Skip to main content

Are There Enough Black Models at Fashion Week?

In September 2013 supermodels Iman and Naomi Campbell and former model agent Bethann Hardison wrote to the major fashion councils of New York, London, Milan and Paris about the lack of racial diversity in the fashion industry and specifically on Fashion Week runways.

"The absence of people of color on the runways and photography reinforces to our young girls that they're not people enough, that they're not acceptable enough," Iman told CNN.

"The diversity that we live in, the world that we live in, is not what is shown on the runway. That to me  is the concern. It's bigger issue at large than just about runway and models."

A model walks the runway at the Georgine
fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2014
Photo by Arun Nevader/Getty Images

Amen to that, Iman.  

A shamefully self-absorbed essay recently published in XOJane was a glaring example of how black women in particular are often judged and marginalized in our society. The essay was written by a self-described "skinny white girl" who became distraught after a "fairly heavyset black woman" came to a yoga class she regularly attends. For some reason, that experience was disturbing and prompted this clueless white woman to interpret, without saying a word to her, how the black woman felt about her body, her ability to do yoga and her whole existence, really, in comparison to her own perceived perfection. I won't dignify the original piece with a link back, but here's a spot on response from a fellow black female writer.

Perhaps I've been naive, but I expect people to be decent and kind and at the very least respectful of other people's differences, and I'm always shocked and angered when prejudice and racism rears its ugly head. But now that my blinders are off, I don't like what I see.

So did the fashion industry get the memo since last season and hire more black models to walk the runway?  From the daily runway photos, there appear to be more images of gorgeous black models. So perhaps that signals progress?

Here are some of the stunning models working Fashion Week Fall 2014.

A model poses at the Czar By Cesar Galindo fashion presentation during
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2014
Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images

A model at Desigual fashion show during
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2014.
Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

A model walks the runway at the Herve Leger By Max Azria
fashion show during Mercedes-Benz
Fashion Week Fall 2014
Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

A model at the Monique Lhuillier fashion show during
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2014.
Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Conway Discount Clothing Chain Closing in New York City

It's the end of an era. Conway discount stores are closing . As of this weekend, a sign on the sole Herald Square location (34th Street btwn 7th and 8th Ave) says the store will close in "7 Days." Before I relocated to New York City, I was introduced to the discount chain while on a bus trip from Baltimore.  I recall the first time I saw Conway's signature pink bags carried by hurried shoppers in midtown. And Miss Foster, the trip organizer and a bargain hunter from way back, took me to the store for the first time. Conway store in the Fulton Mall./Tracy E. Hopkins When I moved here in 1994, my love affair with Conway continued.  I furnished my first apartment with discount knick-knacks and home goods from the store.  And much to my chagrin, in hindsight, I curated most of my wardrobe for my first full-time job from the long-shuttered 42nd Street and Third Avenue store. One regretful ensemble: Lime green and white checkered pants with a matching lime green

Memorial Day Weekend 2023 Cultural Highlight: DanceAfrica Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Throughout Brooklyn

In her essay, " African Dance is Medicine for the Mind, Body and Spirit ," dancer, teacher and choreographer Cherie Hill wrote, "The more I perform African dance, the more I discover and enjoy euphoria. When the drums are beating and the body is dancing everything fits in sync and I feel limitless and powerful."   Photo by Nate Palmer                                                                                                                         Hill is honored with a portrait by Cecilia Lamptey-Botchway that's on display   at the  BAM Howard Gilman Opera House  during the annual  DanceAfrica Festival .  The festival celebrates Black joy and resilience and the regal power of African dance.  I mark my calendar each year for the  DanceAfrica Bazaar, where I often run into old friends and see familiar faces. In a Brooklyn that has quickly become gentrified, I love to see us walking tall, beaming with pride and to quote Bey, "shining, shining, shining, y

Does Your Cheap Jewelry Contain Lead?

Scouring street fairs, flea markets and discount shops for cheap, chunky costume jewelry is kinda our thing. As a sometime sidewalk sale seller and Etsy store owner, we’ve even sold thread earrings made in Brazil and Peru.  Street fair jewelry is cheap, but is if safe?/Photo by Tracy E. Hopkins Lately, however, we’ve noticed the label " lead compliant " on some of our fashion jewelry finds. But what does that mean? To get the skinny on lead compliance and what we should look for and avoid when shopping for budget costume jewelry, Everything She Wants asked two jewelry experts/medical doctors – Alexis Gopal and Matilde Parente -- for their tips. Everything She Wants : What does it mean when jewelry says, "lead compliant?"   Alexis Gopal : The term "lead compliant" means that the piece of jewelry conforms to the standards set forth by the Consumer Product Safety Information Act , which was signed into law in 2008. It set limits on the am