Racial Diversity In Modeling

[texastess]

Wasn't Naomi infamous for being terrible to Tyra and other black models?

 

[ckashie]

Here is a very interesting article from Jezebel about this issue:

Last night, five months following her first event about the lack of diversity in fashion, model-agency owner Bethann Hardison held a similar gathering with the stated goal of examining why models of color are in such short supply on the fashion industry's runways and magazine editorials. (The attention to the issue seems to be growing: At a September event called "The Lack Of The Black Image In Fashion Today", 70 people, including Naomi Campbell, showed up; Hardison's second symposium, held in October at the New York Public Library, drew 275, and last night, a group of around 200 were on hand.) Ms. Hardison (seen above left between Campbell and Iman) began yesterday's proceedings by addressing the crowd -- a motley crew of models, journalists, designers, stylists and industry insiders -- saying when it comes to a lack of diversity on the high fashion runways, "All of us are responsible."


Ms. Hardison then read a statement from Vogue editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley, who could not attend because he was in Chicago in conjunction with the Barack Obama campaign. (Talley was assisting with making phone calls to voters in South Carolina in support of Mr. Obama.) Talley's message was eloquent and impassioned, beginning with the fact that black people first arrived in this country as cargo and that it's been a battle for them in the hundreds of years since. He stated: "This struggle is so important to all of us... They will say this is not an issue, but it is..." Borrowing from the Obama slogan, Mr. Talley wrote that "Change we can believe in has to happen."
Next up were freelance creative director James Scully (who has worked for Tom Ford and Harper's Bazaar) and Nian Fish, creative director of KCD, the pr/event production firm responsible for many of the top runway shows. As he did in October, Mr. Scully blamed Prada for the influx of "15-year-old Russian girls" on the runway, a look he claimed other designers copied and fashion people got accustomed to seeing and not critiquing. Ms. Fish pointed to the early '90s, when many British designers and stylists came to the U.S. with a certain aesthetic and wanted only white models. She stated that she had been privy to conversations with designers and stylists who would literally say, "we already have one of those" when pointing to a black model as an excuse not to hire another.
Many other people spoke: model Lily Taylor said that when she started in the business at 15, her agency wanted her to get a nose job and she refused. Another model from Ethiopia claimed that she attended the Ford Supermodel Of The World event and saw that 80% of the models chosen were white or Eastern European. Harriet Cole of Ebony magazine pointed out that models are supposed to reflect the world and that fashion is global. "With the political season upon us, if the globe doesn't recognize black people, what does that say?" she asked, rhetorically.
A man named Roman Young from Elite Model Management, hails from Hawaii and said that the modeling agencies cannot bear all of the blame. "When a client says 'I want the girl next door,' I say 'The girl next door to who?'" Mr. Young told the crowd. Model Jessica White, who recently inked a deal with Maybelline, said that celebrities are taking the spots of many black models -- after all why should marketeres get a model for their advertisements when they can get Beyoncé or Halle Berry? But, Ms. Hardison countered, neither Beyoncé nor Halle Berry ever walk the runways in Milan or Paris. Veteran model Coco Mitchell suggested that black people not purchase items from designers who do not use black models and pointed out that neither Prada nor Jil Sander ever do. Damon Dash spoke of his transition from music to fashion with wife Rachel Roy and said, "We gotta watch each others' backs." And Mr. Scully suggested the group start shopping at the Gap as Patrick Robinson is now the head designer.
Ms Hardison reminded the audience that the issue of the lack of black models is not about creating an all-black runway but diversity. "I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do," she continued. "I'm just trying to raise consciousness. We can make a change just by being here."

 

[Dkammern]

Next up were freelance creative director James Scully (who has worked for Tom Ford and Harper's Bazaar) and Nian Fish, creative director of KCD, the pr/event production firm responsible for many of the top runway shows. As he did in October, Mr. Scully blamed Prada for the influx of "15-year-old Russian girls" on the runway, a look he claimed other design]ers copied and fashion people got accustomed to seeing and not critiquing.

...

Coco Mitchell suggested that black people not purchase items from designers who do not use black models and pointed out that neither Prada nor Jil Sander ever do.

but wouldnt that be discriminative to the Russian models, or the companies that support them anyway?

still think it's not a matter of Miuccia or Anna Wintour being racists, i think they just respond to a certain target group that relies on finantial analysis, and unfortunately not moral/ethics, etc.

 

[xmodel citizen]

So I read this WHOLE thread tonight and dispersed karma for some lovely folks.

In particular, thank you kimair for all of your personal insights, statistics and overall sensicalness (yeah, that's not a word )

I personally am disgusted with the fashion industry at the moment. If I see one more pale (or maybe tan, but still obviously white), emaciated, unattractive face on being passed off as a "top model", I will scream! I find the lack of the diversity in the fashion industry sickening. IMO, there is little logical excuse for not featuring a variety of looks. But unfortunately it is tied in with the current need of the industry to parade endlessly blank, European faces to the masses. I think it has nothing to do with sales. Are you telling me Elle and Vogue didn't used to sell when they put black models on the covers or in the pages? Or that the Halle Berry issue flopped completely? Did Chanel not sell any outfits when Karl used black models?

Please, it's nothing but excuses for a pathetic lack of creativity and idealism. We can get every shade of white imaginable but what, .76 Black girls a year, a few Asians here and there, virtually no nonwhite Latin American girls, 1 or 2 Indians every few decades?

And eternitygoddess, it's people like you, who find things like "Arabian girls in couture desses" so odd, or too many black models strange, that make me too afraid to wear anything "ethnic" (esp. the hijab) for fear that I'll be somehow ostracized or looked down upon for wearing something somehow "not meant" for someone of my skin tone.

 

[xmodel citizen]

Oh and BTW, I'm not being discriminatory, I love all skin tones (although I'm just starting to get over my 'super-pale with freckles is unattractive' and seeing the beauty in it). I just wish there was more diversity.

 

[iggy190cm]

I'm just happy period that there Gong Li at Loreal and Ziyi Zhang at Maybelline

 

[Acid]

i think this whole debate is just down to a question of taste.
why must people always look for someone to blame? that is when this turned into an issue...

 

[xmodel citizen]

A question of taste? I'm sorry but that's a horrible excuse.

 

[ChristionCouture]

Yes, that is quite horrible. Some people just don't have the "taste" for a certain race of human beings. LOL How sick is that?!

 

[iggy190cm]

It´s true that light-skinned models are unfortunaltely way more in demand than black ones or models with another skincolor.Look at Asia-Japan,Tokyo,etc...They have many agencies for caucasian models.Their advertisements,campaigns and magazines are full of white-skinned models...I can´t understand why they don´t accept their own race.I mean,there are actually so many beautiful Asian girls...They even usle mainly caucasian girls for unpopular catalogues...
The same with back models.Of course you can think of Chanel Iman,Liya Kebede and a few more,but these are the minority of the models and they doesn´t have a success like the most light-skinned girls.
I noticed that in the thread about the most beautiful eyes are mainly blue and green-eyed model named for example.I think it has to do with the fact that the minority of people on the earth are blonde and blue-eyed.So they are actually more fascinated by light-skinned models.
It´s actually sad,because I know some really beautiful black models and I think they´re so underrated comapared to the other girls.

I'm really sorry but this is kinda wrong Have you ever been to a japanese newsagency? Almost 90% of the covers are asian celebrities , only vogue nippon , spur , elle, numero the high fashion magazines have many non asian models and also the japanese people I speak to dont EVEN know what spur or vogue nippon is
So yea , also if you go through asian magazines majority of the women who sell the clothing .ARE asian . If you actually go to the country you'll see what I mean or pick up a teen or lifestyle magazine Also no its just some of the catalogues that are posted here are of European models but actually majority who models in most catalogues are in fact asian. My point is that the magazines in japan etc 90% of the magazine are covered by asian actresses etc the magazines that you are talking about like elle , numero these magazines are unpopular with most mainstream asians anyways
I'm not saying they use only asian models because they also use a lot of caucasian models too but I suggest you actually go over to some asian countries you'll understand what I mean by majority of magazines and ads are by asians And the most popular model in Japan is Ebi Chan

so I highly doubt theres majority of caucasians advertising, thats not a fact at all , its just the ones youve SEEN.
And btw asians accept their own race, maybe I NEED to take a picture of a japanese cltohing store or scan some jap./korean magazines ?

 

[nyc_art_style]

it's not fashion who is racist, it's "the audience".
fashion magazines is where the industry meets the people, and as (very) profitable companies, they respond to a certain demand.
i think that in the past years, the fashion industry has been very tolerant with all sort of people (whether it's sex, drugs, religion or cultural background we are talking about)
still think it's miss nuclear wintour who is racist? i certainly dont

but doesn't the fashion industry influence what people want? By pushing all white models, people become use to them and sometimes desire them more.

I do believe you are on to something about certain models being chosen because their home lands turn out a lot of profit. If i saw a model who looked just like me wearing a dress, I would consider buying it. Because to me that means the designer made that dress with people who look like me in mind, or the designer believes that the dress would flatter people who look like me.

I also don't believe Naomi brought up this subject because she felt her career was dying. She's been getting loads of work lately, and this is not the first time she's mentioned this issue.

In short, my opinion is the fashion world definitely lacks diversity, and i would love to see more of it. Not only for black girls, but for all girls.

 

[xmodel citizen]

^ Well, look at what iggy said. Asian companies DO use Asian models! It's foreign fashion magazines with bases in the countries that push the Caucasian ideal. I think America is incredibly diverse and if our magazines are going to accurately reflect the potential buying audience, then it would be wise to feature more diverse faces.

I also find it funny that people say the audience as racist but look at Oprah's magazine. Oprah is (clearly) a black woman but every month middle-aged white women buy her magazine (that features an image of Oprah on the cover) and so far it's been incredibly successful.

 

[J.M.L]

A lot of it has to do with how the media has portrayed white people vs. black people. Like if someone was to open a Cosmo and see a picture of an African American couple dressed "preppy" they would probably think, "That doesn't look right." A lot of the media has portrayed black men and women to be "ghetto," and the public has gotten used to it. Why do you think some African Americansm, or some people, say that Obama isn't "Black" enough?"

I personally would love to see more black faces because I think they have amazing skin. I would just like to see more color in general.

 

[Dkammern]

^^i see a very Crash (the movie) point in that... and it certainly sounds right. Still i refuse to believe it's all about the media. I can not believe that someone like anna wintour (who works side by side with black people) or carine roitfeld (who is one of the least conservative persons i could think of) would not hire a girl because she was black. Sales matter, sales are the only thing that matter! and if they do put a prada pair of shoes on the cover because they get paid for than from prada, they would put the asian/russian model on the cover because they know what people are going to pay for.

 

[kimair]

diddy is doing the sean john show with all black models...
here's a video from the casting from nymag.com

 

[Spike413]

^ See to me, that's no better than a show with all white models. It's not solving anything, it's not getting more black models jobs industry-wide.

In a way that makes it worse. Why should certain labels cater only to certain ethnicities. In an attempt to make a valid point, it's actually creating more segregation.

Admittedly I haven't really followed the thread, merely popped in and out a few times as it's grown, but I find myself wondering why the entire fashion world has to hear about and answer for the whole body controversy that's been splashed on every front page, but this kind of falls by the wayside. If no one's dying it's not a problem?

 

[KindlyCuddly]

^ See to me, that's no better than a show with all white models. It's not solving anything, it's not getting more black models jobs industry-wide.

In a way that makes it worse. Why should certain labels cater only to certain ethnicities. In an attempt to make a valid point, it's actually creating more segregation.

Okay but it's been seasons since this issue has been brought to the light and there hasn't been any change in the use of black models, so good on Sean John for using black models. Countless shows use only white models. I don't see this as fighting fire with fire so much as giving black models jobs because otherwise they won't book any shows.

It isn't creating more segregation. It actually brings light to the issue by showing how silly it is to use only one ethnicity. People don't care when it's all white when they've come to expect it but perhaps using only black models will grab people's attention.

What else are blacks in the fashion industry suppose to do? They've hosted forums and the biggest people in the industry have publicly spoken out and very little if any change has been made. I'm not going to criticise Sean John while countless other labels send nothing but eastern european blondes down their runways.

 

[Sugarmama]

I completely agree KindlyCuddly.

 

[J.M.L]

I think sometimes clothes even look better on African American skin.

 

[Luxx]

Its a sad day when I have to clap for Diddy but I'm going to applaud him for this. I think the casting selection for Sean John is meant to prove a point and make a statement. In a perfect world one wouldn't have to do such things in order to show that African/African-American models have a viable place on the runway but with the way things are with casting I think something like this is a necessary stand.

The ideal for me in terms of casting is a show like Ports1961 or Hermes last season - both those shows had absolutely incredible multi-ethnic casting and it worked so well. My only qualm is that those shows already had overarching themes that related to ethnicity but either way I think a runway should be representative of both the designers vision AND the culture in which we live. The world is global, the markets are global, beauty is global and its about time fashion caught up with that. As cutting edge as fashion can be there are still some areas wherein it is markedly and almost methodically backwards in its thinking - points wherein it is resistant to change. People will say "oh well this isn't really our problem" or "why should fashion be concerned with such and such"but I feel that manner of thinking belittles the cultural impact that fashion has. Fashion is a medium that impacts the lives of so many people and with that impact there comes responsibility. For me its all about whether or not designers and the powers that be wish to claim that responsibility - if they don't then fine but they shouldn't act like there is no problem.

Sometimes I really wish I could sit down and study the hows and whys behind the current aesthetic, its tenants and its prevalence. I feel like so many people (and I'm moving beyond the scope of just race for a moment) are being shut out due to the physical standards for models. We've got about a hundred blank childlike blondes and it often feels like there is little room for anything else.