underrepresented, however this is a long-standing controversy. I am just wondering if (hoping that) it is a generational thing and that perhaps younger generations respond better to seeing models "who looked like them" in fashion mags. I have been following the work of photographer Hong Jang Hyun in some of the Korean magazines and am encouraged by what I see.

I cannot see the corporate parent of Vogue Nippon allowing it to be a niche player, I would think that their content reflects the fashionista population's tastes and preferences. The only issue I can see being at play is the previously mentioned generational thing and that Vogue Nippon is serving an older base, I don't know for sure, just wondering - my knowledge is mostly limited to what I see in magazines like Vogue, W and Numero. As you mentioned there may be other magazines being patronized by younger Japanese, I am familiar with some of the stuff being produced by the Japanese media but not enough to know if the publication is celebrity, entertainment, fashion and / or lifestyle oriented.

Another thing that I am unsure about when it comes to current sensibilities is whether a non-native model of the same race is considered the same as a model of the different race, in other words would putting a Chinese model on the cover a Korean or Japanese magazine be viewed as the same as putting a Caucasian model on the cover, or perhaps even worse. I know this was the case a few years ago, but I am not sure if it applies today. Let me also throw in the caveat acknowledging that the attitudes and norms are not the same for all countries.

As far as tFSer's responses, I know that Vogue Taiwan gets trashed, but it seems to be more about styling, composition and other artistic choices. It should also be noted that Vogue China is probably one of the most well-regarded magazines on tFS these days. But you are definitely right that there is a lack of pro-active interest (raises hand) in magazines like Vogue India when local models and celebs and unknown photographers are used but if I were the editor serving the fashionphiles in one of the most populous countries in the world, I would not be worried about the number of hits I got on tFS, unless I knew that a substantial number of my countryfolk lurked on the site. When I have stumbled across country breakdowns of fashion related web traffic, it is usually the western and other large industrialized countries and then Turkey and the Philippines. Now if I ran fashion, I would have editions of Vogue, HB, Numero in the Phillippines; Karl would have his cruise show there and last but not least there will be screaming and jumping up and down when Tyra announces it as the foreign destination of ANTM.

[YSMR]

Yey for modeling diversity, one of the first presentations Organic by John Patrick has intagrated much variety in his casting, lets hope more shows from New York Fashion Week follow suit.

[Uemarasan]

Originally Posted by agee

I cannot see the corporate parent of Vogue Nippon allowing it to be a niche player, I would think that their content reflects the fashionista population's tastes and preferences. The only issue I can see being at play is the previously mentioned generational thing and that Vogue Nippon is serving an older base, I don't know for sure, just wondering - my knowledge is mostly limited to what I see in magazines like Vogue, W and Numero. As you mentioned there may be other magazines being patronized by younger Japanese, I am familiar with some of the stuff being produced by the Japanese media but not enough to know if the publication is celebrity, entertainment, fashion and / or lifestyle oriented.

Just wanted to comment on this part, but blueorchid is right. Vogue Nippon is not a top fashion magazine in Japan. The magazine is geared towards a specific sector of the Japanese fashion community: a very elitist, high-end, urban clientele. These magazines are easily distinguished from the rest because nearly all of the time they will have a non-Asian model on their covers. However, unlike in the Western markets, these kinds of magazine (elitist and high-end) are not particularly powerful in the Japanese fashion industry. Not on the same level as Vogue in Europe and the US. Vivi, Non-no, CanCam, and AneCan are much more democratic and important in picking up on and influencing trends and buying power. For an older clientele, there are with, more, and anan. Japanese celebrities and models are the norm in these magazines, and a designer or brand would be better off being featured in these publications.

[Yupes]

It's interesting to see so many seventies-inspired collections during this spring/summer '11 runway show season reference fashion's most ethnically diverse decade. Marc Jacobs's show, which gave a nod to Rive Gauche with boldly glam and colorful dresses and jumpsuits, featured the most black models of the entire season so far: Rose Cordero, Chanel Iman, Joan Smalls, Melodie Monrose, Jourdan Dunn, Shena Moulton and the list goes on. The most beautiful part is that Jacobs isn't the only designer who went beyond the runway tokenism that plagued most of the Aughties. It's now not such a big deal to see more than one black girl on a runway show (remember when it virtually was only Liya Kebede?).

[Yupes]

Fashion Week Diversity By The Numbers

Jezebel has been been tracking the relative diversity of New York fashion week for so many seasons. There verdict this season presents a small improvement on six months ago, in terms of its diversity, but essentially New York fashion week is right back where it was 18 months ago.

This fashion week, there were 128 New York shows and presentations that were covered by Style.com. (We've always used Style.com as the basis for our data because it publishes look-by-look slideshows, often with models' names included, for a comprehensive swath of New York's shows.) Those 128 shows together presented 4,170 runway looks. That means 4,170 opportunities to choose a woman or girl to model that outfit.

3,410 of those opportunities, or 81.8%, went to white models. That means of course that 760, or 18.2%, went to models who were non-white. Non-white Latina models were used 95 times in all of fashion week, or around 2.3% of the time, and Asian models were used 296 times, or 7.1% of the time. Black models were used 353 times, or 8.4% of the time. Models of other races, like the Moroccan Hind Sahli and the Canadian model Tara Gill, who has Native American heritage, were used 16 times, or 0.4% of the time.

Lots of people within fashion will tell you that casting models is an extraordinarily complex, creative pursuit, one that requires balancing multiple subjective qualities (does this model give me the right feeling?) with more objective ones (does this model fit the clothes, and can she walk?). Some people always say that choosing a cast that suits a designer's creative vision is more important than taking even the most basic steps to insure that cast isn't all-white. (At least, the apologists for the status quo prefer to talk about designers and "creative visions" rather than about casting notices that say "No Ethnic Girls" and black models who say they work less than their white friends.) But why is it considered acceptable for a designer's creative vision to not include people of color? Do those designers not want any black or Latino customers either?

This season, there were six shows and presentations that included no models of color at all. These included Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti — which is cast by the highly influential casting director Russell Marsh, who also casts for Prada and Miu Miu — as well as Mulberry, Reem Acra, and Doo.Ri. Prada, you will recall, is the Italian global luxury brand that went more than a decade without casting even a single black model in any of its shows. (This season, Prada had two black models — Jourdan Dunn and Melodie Monrose — present one look apiece in its 41-look collection.)

There were also plenty of shows that had all-white casts but for one or two models. Anna Sui, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Jeremy Scott, Jill Stuart, Narciso Rodriguez, Rodarte, Diesel Black Gold, and Thakoon are among them. What's worrisome is that that list is thick with some of the most influential and prestigious labels in all of fashion. And they don't seem to see any use for more than a couple token models of color. Mass-market powerhouse Max Azria, via his brands Hervé Leger by Max Azria, Max Azria, and BCBG Max Azria, booked his customary nearly all-white casts, all while telling us he was the "king of diversity in fashion."

Who were the designers who did things better? 3.1 Phillip Lim, who hired nine models of color, and Sophie Théallet, who showed 13 of her 32 looks on models of color, were among the buzzed-about younger designers had very diverse casts. Among the old guard, Carolina Herrera (11/52), Oscar de la Renta (13/60), and Diane von Furstenberg (17/50), had the most diverse casts. Rachel Comey, Betsey Johnson, Costello Tagliapietra, Tara Subkoff's relaunched Imitation line, Jason Wu, Christian Siriano, Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B. line, both Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs, and Richard Chai were also among those labels that valued diversity in their casting.

Melodie Monrose, with 19 shows including Tory Burch and Rag & Bone, was fashion week's top black model. Shena Moulton and Joan Smalls, who booked 13 apiece, were second. Moulton was the only black model at Calvin Klein, and Smalls walked for Alexander Wang, Derek Lam, and Michael Kors, among others. The top Asian model at New York fashion week was again Liu Wen, who walked in 18 shows. Fei Fei Sun and Shu Pei Qin had 16 each. Among non-white Latina models, Simone Carvalho booked nine shows, while Juana Burga had a respectable eight. The only models of other ethnic backgrounds to speak of were Hind Sahli, who worked six shows, and Tara Gill, who booked three.

Why doesn't fashion — especially multi-national brands whose profitability rests on convincing the largest number of consumers possible to purchase their perfumes, underwear, and diffusion lines, like Calvin Klein — have more consideration for the beauty and worth of people who aren't white? Is New York fashion week plateauing at around 82% white, no matter how much advocacy or consciousness-raising gets done, or how many trend pieces get written about this issue? Will it ever become unacceptable to put on a fashion show in a thoroughly multi-racial city like New York and not hire a single model of color? Will it ever become unacceptable to blame that choice on an alleged "creative vision"? As long as these questions remain, we'll continue to ask them, time and time again, and look for answers in seasons to come.

Jezebel by courtesy

[Riseup]

Why does Vogue Italia keep on segregating black models in their issues?...it's been a while since a black girl is in their mag...but in their december issue there are at least 5 girls: Rose, Joan, Jourdan, Arlenis, Melodie...

[agee]

^ You're right they do like to take the cluster approach. I wonder if it is an Italian thing because even in runway shows, the black models come out one behind the other, I always thought that it reflected some culturally idiosyncratic need for symmetry or order.

ETA:
Perhaps not in recent shows (although I have seen it recently), but it crops up quite a bit in the footage of older shows.

ETA2:
Yep, at Prada SS 2011 Melodie walked followed by Jourdan.

[Unknownpleasures]

Has anyone noticed that there are only white girls at Balmain,mostly from europe?

[crow_watcher]

^Yes, I've noticed. So typically, it's acceptable behavior. But I'm sure it's a reflection of the company and their consumers preference, to a certain degree. Yet artists such as Beyonce and Rhianna have worn Balmain .

[heyyall]

Originally Posted by agee

in runway shows, the black models come out one behind the other

I too have noticed this! It always seems quite obvious to me.

[BetteT]

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