Racial Diversity In Modeling

[BetteT]

This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]23207[/split]

 

[heyyall]

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

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

 

[LaModaInspire13]

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

Ummm its not always the case remember. E.g of recent the Dior Spring/Summer 2011 show. The black models were equally mixed between the white ones. Chanel Iman, Jourdan Dunn....its getting better

 

[Style Savvy]

^It's only in Milan.

 

[LaModaInspire13]

^It's only in Milan.

Um the Dior show??
Er that was in Paris and NY Fashion Week had the most black models ever recorded. I think on the whole racial diversity is improving.

 

[VullixEf]

for commercials it depends on the part of the world.. blondes work better in the north.. latin girls in the south..

 

[markese91]

if yo u look at the lookbooks for PreFall... I think there's a hefty asian representation in comparison to the past.

 

[fantastical]

I feel a bit of a catch 22 situation in terms of diversity right now. It seems there a great group of models of color (both black and asian) that are getting more and more work, but I would LOVE it if whenever models of color got work, they weren't all stuffed into the same editorial all at once. It's almost like magazines are saying here...have this one editorial or feature in this ONE month of the year and be happy with that.

which sometimes I find more annoying than them not getting work at all.

 

[Drusilla_]

^like that American Vogue feature on Asian models, with every one of them in the same mohawk and ballgown. It's an idea, but honestly, it would've worked better if they hadn't tried to homogenise all the models first.

 

[luvvmoment]

Very little improvement

Yes, there has been some improvement but very, very little! We see the same faces of color every season! As a model of color we're still not working, still not getting signed, booked you name it. And just as the "All-American Girl" has it hard competing against European/Brazilian models, think about the "All-American Girl of Color" most of them cling on onto to their ethnic background to seem more exotic to get ahead. I am not here to complain because at age 9 when I knew this was something I wanted in life I knew the road would not be easy for me. 14 years later it hasn't but I continue to persevere in the hopes that a door will open. I am thankful to see the faces that we are seeing now and can only hope I get my break before the sun sets on my time to sine.

 

[candlebougie]

While reading critical comments about the lack of ethnic diversity in campaigns/editorials I wondered how popular non-white models are on TheFashionSpot. Are the members and visitors of this site following the few successful black and asian models? Or are they mostly interested in the standard white model?

Let's have a look at the most popular models on TheFashionSpot / who is getting the most attention.



Out of the 55 model-threads with the most hits and visitors in the last few months only 1 (!) girl is a non-white model (Chanel @ No.36). That's 1.8%.

Sure, TFS is not representative of all people interested in fashion. But it is after all a community full of people who love fashion and models - and even here successful models of color don't get a lot of attention. No Joan Smalls, no Liu Wen, no Sessilee, no Shu Pei etc. etc.

Just something to think about....

 

[iheartbags]

I suppose its because we prefer to look at people like us. Thats to say that if we're white, we would prefer to look at white models. Asian, Asian models. Another reason could be be that we're constantly feed information about white models in the media..etc that we know know them on a first hand basis and are more likely to search for them...

 

[BetteT]

But you may not know that Fashion Spot members come from all around the world. Yes, many come from the US, Europe and Australia, for sure, but surprisingly also from various African countries, the Middle East, India, China, Japan, the Philippines ... almost everywhere. There is no way to determine our racial makeup, so you can't automatically assume that most members are Caucasian. All we can say for certainty, is that almost all members who post know come English ... since we are an English language only forum. Therefore that statement may or may not have a bearing on it ... that's still an unknown.

It also might be because there are probably more Caucasian models than others. Plus it is always the most well known models who get the most attention and I would say that the majority of highly popular models are Caucasian. I would like to see that change to reflect the world as it really is .... but that seems to be coming very slowly.

 

[EasyCool]

This is what i think it comes down to. Beauty is beauty it comes in many different forms, we all know this. There are some faces that have cross over appeal and some that don't. The girls that are the most popular on tfs appeal to a lot of different people from different backgrounds. Yes some girls do get push forward that other. Things will change more as our world gets older, gains more knowledge, and opens it's mind.

Generally beauty is taught when you are a child and a baby. As we can see by looking at tv and movies and billboards that is changing.The babies being born now and children under 18 today will have a broader idea of what beauty is, and thank goodness for that.

We can't forget look at our it girls today in hollywood and music.

lady gaga -italian descent
rihanna - barbados descent
megan fox - french, irish, native american descent
sofia vergara - south central american descent
Kardashian's - armenian, dutch, scottish descent
and on and on


I hope i explained this properly.B)

 

[EasyCool]

One more thing I have a question:

What do you consider racial diversity?
Would Abbey and Lily be in that category, because they do have mixed makeup.

Is it about ethnicity or facial feature and skin tone?

 

[ilaughead]

^I would say facial features and skin tone. It's all well and good to have a model who has an underrepresented ethnicity, but if she looks the same as all the European girls, she's not really representing a more inclusive idea of beauty.

 

[Fiercification]

The casting at this season's men's shows have been abysmal...racial diversity applies to men as well as women you know ?

 

[savvysearch]

Models like Alek Wek are once in a generation. But yeah, the modeling industry prides itself on appreciating different types of beauty, but in reality, it accepts few models with strong "ethnic" features like Wek.

It's worse on the male modeling side. On the male modeling side, it's the archetype of the white teenage parisian boy. Even minority models tend to have "white" features that are unique to their native country.

 

[ultramarine]

Eye color and the perception of beauty

from 9GAG.com

I saw it and immediatelly thought of this thread. I saw it and then started thinking whether is it possible to detach color from the concept of race. A color is just a color and there are rules of what would look good on some colors and then some others wont.

I mean my skin is tanned/brown. Now that mags are using the bleached eyebrow look on lots of editorials, I would love to pull it off but I think only caucasian and probably asian people can do it.

Is this one of the factors why isnt it so varied out there for the models?

 

[luvvmoment]

This is NOT diversity, sorry......

@EasyCool- I see where you were trying to go however the list you have provided is not good representation of racial nor ethnic diversity, you explained nationality and heritage based on nationality. Non of these women are making strides or paving roads for roads for other women either. Let me break down the list you have for you the way it is seen by the masses.


lady gaga -italian descent - WHITE
rihanna - barbados descent - BLACK
megan fox - french, irish, native american descent - WHITE
sofia vergara - south central american descent - HISPANIC
Kardashian's - armenian, dutch, scottish descent - WHITE with bad tans