Is the Fashion industry racist? Oh Yeh - and it goes right to its elitist nucleus!
FASHION FIRST - Demand for Vogue rocketed by 654% when its ‘black model issue’ hit newsagents in 2008
By Tatenda Chimene -
While some denialists insist that the world of Fashion is shallow and not racist; I and most fair-minded other fashionistas know that racism is a completely separate and equally large Elephant on the Catwalk.
As a black male model, I got to admit
that I do feel tired of living in a world that makes it clear in so many
ways that my skin colour is not good enough and worse still - that I rank
below men and women with paler coloured skin. My friends, colleagues, family and I have
encountered a lot of negative and ignorant comments from people who don't even
realise that they are doing it half the time. It's a shame. I am very
comfortable with my own appearance and I try not to upset me or let it get to me - I
can't live my life worrying about these things... but I'm human and
it's not always easy to ignore, try as I might. I think all people are
beautiful, irrespective of skin colour/tone. It would be a very boring
world if we all looked the same. Just wish that everyone felt the same
way that's all.
Others of-course, attempt to divert the topic by pointing out that Indian/Chinese models are also a rarity in this tough industry, hence black should zip-it! However I know for certain that more aspiring black models are knocking on the Agency door than are Indian/Chinese models in the western world. In all likelihood we see less of Indian/Chinese women because they're
miles and eons ahead of this shallow and superficial life that westerners live. Let's face it - they mostly have higher aspirations in life (Inventors, doctors,
engineers, researchers e.t.c.). Wearing bikinis and posing on a beach is not
something they'd be proud of.
Model behaviour: Jourdan Dunn on the catwalk, she is one of the few black women currently doing well in the fashion industry
I’ve not long returned from the resort collections for 2012. At Chanel, not a single black model walked among nearly 60 girls.
At
Yves Saint Laurent, only one black model was on the catwalk: Marihenny
Passible, an incredibly beautiful Dominican woman. And if you look at
the covers of fashion magazines, you’d think Britain was still as
ethnically undiverse as it was in the Fifties.
Yes,
of course, we see Beyoncé on many magazine covers and actress Thandie
Newton has graced the cover of InStyle. Both women have landed lucrative
ad campaigns: Beyoncé at L’Oréal, Thandie at Olay.
But these women are always so airbrushed, their hair ironed within an inch of its life, that they look almost white.
The problem is, as one black
model puts it: ‘Fashion is still ghettoising those of us with very dark
skin. Beyoncé is always made to look so much paler than she really is
that I don’t really relate to her.’
So
far in 2011, not one black face has appeared on the cover of British
Vogue. In fact, the last time British Vogue had a black woman on the
cover was in November 2008.
While
in its June 2001 issue, Vogue published a feature entitled The Arrival
Of The Asian Supermodels, in that issue there was not one black or Asian
model in an editorial fashion or beauty photograph. (A
Japanese-inspired shoot entitled Neo Geisha uses a white model,
Guinevere Van Seenus.)
Alex
Shulman, the editor of British Vogue, denies that there is any
discrimination going on. ‘I don’t think that fashion is institutionally
racist in the slightest.
‘There
have always been black players on the scene — at the moment look at the
stylist Edward Enninful, make-up artist Pat McGrath and [models]
Jourdan Dunn, Liya Kebede and Joan Smalls, who are at the top of the
tree.
Cover girls: Thandie Newton, left, and
Beyonce have secured lucrative advertising deals but can often be
airbrushed to look paler
‘In a society where the mass of the
consumers are white and where, on the whole, mainstream ideas sell, it’s
unlikely there will be a huge rise in the number of leading black
models. If you look at the characters that sell magazines such as Grazia
and Heat, it is Jennifer Aniston, Cheryl Cole and Catherine Middleton.’
Should we be concerned that Vogue is so selective?
Well,
it remains true that where it leads, others follow. If a model lands
British Vogue, her career is made in terms of more lucrative advertising
campaigns.
For a black
model to succeed, she needs a powerful protector. Naomi Campbell was
championed by the late designer, Gianni Versace.
Unfortunately,
the number of designers who think as he did are thin on the ground.
Stella McCartney is a rarity in that she always casts diverse models.
I talked to Carole White, who founded Premier Model Management in 1981.
Her
London-based agency is one of the most ethnically diverse, with 15 per
cent of the models on her books coming from non-white backgrounds.
‘At
the high end, it is slightly better now. But in the mid-range — the
catalogues, the e-commerce websites — it is difficult. They want girls
who are ethnic, but light-skinned girls. If a girl is very dark, they
say no.’
Carole says the problem stems from the influential fashion capitals of Milan and Paris.
‘There, they absolutely don’t want
black girls. A black model has to be a real star before you can take her
there. They only take a black girl when the biz is buzzing about her.’
Carole believes the lack of ethnic diversity is the fault of the photographers as well as those at the top of the big brands.
The
famous photographers are powerful and can make or break a model, often
choosing who they want in an advertising campaign. ‘A lot of
photographers don’t know how to light a black girl,’ she tells me.
Although
Carole agrees there are more Chinese and Japanese models now, the
number of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi models is still tiny.
‘We never get Asian girls, it is really rare to get an Indian girl.’
Carole most famously represented Naomi Campbell for most of her career.She says: ‘Clients never wanted to pay Naomi as much as the white girls. It was always a battle.’
Why? ‘She was just as famous as the other supers, so who knows why.’
Alex
Shulman says she will soon be featuring two black women on the cover of
British Vogue. ‘I don’t want to discuss who I wish to have on the
cover, but there are at least two black figures in the pipeline,’ she
says.
But why does it matter who graces the cover of Vogue or Elle or that ad campaign?
Well,
we need to see ourselves reflected: our skin, our shape, our age. Young
women need to know they are beautiful, no matter what colour their
skin, how kinky their hair.
The
black model I quoted at the start of this piece sums it up: ‘I was
being made up and I heard the make-up artist say that my skin was “so
chalky”.
‘It’s not chalky,
you just need to know what to put on it. We need more of us, so the
industry changes, and stops making us feel like we stick out.’
To sum up - the fashion industry is messed up and rotten at the top: real, curvy women are not represented and minorities are not represented. Most of what you have is a bunch of pale skeletons with eating disorders none of who look attractive.
Time for a revolution and the presenting of this ruthless racism monster to the main political arena - where meaningful, progressive change can be secured!
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