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“without diversity, creativity remains stagnant� edward
enninful
the
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is the black model about to become extinct
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t i w a i
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RACE FOR D I V E R S I T Y A
The black model is about to become extinct. Is the lack of ethnic diversity within the fashion industry making people uncomfortable in their own skin?
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t’s ironic. An industry so focused on what is new in terms of colours, cuts and clothing– that it ignores any plans to diversify its own image. Edward Enninful, the style director of W Magazine stated, “Without diversity, creativity remains stagnant”. However, the fashion industry continually pressurises people to fit in with the Eurocentric ideal of beauty. Whether intentional or not, it’s doing it. Considered a worldwide industry, it lacks ethnic acknowledgement. Watch a fashion show or turn through a magazine and you could find yourself playing the game ‘spot the black girl’. Sometimes she’s never found. The fashion industry has an absorbing impact on younger generations. Rewind ten years ago and you see mini me, flicking through magazines, questioning why I had no similarities to that of the girls staring back at me. I remember wanting to be blonde. Then, the ‘good-hair day’ straighteners emerged and any hint of my Afro-Caribbean hair became extinct. So young. Too young, to be transfixed by ‘the perfect look’. Don’t you think the act of only showing one type of beauty denies any other to feel beautiful? Models with mainstream aesthetics dominate runways and the pages of magazines. Every season it’s different outfits, different colours, different fabrics. Boring. Where are the different models? Only 9.75% of models were black on the runways of New York Fashion Week this year. 78.69% were white. Outspoken black supermodel Naomi Campbell has started to challenge the fashion industry on the lack of diversity. Campbell made it clear that something needs to change, expressing “It is a bigger issue at large than just about runway and models”. Campbell decided to create a diversity coalition along with fellow models Bethann Hardison and Iman. Balance Diversity campaigns to encourage the industry to be inclusive of racial diversity. “Diversifying is not difficult. The resistance to do so
is intriguing”
The Clark Doll experiment has been conducted on children since 1939. Dr Kenneth Clark carried out a study on children’s attitude towards race. One black doll and one white doll were presented to a group of black children. When asked which doll was nicer, all black children chose the white doll. This test has been carried out numerous times over the past 75 years. Shockingly, each time collected similar results. You begin to question why so many young black children feel insecure about skin colour. Still to this day. The fashion industry is not to blame. However, it has an excessive effect on today’s youth. Maybe it’s time to change the faces of fashion and remove any form of self-doubt. Is this going to get better or worse? Other industries such as music and sport are racing ahead. They accept diversity. They encourage. So why has the fashion industry chosen to discourage? Ato Alexander, a young music artist and model explained that his modelling career has been at a much slower pace than his music. “I’ve been let down more than I’ve been let up”. Fashion and music practically go hand in hand. But one of them drags behind a little, when it comes to having an open mind. It’s 2014. Perhaps it’s time to get under the skin of the fashion industry. Make it realise. Make it review its level of ethnic representation. So it can outgrow its naïve perceptions of beauty. Because it does have an impact on how we view ourselves, how we view each other.
“The fashion industry needs to wake up and realise that it isn’t connecting with a wide range of people that want to connect with them”
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“Diversifying is not difficult. The resistance to do so is intriguing� bethann
hardison
the the
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diversity
december
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2014