[crow_watcher]

^She did? Wow!! I guess the industry is really progressing now.

The industry (as a whole) is flat out horrendous. They will always put a "certain look" on a pedestal. They fuse to regconize beauty within various women of color. And why not? Who's going boycott?

[soBlu]

As much as I love me some Lais, I am no longer comfortable being happy when one black model is cast in a runway show.

Sure, it's a step in the right direction, but it's more than a little disappointing that we are supposed to be excited about industry "progression" when one very light skinned black model is cast in an Armani show.

[purplethistle]

I'm actually starting to think that industry is taking a step back. While I think they've made improvements in casting for shows I think over all its actually worse.

In the past you had models of non-causion background that did great things like Naomi Campbell and Liya Kebede. But I feel like currently no one is really carrying the torch on so to speak. The closest to it would probably would probably be Joan or Jourdan. But I find that their campaigns are more streaky in calibre and frequency especially when you think where we should be in the 21st century and what their contemporaries or caucasian backgrounds are doing.

Conversely you can tell when a caucasian model is being groomed for greatness like Karlie, Freja, Anja, Lara etc. But you can't really do that with models of a non-caucasion background. It's like not only is it harder for them to get into a show the chances of them being in the industry in 5 years from now is a lot more precarious.

[Modelspiceuk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by purplethistle In the past you had models of non-causion background that did great things like Naomi Campbell and Liya Kebede. But I feel like currently no one is really carrying the torch on so to speak. The closest to it would probably would probably be Joan or Jourdan.

And yet I still don't think either Joan or Jourdan will reach great heights in their modelling career as Naomi did. It's just the vibes I get. And then I saw some modelling shots and videos of the British model who won the Elite UK competition about three years ago, and I'm thinking, perhaps, just maybe, she might just be the one to take on this task. Let's watch this space and see.

[luvvmoment]

I'm tired of designers using "1" Black, Asian, Afro-Latina, or Hispanic model and expect that to be okay!! I'm over once they put a model of color on "1" mag cover, then everyone is cool, it's not! When editors, casting directors and so on demand more then maybe a change will come! Not saying I'm a well known, hell I have a long ways to go and can only hope to ge where any of the models on these threads are, but as a model it's disheartening! It's especially frustrating when the designer is a minority, that is a straight slap in the face!

[Larek]

more asian man please! ^^

[IrvingLorenzo]

with regards to racial diversity this fall 2012, it was very disappointing that almost none of the south asian models from the last chanel pre-fall collection were seen on the runways of fall 2012. with the exception of either ashika pratt or smita lasrado (i'm confused with both as they almost look similar) and maybe shanina shaik in sporadic non-A list shows here and there, it was appalling to not see them everywhere this season especially in milan and paris.

i seriously thought that jyothsna chakravarthy would be walking for some big shows in milan and paris due to her facial features which i think is quite "high fashion" and similar to daphne groeneveld. she even had a showcard. i was totally wrong and she was nowhere to be seen. even liza golden who's half american was nowhere to be seen. karl didn't even use any of them for his fall 2012 show. sad i tell ya. and just when i thought that lakshmi menon paved the way for indian models to be on the international runways.

and not to start anything negative but just an observation, even though people may feel that joan or jourdan may never attain the level of achievement or success that naomi or liya did ( I personally think that joan has already achieved this sort of level), they still were able to grace the (solo) cover of vogue italia like naomi and liya (even though being on the cover of VI is not a precise measurement of a high fashion model's success). to date, i have yet to see an asian model grace a solo cover of VI (not including audrey of course). then again, du juan was able to secure a spot on the cover of VP (i suspect due to the launching of VC), second in importance to VI in terms of vogue covers, being the only asian on VP so far. of course i seem to notice that east asian models seem to have a slightly better prospect (by a small margin) in the (big) campaign department compared to their (recent) black/african-descendant counterparts with the exception of joan i guess (who slaughters everyone) - xiao wen ju in marc jacobs, liu wen in ck calvin klein, dolce and gabbana, estee lauder, sun fei fei in valentino, dsquared2, louis vuitton, ai tominaga in yves saint laurent, gucci ill parfum, du juan in yves saint laurent, roberto cavalli, louis vuitton, david yurman, swarovski, giorgio armani all seem to fare better (as a whole) if you compare them with mimi roche, jourdan dunn, ariel meredith, sessilee lopez, chanel iman, jasmine tookes, ataui deng, kinee diouf, nyasha matohondze (citing a few examples). yes i get it, nyasha was in the fall 2011 louis vuitton campaign, jourdan dunn has appeared several times in burberry, chanel iman in bottega venetta previously, kelly moreira in JPG, ariel was in D&G. but if you compare it with the weight of campaigns that the east asian models have scored - yves saint laurent, marc jacobs (who would've thought a chinese was able to front the campaign as an OG), louis vuitton, valentino, giorgio armani, i guess they fare a little better. i wonder why?

whatever it is, i'm still waiting for the day an asian model is able to grace a solo cover of VI, open and close many shows in milan and paris and front several blue chip campaigns at once, only then will i be amazed. and i'm still hoping that the south asian wave will truly take off one day (multiple indian models in shows like LV, dior, hermes, givenchy) and someone like jyothsna will achieve the level of success or even better than what ujjwala and lakshmi has attained. if that is achieved then maybe southeast asians could also have a chance to appear on the runways like what ling tan has achieved once before in time.

[Modelspiceuk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IrvingLorenzo and not to start anything negative but just an observation, even though people may feel that joan or jourdan may never attain the level of achievement or success that naomi or liya did ( I personally think that joan has already achieved this sort of level), they still were able to grace the (solo) cover of vogue italia like naomi and liya (even though being on the cover of VI is not a precise measurement of a high fashion model's success). to date, i have yet to see an asian model grace a solo cover of VI (not including audrey of course)

Hey IrvingLorenzo,

In light of my earlier comments regarding Joan Smalls and Jourdan Dunn, I apprecriate your feedback. With regards to my statement, I don’t mean to sound pessimistic about their fashion careers, as I see both women, have achieved much success and I am very happy for them.

But for all its worth, this is just my personal opinion, and the vibes I get from the fashion industry as a whole; (and having regarded Naomi’s career over the past two decades: she had this “je ne sais quoi” attitude/persona about her, which translated well onto the runway shows, her editorial prints - they were not only attention-grabing, mesmerizing and magnetic - especially on the catwalk, but dang, this girl just knew how to model the clothes that she wore. When she was on the catwalk, you noticed Naomi and the garments as "one", I certainly hadn't seen this before, it was a revelation to the fashion industry as awhole).

I'm happy to see new "fresh faces" attempt to emulate such a feat, but until then, I'm watching this industry very closely and with optimism, might I just add

[purplethistle]

^you've said something that makes me think that there may another layer to the racial problem. In some cases the models may come from a non-western culture and so how they've been brought up to behave may affect their likability to the client.

[UrbanFashionista]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larek more asian man please! ^^

omg yes, I would love to see more Asian male models working.

[widowsofculloden]

New York Fashion Week: More Models Of Color Are Working

[Modelo]

I watched the Dior show today and one thing stuck out to me which is the absolute lack of black models on the runway. Given the casts at Jil Sander while he was there, I had my doubts a few months ago when it was announced that Raf Simmons would be taking over at Dior. However, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and told myself that maybe, just maybe it was the aesthetic at Jil Sander and that the black model didn't fit it. Today, I realized differently, and it was a very sad realization. In a world that has become increasingly integrated and where cultures and race are become more and more accepted, an iconic house like Dior should present an image that only the light skinned girl can be representative of it's brand. I find it even more disheartening and alarming that the corporate governors did not address that fact. Many things can be said of the predecessor John Galliano, but at least he had a vision into the future and supported models of every culture and background. Without even mentioning the clothes, that in and of itself made Dior a forward brand and a fashion house of which other design houses could draw inspiration. Shame on Raf Simmons and shame on the LVMH group for allowing this. I am both angry and sad. So sad that I can even go on with this piece of writing so I rest my case...

I hope the mods allow me to keep this comment on here.

[Lena]

^ there were quite some posts on this at twitter

i agree, with you it was no a good idea, very bad PR

[MulletProof]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Modelo I hope the mods allow me to keep this comment on here.

Thanks for your comment. Moved your post to this thread as we really struggle in Designers & Collections to keep discussion centered on designers and their collections and discussion on modeling is actually one of its biggest problems. Even though you raise good points, it unfortunately incites the kind of talk we've taken a good number of measures to contain.

[sore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Modelo However, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and told myself that maybe, just maybe it was the aesthetic at Jil Sander and that the black model didn't fit it. Today, I realized differently, and it was a very sad realization.

his aesthetic vision hasn't changed that much, at what point did you realize 'differently'?