I am not a 'fashion insider', so to speak: I have never attended a fashion show outside of Canada and can only base my speculations about the fashion world through my many years of reading Vogue, Bazaar, W, Elle and viewing programs such as FashionTV and Fashion File (only when the incomparable Tim Blanks hosted, of course). Despite my absence in the front rows of New York, Paris London and Milan, its pretty clear there is a prevalent lack of models of color represented in fashion.
The issue of racism in the fashion industry has been greatly publicized lately with the whistle blowing interview featuring fashion veterans Iman and Naomi Campbell on September 9 2013:
ABC News video: Naomi Campbell & Iman speak out about fashion racism
For his Spring/Summer Women's collection as part of Milan Fashion Week, Philipp Plein presented a cast of entirely black models. Did he have this idea or cast his models before the September 9 interview that set the fashion world afire? Or is he utilizing this hot issue to gain more media exposure? I personally do not know what his vision or intent was, but I did enjoy the departure of the seemingly all-white runway show typical of the major fashion weeks.
photos: Philipp Plein SS 2014 from style.com:
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| Philipp Plein with Liya Kebede at his Spring 2014 show |
In their recent ABC interview, Naomi Campbell and Iman addressed their concerns publicly and specifically to the CFDA in New York to appeal to designers and the industry at large to represent more women of all colors while singling out specific designers who consistently use 1-2 or no models of color on the runways.
What about fashion shows that ONLY present models of color? There have been occasional runway shows featuring only models of color, but they mostly appear to have taken place by the major designers' shows in Asia.
Alexander McQueen's Sarah Burton showed a cast of all Asian models in a 2011 runway show. Although the show was presented in Beijing (and she had already presented the collection as part of Paris Fashion Week months earlier) just as McQueen opened one of its largest boutiques in the area.
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| Alexander McQueen's all Asian runway show |
Giorgio Armani as well presented an all Asian show in Beijing in 2012.
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| Giorgio Armani poses with his modes in 2012 |
Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci also presented a runway show featuring all Asian models in 2011 for his Spring Couture show, but this time in Paris.
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| Givenchy's all Asian cast, Fall Couture 2012 |
Despite Philipp Plein's intention with his Spring 2014 runway presentation, it will spark an international dialogue in the fashion world and with consumers that is greatly needed. I have heard fashion magazine editors say they hardly hire models of color because they simply do not want to be seen by the magazine readers. I have heard fashion show casters say they use mostly white models because the paleness of the skin was part of the designer's overall vision and that often darker skin is not cohesive to the collection.
But then why hire white models and pass them off in blackface like Numero Magazine's March issue this year. This editorial was called "African Queen":
And what about these blackface photos from Paris Vogue featuring Lara Stone?
Former fashion editor for Paper Magazine, Zandile Blay, who happens to be a black woman, saw the Steven Meisel photos for the October, 2009 Paris Vogue as artistic and did not find them offensive, but asked the readers of Huffington Post if the images were 'racy or racist'. She believes the editor of this shoot, Carinne Roitfeld, is not racist but probably doesn't know any black people and didn't comprehend the racist implications this editorial had. You can see Blay's post on this issue
here.
Just go and google the term "blackface in fashion" and you might be astounded at how many examples you can find. There are some terrifying images in a post by Emerald Pellot here at
College Candy.
I wonder if Plein's collection was a celebration of black women, a publicity stunt or just the desire to shake the fashion world up a bit? In a society where a woman from New York who happened to be of Indian descent is crowned Miss America and the world erupts with racist tirades, even calling her a terrorist because of her skin color, I wonder if those editors and runway casting directors were being honest; perhaps the global consumer does not want to see more people of color presented in the media?
