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| photo from an old fashion show, not the one I reference in this article. pic courtesy of foodfashion.com |
Out of 40 girls, two were non-white. One Asian girl and
one black girl.
And the thing is, this is an
American designer, behind a contemporary American brand. This is Americana. So how does that runway show
even define America? And I’m not trying to pick on this one design house, it
happens at so many different places. (Somehow, it doesn’t bother me as much with
European designers, A., because I’m not European, and B., because Europe
doesn’t have our history, nor is it particularly known for being an
all-embracing melting-pot.)
We have so many ethnically-diverse
models these days, and thousands of other tall, thin girls pining to join the
industry that it seems ridiculous to feature only the Eastern European types. And I
know it’s not because we’ve reverted to the 70s ideal of blonde, blue-eyed
beauty. Beauty and advertising campaigns regularly feature a diverse array of
women—models like Chanel Iman and Jourdan Dunn, Hollywood stars like Beyonce
and Eva Longoria.
 |
| Jourdan Dunn in Teen Vogue |
I just wish fashion designers would
get up to speed and start featuring beautiful women of all colors in their
shows. I won’t say all sizes (though
that would be cool too!), because I understand that clothing hangs “best” on a
certain frame; but to assert, even passively, that it looks best on white women (but should be bought by all Americans and foreigners), well, frankly that’s a problem.
 |
| Eva Mendes for a Calvin Klein campaign |
What do you think? Am I
overreacting here? Am I also being size-ist while criticizing designers for not
being race-sensitive? Would love to hear your thoughts, even if you don’t agree
with me. xo
4 comments:
Great post! :) No, you are not overreacting at all. the sad thing is this is what we've come to expect from the fashion industry (white, ultra-thin) and what we've grown up with seeing in magazines. one would think by 2011 things may be changing but apparently not. i wonder if fashion blogging "democratizes" this a bit and allows other women (women of color, of different sizes, etc) to flourish and get their foot in the fashion industry but a recent post by Grit and Glamour also highlights that the bloggers who rise to the top are also > 85% white, blonde, thin...
thanks for writing this post and highlighting this issue!
- DL
Loved this post. I remember taking a Women of Color class at De Anza and we were asked to name 10 famous supermodels who were women of color. After naming the usual likes Tyra, Adriana etc. I honestly couldn't think of any past five. Then we were asked to name all the white supermodels... the list was endless. This disparity is so bothersome and makes me wonder where all this so called progress we have made really is? I agree with you guys, I wish this industry was more representative of the world we live in.
I think you should send this post to some fashion magazines - i know they'll take it! I don't follow fashion, but from what you said, that's quite embarassing for America, as a nation
-Zeenat Umar
I think your points are very valid...I do see more diversity in fashion than when I was a girl, however, so that is good. This is what I love about Tom Ford's approach since he launched his own womenswear line. He features real women in his private shows, women who may be celebrities, but vary greatly in age, body type, and height. I love that. I love that he also refuses to release images of new collections until the clothing can be purchased. Makes sense.
Anyway, I digress...just wanted to read your point of view since you left a comment for me about this over on G&G. Thanks for that!
~V
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