THE DIVERSITY ISSUE
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ERIKA
A RACE FOR DIVERSITY “It was amazing to take part in such a historical show, walking for Zac Posen’s all black model cast in NYFW.” Model Vera Munyangaju had just returned from the Spring 2017 shows when she spoke to me about her views on diversity on the catwalk and experiencing this first hand: “It’s much easier to get casting jobs in New York and London rather than Milan. They are slower to progress concerning diversification because it still follows an extremely strict and traditional path, using mainly white models.” Munyangaju went on to tell me that a lot of times during castings across all major fashion weeks that only one to two black models are chosen for the show even if 24 of the cast are white. “I honestly don’t know why it’s such an issue, I’ve heard the argument that designers want to choose women that reflect the brand/buy the products but I find these reasons false and offensive. It’s well known that in the fashion publication industry, editors in the past have tried to use the excuse that magazines won’t sell as many copies if a black woman is on the cover and this has been proved false when (in the few times) any of the top magazines have used black models they’ve proved a major success” But model diversity, in 2017, should be a dying conversation. Instead it’s a more mind-bogglingly complex one than ever before. The industry seems to wear blinkers in regards to diversity, despite living in an age where individuals have ultimate
freedom of expression. The fashion industry has a phenomenal impact on society, in terms of role models, trends and expression of self. If the industry only represents a refined selection of society then this portrays an imbalance in our community. Yet the ongoing issue of the lack of diversity in fashion has been evident for centuries. First circulating in 1916, it took 50 years for British Vogue to feature a black model, Donyale Luna, on its cover in 1966. However, they strategically placed her hand over her mouth and nose allegedly to avoid intimidating readers at a time when the idea of race in pop culture was still few and far between, particularly in the fashion world. Still, it then took American Vogue eight more years to feature a black model’s entire face - Beverly Johnson - whilst British Vogue didn’t feature another black model at all until 1986 - Gail O’Neill. Iman Abdulmajaid was the first African model to make it into the fashion mainstream back in 1975. Fast forward 40 years she is now fighting for inclusion through an initiative called Balance Diversity. Founded by activist and former model Bethann Hardison, the advocacy group Diversity Coalition features Iman alongside iconic supermodel Naomi Campbell. It’s based upon the fact that the exclusion of racial diversity in the fashion industry is a clear indication of racism, one that has not improved over the years but near enough worsened. As a group they have become a mouthpiece for
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY SOPHIE REUBEN
Diversifying is not difficult. The resistance to do so is intriguing. bethann hardison
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speaking out against disregarding diversity in the industry, using their voices to encourage the industry to be inclusive of racial diversity. Striving towards a place where seeing a black girl on the catwalk results in a much more blasé attitude. Bethann Hardison told Teen Vogue that black models could lose opportunities simply because of untrained stylists: “Often girls haven’t got the job if there was difficulty for the technician to actually do their hair.” But inadequate styling for models of colour is not a new occurrence. At the beginning of Naomi Campbell’s career she recalls dealing with stylists who were unprepared to work with black models. Campbell told Teen Vogue: “I would be backstage at shows and there would be stylists who didn’t have any experience working with black models. It’s disappointing to hear that models of colour are still encountering these same issues all these years later” In the Spring 2017 shows we saw The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) release a set of racial diversity pointers to “encourage the industry to be inclusive of racial diversity when preparing casting of models for their company needs”. There is still a long way to go, but the efforts appear to have paid off, with the past season hesitantly declared the most diverse yet. The diversity report which examined 299 shows and 8,832 model appearances from New York, London, Paris and Milan saw that for the first time
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in recent history, more than 25 percent of the model castings were models of colour. Yet there was still a huge distinction despite the industry-wide call for diversity with only 25.4 percent of models who were models of colour whilst a staggering 74.6 percent of the models cast were white. Yeezy season 4 saw 97% of models being models of colour and Ashish’s continual commitment to diversity on the runway included 75% models of colour. Yet whilst some designers are supporting inclusion of colour, others are reluctant to adapt. Spring 2017 saw The Row and Junya Watanabe have completely all white casts. Gucci’s cast resulted in a minimal 7% for models of colour whilst Jasper Conran and Marques Almedia casts had just two models of colour or fewer, as black models continue to struggle to be accepted by the fashion mainstream. This issue was increasingly present amongst the biggest fashion houses who should be supporting such multicultural traditions in todays contemporary society. We live in such a diverse world so why isn’t it essential that this diversity is represented in the fashion industry? It’s incredibly sad that in 2017 it’s still an ongoing battle for models of colour and that the industry still isn’t representative of diversity as a whole. It’s astonishing that an industry known for pushing boundaries, for transforming art into clothing and presenting some of the most unique talents of the century, is being held back by something as simple as colour.
RON