Diversity on the Catwalk

I love Jezebel.

Mostly because they are not afraid to disclose the ugly side of the fashion industry, and to do it with solid numbers. and graphs.

The Impact Of Diversity On The Catwalk

Every season, New York fashion week comes around, giving us all endless opportunities to gawk at front-row celebrities and trends in the making. And every season, this website tracks the racial diversity — or, more bluntly, the lack thereof — on display among the models who are cast for the top shows. This season's numbers are in, and fashion week was slightly more diverse than usual.

This is good news, obviously — but it's especially good news coming on the heels of last season, which was the whitest in years.


If the girls [on the runways] are mostly white, then the faces the rest of us will go on seeing in ads, magazines, and billboards will be white. And then the kind of beauty another generation of girls and boys will grow up being taught to value above all others will be white.

Read the entire breakdown by clicking here.

Jezebel Reports: Fashion Week Diversity By The Numbers

Jezebel Reports:
Fashion Week Diversity By The Numbers
By Jenna Sauers

In September of 2007, it was reported that of all the 101 shows that took place during New York fashion week, one third employed zero models of color. Since then, we've tried to track diversity on the runway every season.

We do this here at Jezebel because what we see on the runway — and who wears it — influences the faces we will go on to see in magazine editorials, advertising campaigns, and all the other images the fashion industry will create over the coming season. The models who walk in the shows are working with the stylists who matter, and being seen by the top editors. Those stylists are thinking of the campaigns, editorials, and other jobs they'll be consulting on over the coming months; the editors are thinking of their feature wells and the garments and stories and faces that might fill them. The industry at large is watching these shows and thinking: Who has buzz? Who's that new face? Who do we have to have? The runway is like a hopper that feeds the fashion industry's image-making machine. And the fact is that those images overwhelmingly feature white faces; this, we believe, perpetuates the cycle of marginalization and racism experienced by people of color.

Even if, come spring, you don't buy any of the overpriced designer clothes fashion week notionally exists to unveil, and even if you are not a habitual reader of the hard-core fashion magazines, chances are you'll still be bombarded with the perfume ads, the Gap campaigns, and the Maybelline billboards — not to mention the garden variety ladymag editorials — that will stem from this season and its casting.


This fashion week, there were 128 New York shows and presentations that were covered by Style.com. (We've always used Style.com as the basis for our data because it publishes look-by-look slideshows, often with models' names included, for a comprehensive swath of New York's shows.) Those 128 shows together presented 4,170 runway looks. That means 4,170 opportunities to choose a woman or girl to model that outfit.


3,410 of those opportunities, or 81.8%, went to white models. That means of course that 760, or 18.2%, went to models who were non-white. Non-white Latina models were used 95 times in all of fashion week, or around 2.3% of the time, and Asian models were used 296 times, or 7.1% of the time. Black models were used 353 times, or 8.4% of the time. Models of other races, like the Moroccan Hind Sahli and the Canadian model Tara Gill, who has Native American heritage, were used 16 times, or 0.4% of the time.

Since Jezebel has been been tracking the relative diversity of New York fashion week for so many seasons, I thought I'd try and chart the last few seasons and their numbers. (We did not generate data for Spring/Summer 2009, or Spring/Summer 2010.) You will notice that this season presents a small improvement on six months ago, in terms of its diversity, but that essentially New York fashion week is right back where it was 18 months ago.


Lots of people within fashion will tell you that casting models is an extraordinarily complex, creative pursuit, one that requires balancing multiple subjective qualities (does this model give me the right feeling?) with more objective ones (does this model fit the clothes, and can she walk?). Some people always say that choosing a cast that suits a designer's creative vision is more important than taking even the most basic steps to insure that cast isn't all-white. (At least, the apologists for the status quo prefer to talk about designers and "creative visions" rather than about casting notices that say "No Ethnic Girls" and black models who say they work less than their white friends.) But why is it considered acceptable for a designer's creative vision to not include people of color? Do those designers not want any black or Latino customers either?

This season, there were six shows and presentations that included no models of color at all. These included Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti — which is cast by the highly influential casting director Russell Marsh, who also casts for Prada and Miu Miu — as well as Mulberry, Reem Acra, and Doo.Ri. Prada, you will recall, is the Italian global luxury brand that went more than a decade without casting even a single black model in any of its shows. (This season, Prada had two black models — Jourdan Dunn and Melodie Monrose — present one look apiece in its 41-look collection.)

There were also plenty of shows that had all-white casts but for one or two models. Anna Sui, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Jeremy Scott, Jill Stuart, Narciso Rodriguez, Rodarte, Diesel Black Gold, and Thakoon are among them. What's worrisome is that that list is thick with some of the most influential and prestigious labels in all of fashion. And they don't seem to see any use for more than a couple token models of color. Mass-market powerhouse Max Azria, via his brands Hervé Leger by Max Azria, Max Azria, and BCBG Max Azria, booked his customary nearly all-white casts, all while telling us he was the "king of diversity in fashion."

Who were the designers who did things better? 3.1 Phillip Lim, who hired nine models of color, and Sophie Théallet, who showed 13 of her 32 looks on models of color, were among the buzzed-about younger designers had very diverse casts. Among the old guard, Carolina Herrera (11/52), Oscar de la Renta (13/60), and Diane von Furstenberg (17/50), had the most diverse casts. Rachel Comey, Betsey Johnson, Costello Tagliapietra, Tara Subkoff's relaunched Imitation line, Jason Wu, Christian Siriano, Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B. line, both Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs, and Richard Chai were also among those labels that valued diversity in their casting.

Melodie Monrose, with 19 shows including Tory Burch and Rag & Bone, was fashion week's top black model. Shena Moulton and Joan Smalls, who booked 13 apiece, were second. Moulton was the only black model at Calvin Klein, and Smalls walked for Alexander Wang, Derek Lam, and Michael Kors, among others. The top Asian model at New York fashion week was again Liu Wen, who walked in 18 shows. Fei Fei Sun and Shu Pei Qin had 16 each. Among non-white Latina models, Simone Carvalho booked nine shows, while Juana Burga had a respectable eight. The only models of other ethnic backgrounds to speak of were Hind Sahli, who worked six shows, and Tara Gill, who booked three.

Why doesn't fashion — especially multi-national brands whose profitability rests on convincing the largest number of consumers possible to purchase their perfumes, underwear, and diffusion lines, like Calvin Klein — have more consideration for the beauty and worth of people who aren't white? Is New York fashion week plateauing at around 82% white, no matter how much advocacy or consciousness-raising gets done, or how many trend pieces get written about this issue? Will it ever become unacceptable to put on a fashion show in a thoroughly multi-racial city like New York and not hire a single model of color? Will it ever become unacceptable to blame that choice on an alleged "creative vision"? As long as these questions remain, we'll continue to ask them, time and time again, and look for answers in seasons to come.

Threads of Color

Threads of Color is a non-profit organization founded in order to raise scholarships for fashion and business students studying at LIM College in New York.

Among the Threads of Color principals is a desire to celebrate “diversity” within the United States fashion industry.

Many of our country’s best and most exciting designers were born outside of the US, or were born here but have strong ties to their cultural heritage. Some of these designers are very well known, while others exist under the mainstream media radar. Often, they must to work twice as hard to glean half as much. Luckily their tenacity and talent usually pays off.

Thanks to high profile supporters such as First Lady Michelle Obama, designers of diversity are at the forefront of the changing face of fashion. She has made a concerted effort to wear and promote the work of Isabelle Toledo (Cuban American), Jason Wu (Chinese American), and Tracy Reese (African American). Individuals in the industry have taken note of this movement towards diversity and inclusion and are keeping an open eye.

Threads of Color plans to raise money for scholarships by holding a fashion shown in September during the United Nations Word Summit. The project is shaping up to be an unprecedented and exciting event.

Designers from over twenty-five countries and four continents have already committed to participating in the event thus far, and they include Native American designer Patricia Michaels of Water Lilly Designs.

To maximize the amount of scholarship funds, everyone connected to the Threads of Color project is donating their time and services.

Read more about Threads of Color at their website: www.threadsofcolor.org. (Click here to read the original article)


(Patricia Michaels' Bark Dress)


(Fashion designs by Patricia Michaels for NY Fashion Week 2010)

Review | Fashion Week Trinidad & Tobago

Wow, ever since I started researching Native American fashion, I have also been interested in Native, tribal, or Indigenous fashion elsewhere - i.e. Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Polynesia, etc - and I've come across some really neat things in my search. One of the latest gems is the Trinidad and Tobago Fashion Week held this time each year. Well, I say each year, but they've only just begun, with this recent showing being their third year.

I’m charting the launching of ‘other’ fashion weeks (by ‘other,’ I mean those that are not the established top 4: New York, London, Milan, Paris) because I am interested in the idea or possibility of a ‘Native American’ fashion week (perhaps years down the road?), or a fashion collective that could show at New York. Seeing the buzz that these organizations draw is exciting because it demonstrates a conversation that is occurring – one in which nations are saying “Hey, check us out, we’ve got some innovative and creative (and sometimes culturally ‘traditional’) ideas for fashion.”


The third annual installment of Fashion Week Trinidad & Tobago (FWTT) was highly anticipated and featured the largest number of designers in its history. With a whopping 50 designers recorded, the event launched in Tobago on May 29-31 before moving to Trinidad from June 2-6. The line-up featured 40 designers from T&T and 10 from other Caribbean nations.

“Forty is the highest number of local designers featured in their own country of any Caribbean fashion event,” Richard Young, Fashion Week Trinidad & Tobago’s artistic director stated.

“We were flooded with requests and interest not only locally but regionally, so we were able to select an eclectic mix to reach a wider cross section of fashion to meet buying tastes.”

Each runway show uniquely displayed designs and creations encompassing five branded categories: Caribbean Cutting Edge, Cosquelle Swimwear, Nouveau Caribbean, New World Style, and Haute Caribbean.

The focus for Fashion Week Trinidad & Tobago is to revitalize and develop the local fashion industry and bring about the awareness of its socio-economic potential. FWTT organizers recognize the tremendous creative and technical fashion talent present in T&T and strive to provide opportunities for the fashion industry’s development – both locally and regionally – with the ultimate goal of becoming a global fashion force. With FWTT's exposure, they undoubtedly also offer a great deal of diversity to the fashion world (especially when it comes to models - check 'em out in the images below).

In its third year, FWTT paid tribute to 2010 as the year of Biodiversity. Honoring proactive initiatives for the preservation of nature and for current and future human wellbeing, FWTT3 designated three major agendas:

1. Staying power
2. Sustainable development
3. Style definition

FWTT3 hopes to provide opportunities for young people to access the ability, authority and agency to influence decisions and implement change within the developing local fashion industry.

They also hope to define a Caribbean aesthetic – an alternative fashion perspective born out of a regional experience, and charting a new-world identity characterized by an inimitable Trinbagonian style.

Fashion Week Trinidad & Tobago 2010 also launched its first every seminar series. The seminars covered topics including intellectual property and copyright, the business of fashion, developing greater Caribbean export, styling and photography, the definition of the Caribbean Aesthetic, and the influence of technology on fashion.

(Information from CaribbeanLifeNews.com and fwtt.org. All images are from the Fashion Week Trinidad & Tobago website, and are from FWTT2. I tried to include an image from each designer - but there were too many fabulous designs! I loved looking through their images - if you're bored or procrastinating, definitely check them out on their website at fwtt.org)

Article | Nude: Is The Hot Fashion Color Racist?

I found this article so interesting - it's about the fashion industry's use of the word 'nude' to describe a specific color, which begs the question - "Nude? For whom?" especially for those of us with darker skin colors. I read the article, then google searched 'nude dress' - and, alas! All were 'light skinned' models wearing this popular 'nude' color.. hmm.. haha, anyways, here's a delightful lil inquiry into the latest fads:

Nude: Is The Hot Fashion Colour Racist?
Nude is the fashion colour du jour. But it's only nude if you're white, not if you're black.
By Paula Cocozza for guardian.co.uk,
Thursday 20 May 2010 20.59 BST


(Michelle Obama, Nicola Roberts, Naomi Watts, Gemma Arterton, Demi Moore and Hermès. Photograph: Composite)

Michelle Obama must be used to causing a stir with her frocks. But she could not have known when she chose a floorlength gown in a lovely shade of – well, let's just pass over that for the moment – to meet the Indian prime minister last November, the furore that would follow. The dress was described by its designer Naeem Khan as a "sterling-silver sequin, abstract floral, nude strapless gown". Associated Press said it was "flesh-coloured", the colour of Obama's own flesh notwithstanding. Now AP appears to have revised that description to "champagne", an act that has triggered debate about fashion's use of the word "nude". "Nude? For whom?" asks Jezebel magazine.

To anyone who reads fashion magazines these terms will be familiar. "Nude" shades are everywhere this season, having dominated the spring/summer 2010 catwalks, from off-white through pale rose to gold ("nude" in fashion terms does not refer to anything more exciting than these rather muted colours, not even with "nude bras"). InStyle magazine goes as far as to say that nude is the new black: just about the surest way to exclude black-skinned women from adopting the trend, since it's apparently not acceptable to wear black as black, nor black as nude.


Over at Elle magazine, where the May issue sees the word "nude" repeated nine times on a single page, "nude is the colour for spring/summer". Editor Lorraine Candy says there is nothing wrong with this. "Nude is a defined colour. It's white nude, not black nude, but it's not the colour of my skin either. I'm see-through white. With someone as powerful and amazing as Michelle Obama, I think it's the wrong thing to get worked up about."

The problem is that the language of fashion has form in this regard. Beading, fringing and animal prints are routinely offered as evidence of a "tribal" trend (though that is a word Candy says she crosses out whenever she sees it). Last October, a month before Obama stepped out in her dress, model Lara Stone appeared blacked up in French Vogue. Black models, meanwhile, are few and far between on catwalks and covers. And even when fashion editors find synonyms for "nude" they are conventionally honey, rose, blush, ivory, words commonly used to make an English rose complexion seem aspirational. There is nothing new in all this, of course: remember American Tan tights, and their promise to bring a healthy glow to all those "American" (read pale) legs?

"For me, nude would be if I wore brown," says Dodai Stewart, deputy editor of Jezebel. "I do think that it really is exclusionary not to realise that this is not nude for everyone."


But it isn't just the description of a colour that is potentially offensive here, it's also the way the look is styled, the conception of the entire trend. On the cover of May's InStyle, actor Gemma Arterton appears in a frock so close to her skin tone that it seems to seep into her chest and shoulders, the two adjacent pallors of flesh and dress somehow bleaching each other out, lightening further the overall look. On the catwalks in Paris, Milan, London and New York, these pale shades were presented almost uniformly on pale skins. It's a look that's all about white skin.

"Obama looks amazing," says Reina Lewis, professor of cultural studies at the London College of Fashion. "It's a fabulous dress. But on her skin 'nude' is revealed as a colour rather than neutral."

Indeed it seems misplaced to think of these shades as neutral, when the debate makes clear that this trend is anything but. Pantone, the world-renowned authority on colour, may have a "nude" shade, thereby conferring a certain official acceptability on all those magazines' usage of the term. But then another N-word was once commonly used in clothes catalogues to describe a chocolatey shade of brown. (Yes, THAT N-word.) Will "nude" one day strike us as equally horrifying?

Marketing Ethnic Chic

I missed this presentation because I was in Arizona for the Heard Market, but last week, Sydney Sullivan presented in Albuquerque on 'Ethnic Chic' - It sounded like an amazing presentation and I wish I could have caught it! Here's a short article about it:

CMC Major Presents at National Conference
March 09, 2010
Critical Media and Cultural Studies major Sydney Sullivan (Class of 2010), presented "Marketing Ethnic Chic: How the Fashion Industry Has 'No Reservations'," at the annual Native American Literature Symposium (NALS) held at the tribal venue at Isleta Pueblo in Albuquerque, NM, on March 4, 2010.

Sullivan’s presentation focused on an examination of what the fashion industry terms "ethnic chic," and on how and in what ways the historical and contemporary fashion industry--from ads in fashion magazines to fashion blogs to runways--co-opted and continue to co-opt Native American designs, textiles and images. Her findings suggest that the fashion industry continues to diminish American Indian identities by “exoticizing” Native American tribes while at the same time promoting hegemonic ideals of American [Western] consumerism.

"Sydney captured the complicity of institutional racism and presented articulately and with compelling image representation," said Jane Hafen, Associate Professor of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Clan Mother of the Native American Literature Symposium.

The Native American Literature Symposium, with its "Many Voices, One Center" maxim, is organized by an independent group of Indigenous scholars committed to making a place where Native voices can be heard. Since 2001, they have brought together some of the most influential voices in Native America to share stories--in art, prose, poetry, film, religion, history, politics, music, philosophy, and science--from their worldview.

Sullivan was encouraged to submit a presentation proposal to NALS by Assistant Professor of Critical Media and Cultural Studies Denise K. Cummings, who also presented at the symposium. Sydney's work on "ethnic chic" was developed in CMC 350: Native American Media and Cultural Studies, with Cummings, and CMC 400: Senior Seminar - Research Practicum in CMCS, with Lisa M. Tillmann. The Office of the Dean of the Faculty and the Department of Critical Media and Cultural Studies supported Sydney's conference experience.

[originial article from Rollins]

Diversity on the NYFW Runway - Jezebel Reports

(Christian Siriano opened and closed his show with a black model, Sessilee Lopez — and was one of only seven designers to choose to give a coveted opening or closing nod to a model of color)

One of the central questions/issues of my dissertation on Native fashion has to do with presenting diverse concepts of beauty. I spend two chapters wading through this complicated topic.

It all began with an article by Rayna Green in 1988.

While the majority of her musings focused on body size rather other phenotypical attributes such as skin color, she made an important point: Many various perceptions pertaining to size and beauty exist but were being ignored by the fashion industry, which sought a culturally hegemonic ‘look.’ Two decades later, this situation, I contend, continues to exist today.

In my dissertation, I proposed that Native designers of high fashion (along with their models), who are armed with a traditional concept of 'beauty' (i.e. one that extends from tribal epistemologies), have the potential to offer other options for displaying 'beauty' and can subvert globalized notions of the fashioned beauty: the thin and pale-skinned young European-looking female. Some Native designers have been more successful than others at getting diversity on the runway, with the biggest 'hurdle' being the need to 'fit in' in order to 'make it.' In other words, some Native models feel pressured to shrink their body size in order to fit into the small sample sizes used on the runways, and sometimes Native designers hire pale-skinned models to relay to potential buyers that their garments are made for everyone (which is very important in sustaining their fashion businesses). This situation isn't an easy one to discuss - but it is incredibly important.

Jezebel just published their fantastic and comprehensive review of diversity on the runways for New York Fashion Week, and they reported that this year was less diverse than last year, with only 18% of spots in show lineups booked by models of color. The overall impression they derived from the shows was that "what's gonna big for fall is being a white person. (Also: fur.)"

They have this to say:

The importance of this issue can hardly be overstated. The United States is only around 75% white, and according to the Census Bureau's most recent figures, New York City is only 44% white. And many of the least-diverse labels, like Calvin Klein, Diesel, and Donna Karan, are international brands. Wouldn't they want their potential customers to recognize their own forms of beauty in their runway shows? The aesthetic standards set by the fashion industry affect all of our lives. Making a sample size that models don't have to die of anorexia to get into seems to be a real head-scratcher for some designers, but validating the beauty of models who meet every one of the industry's other restrictive standards, and also happen to be non-white, should be a no-brainer.

Readers responded, suggesting the following:
1) prejudiced forces, and preexisting paradigms, in the industry are largely responsible for a disparity in total number of models of color and that the model population is a reflection of what designers want,
2) societal factors influence designers to hire an overwhelmingly white cast for their shows,
3) the images presented on the runway appear in popular magazines and infiltrate and affect our everyday lives (and have particular affect on youth).

Did you get all that? Let's recap: a preexisting framework exists which champions the 'thin and pale' for fashion models, and these standards, along with societal forces (i.e. what regular folks like us 'aspire'), influence the designers' visions and executions for their shows. These shows, in turn, affect our daily lives and shape our self-perceptions and definitions of beauty.

Well isn't that food for thought.

Playing Indian: Artistic or Insulting? Blog repost

(Image from America's Next Top Model)

Today I stumbled across this blog by Eli’s Fashion Chronicles – she writes about fashion, and this particular post questions the ethics of dressing models up as a different race, often using stereotypical garb, but also sometimes using ‘black face’ in order to make white models appear black. She asks, is this artistic? Or is it insulting?

Eli writes:
Artistic? or Insulting?

It is happening again and this time just in time for Black History Month. The most current controversial expression of Fashion has now been followed by the question "Offensive or Artistic". The act of changing models nationality with body paint, & make-up for editorials, and ads. This story has been hitting news for over a year now. It begin when French Vogue's editor-in-chief Carine Roitfield styled a shoot in which she decided to paint Dutch model Lara Stone's face, arms and legs in dark make-up to resemble what we can all assume to be a black person. Perhaps even more controversial is the fact that this specific edition was marketed as the "Women of Color Issue" yet no women of color were displayed on any of its pages.

As weeks passed from that event the trend continued to hit mainstream news. As more images emerged of women of different nationalities portraying different ethnicities with the help of body paint and make-up. The question is now being asked "Should we be offended?". Another case was examined when African-American model Tyra Banks, and host of Americas Next Top Model a, show dedicated to giving aspiring models their big break, aired an episode where the finalist contestants were transformed into different nationalities, all in inspiration of "Hapa" (that's Hawaiian for mixed-race). The nationalities varied in this case between "Russian-Moroccan", "Native American-East Indian", "Botswanan-Polynesian". All the models were portrayed in stereo-typical clothes and head dress. As some look at this as a flattering, and beautiful way to embrace different cultures, colors, and ethnicities; some are asking why not just hire a model of that race or culture?

It's back this month and in time for Black History Month. Editors at L'Officel Hommes have placed this spread in their latest issue. In this editorial spread Caucasian male models get painted a darker shade and outfitted with Afro wigs, chains, etc in order to pantomime being African-American. The spread is questionably entitled “Keep It Goin’ Louder Part 1.” As if the pictures weren’t already controversial the titles meaning is even more unclear.

So I close asking: Would you be flattered or would you be offended if your ethnicity or nationality? Are we being to sensitive? Are we looking to far into this? Are we taking a step back by being offended? Should they just hire models of the chosen decent? And, lastly what do you think, Artistic? or Insulting?
xoxo
eli

Video | Is the Fashion Industry Racist?

In 1997, Jean Paul Gaultier created the first fashion show to feature all black models:



A decade later, individuals who impact the fashion industry, such as Bethann Hardison, gathered in 2007 to talk about the issue of black faces being absent from fashion.



Curious how New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows [in February 2009] treated models of color? Check out these links from Jezebel.com and Abagond.com who break it down.