Santa, it's kind of cool to send models to Chile's Andes Mountains and all, but really, even though the girl in the coat looks adorbs as she "poses" or drunkenly weaves through the snow, the dude in the poncho and hat in the back looks more interesting. Bad-ass, even. Even the horse is like, "Bish plz. Nay."

Santa, don't you love this shot? The textures and colors! And if you, Mr. Claus, feel bringing this girl a pearl twisted hammock necklace ($98) and a pearl-and-crystal avalanche necklace (135), that would be awesome, because I'm loath to pay those prices for them. And I've been good.

Have you ever tried this, St. Nick? Going out it lots of cute layers instead of a coat? Does it work for you? Really? Are you warm enough? Can you still move your arms? Huh.

Aw, Santa, as a girl who dresses up for Dorothy almost every Halloween, my heart skips a beat when I see glitter heels. Then again, I dig pretty much everything glittery here — the tank, the cardigan, the necklace.

Yum! Ladylike coats in sugary-sweet colors!

Ooh, this hearkens back to boat on dry land trend of 2008! Unless that's a frozen lake.

(Click "full size" to enlarge)

Dear Santa, don't you think it would be nice to entertain at home in a velvet jacket and silk pajama pants? And, more importantly: Sneakers? Oh, it's all very well to squeeze into something short and/or tight, and strap on heels and teeter around at holiday parties. But imagine being able to eat! And walk!

Dear Kris Kringle: The "Ellington" skirt is named after Duke, right? It's all jazzy and whatnot, designed for dancing on top of a piano or for pretending you're in a repertory theater production of Chicago. Too bad it's styled with those hideous socks and shoes.

Riddle me this, KK: Is "bling" ever going away? Not sparkles — sparkly stuff we love. But the word. Bling. Just a question. While you're thinking about it, bring me this cardigan in light berry, fresh guava, soft violet and heather fossil.

Yo. Sinterklaas. File this under "good in theory but less elegant in practice."

Dear Santa: Bet you can't guess who the most awesome person in this picture is. Go ahead, click "full size" to enlarge. Nah, it's not the gray lady on the left in the Ellington skirt. Try again.

Ding ding ding!

Hey, Santa, did you know J. Crew hired Chanel Iman? Exciting, right? She looks super pretty! Young! Fresh! Bright-eyed and bushy pony-tailed! And, you know: Yay for black models.

Another yay! Is this Arlenis? Her skin is to die for, as are these soft, candy colors.

Oh, Santa. If only I looked like this right now. Put-together! Joyous! Like a flattering light and some peachy blush are emanating from within me! Instead I'm wearing pajamas with cupcakes and ice cream on 'em and my hair looks like a Brillo pad that needs to be thrown away and my face is like :-/

Dear Santa: Everything but the boots. And maybe you could throw in a little somethin' extry?

Thanks!

J. Crew [Official Site]

Earlier: October At J. Crew: Pretty, Preppy, Preposterous
J.Crew's Ovary-Busting Child Models Should Come With A Warning
Fall At J. Crew: Romantic Ruffles, Destroyed Jeans, Hideous Shoes

J. Jill Vs. J. Crew: It's A Fashion Showcase Showdown

Related: Barneys: Wooing With Witticisms & Wallet-Emptying Wares
Ashro: Stop Being Such A Slob And Get Yourself A Suit, Hat & Wig
19 Crappy & Crazy Christmas Gifts From Sky Mall
Dean & Deluca Thanksgiving: Mouth-Watering, Wallet-Emptying
All previous catalog posts

She continues:

"Until recently, we barely even spoke. We went from being superclose in the beginning," she says, "to dead silence if we saw each other backstage at a show." Not even a hello? "If we did say hi, it was hi, and that's it."

Why was there tension between the two ladies?

"It's competition," Jourdan says. "There aren't a lot of us, but instead of sticking together, we're pitted against each other. People will say things in Chanel's ear like, 'Jourdan is taking your spot,' and then they'll say to me, 'Don't trust Chanel.'"

Though Vogue's recent history with models of color has been to (mostly) ignore them, little sister Teen Vogue has been more inclusive: An Asian model appeared in the January 2009 issue; in November 2008, two brown-skinned models had a multi-page fashion spread. (At the time, we called them "black models," but Selina Khan is from the French-speaking Caribbean island Martinique and swears she's not black, but "Indian, mixed with Arabic and Creole, and Vietnamese." As for Austria Alcantara, she's Dominican. The point is: They're models of color and a change from the blonde women who are staples in Vogue publications.)

Even though the ladies on this cover are incredibly successful, they're quick to point out how hard it is to be a black model in the fashion industry. Jourdan says:

"I remember last season I was about to go into a casting, and my agent phoned and said, 'Turn back. They decided they don't want any black models.' I was like, 'They're actually telling you that's the reason? Are you serious?!'"

Part of me wishes she would name the designer, so we'd know who ought to be ashamed of themselves. Since we counted models of color at New York Fashion Week in February, we know it could be any one of several designers: The shows for Alexandre Herchcovitz, Behnaz Sarafpour, Costello Tagliapietra, Erin Fetherston, Halston, Marchesa, Max Azria, Milly, Miss Sixty, Monique Lhuillier, Nicole Miller, Philosophy, Reem Acra, Tibi, TSE, United Bamboo, Vena Cava, VPL and Vivienne Tam had zero black models. Then again, maybe Jourdan was talking about London Fashion Week. Or Paris.

Hopefully, the fact that Teen Vogue has black models on the cover means that diversity is finally becoming a priority for the Vogue brand. After months and months without any black models, Chanel Iman was on the cover of Vogue in May 2007 (under the fold); Liya Kedebe was on the May 2009 cover (but not alone). And Jennifer Hudson, Michelle Obama and LeBron James have landed Vogue covers recently, even if black models have not been so lucky.

Since Jourdan Dunn is pregnant (yes, Teen Vogue put a pregnant teenager on the cover) we can't be sure what kind of magazine spreads she'll book right now (although a maternity-wear shoot would be a great idea!) But Chanel Iman seems optimistic about the future:

"I don't want to be known as the black model. I want to be recognized as Chanel Iman, a personality. Five years from now I see myself still working hard to get where I want to be, because I think big. I think the best. Maybe I think too large."

Double Whammy [Teen Vogue]
Chanel Iman And Jourdan Dunn Teen Vogue Cover Shoot Photos [Teen Vogue]

Related: Chanel Iman And Jourdan Dunn's Greatest Runway Hits [Teen Vogue]
Orange You Glad I Met Selina? [Tia Williams]

Earlier:
Vogue's Not Racist; Three Black Models Prove It!
Is Vogue's "LeBron Kong" Cover Offensive?
Analyzing The Absurdist Art In The New Teen Vogue
13 Horrifying Images From The New Teen Vogue
Black Models: Teen Vogue Goes Where Vogue Will Not
How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?

The story, shot by Dusan Reljin, opens — ahem — with a crotch shot. Now, a crotch shoot in and of itself is not necessarily low brow, but those jean shorts? In a hotel room? With the words "naughty by nature"? It just doesn't look very high end.

The very next image is not much better; Amber's famous asset is the focal point, instead of her absolutely glorious face. She's been signed by Ford, and she is capable of having a fresh, clean look. this ain't it.

While there's nothing wrong with Amber Rose showing off her famous derriere, there is a problem with it being in Elle. Because, in the context of a fashion magazine, it doesn't seem right, it doesn't seem "fashion." All we ever see of Amber Rose is her posterior. We've seen Kanye grab it, Madonna touch it, and Complex put it in a cage. As LaToya wrote about black models pictured nude while white models are photographed clothed, "It's about the roles of black women in fashion being limited to animals, sex objects, and advertising, but banned from higher fashion and catwalks." Elle had the chance to photograph Amber Rose like we've never seen her before — in couture, maybe, or just a head-and-shoulders beauty shoot. Instead, they chose to sexualize an already sexualized model. What's new, fresh, inventive, interesting about that?

This shot of Amber lying submissive on a bed — with the camera looming over her from the position of power — is almost as disheartening as the ass shot. What's additionally upsetting is that there are other celebrity models inside, and they are not photographed this way.

Posh, of course, gets the Posh treatment. Amber Rose would probably look amazing in a $3,000 cashmere dress, but they just didn't give her the chance.

Or, if they wanted to go sexy with Amber, why not sensual and cinematic, like (former model) Diane Kruger's shoot?

Better yet, they could have turned Amber's overtly feminine physique on its head and put her in menswear, as they did for (former model) Jamie King.

It's not that they didn't pull some good stuff for Amber's shoot: Her sunglasses are Fendi; the butt-baring bodysuit is $3,775 from Giorgio Armani; the dress on the bed is Blumarine, ringing up at $4,255. But the concept, vision and execution of the shoot is a shame, and a waste. But maybe you saw on the first page: It was styled by Kanye West.

The image above is by Greg Kadel featuring models R'el Dade and Mélodie Dagault. Featured along with three other provocative photos on Models.com, the image instantly sparked an online reaction - and not just because Dade was initially misidentified as Jourdan Dunn.

Much of the debate focused around two assertions that are assumed to be mutually exclusive: (1) that the images were gorgeous and (2) that the posing and framing of the black model (with bare breasts in all shots), with the slave like position was racist.

Contrary to popular belief, these two ideas can exist at the same time.

For the purposes of this discussion, let's add a bit more context, both in terms of race and gender.

Approaching the image uninformed, one may simply see a striking image involving two beautiful women. And this is true, that is the image.

However, if one looks at some more of Kadel's work, we start to realize that this image, which on its own appears innovating, is actually a the next in a long line of work that focuses on two or more semi-nude girls. This shoot, called "Come As You Are," was done by Kadel last month, for Vogue Australia.

Jenna, our own formerly anonymous model, pointed me toward more of Kadel's work, explaining:

I personally find Kadel to be particularly derivative. His work is often extremely sexual, and full of nudity - which isn't in itself a problem, in fact it's common in fashion spreads - but Kadel always has his models get nude so he can depict them in a male-gaze kind of way. His work lacks that element of subversion, that subtext. And he often does girl-on-girl themed shoots. Not like Steven Klein or some other photographers, who return again and again to shooting several models at once because they're investigating themes of twinning or repetition - Kadel's schtick is much simpler. He'll just shoot two or three models together, under the pretense that they're hanging out, and getting naked. Which is such a cliché of women's sexuality in general.

Just last month he had a long story in Vogue Australia with Catherine McNeil and Abbey Lee, embodying that particular male fantasy. And it was such a rote Kadel editorial that the only reason it even caught my eye was because Vogue Australia Photoshopped out Abbey Lee's nipple piercings.

Other editorials by Kadel seem to follow the same lines of nudity, near nudity, and sexyface. So, adding a little additional context can change how we feel about what we see, and what an editorial represents.

Let's head back into why the images were perceived as racist.

First, it is important to understand that discussions of art are not immune from conversations about racial bias. Art is not created in a vacuum, and as artists are often inspired and motivated by current events and popular societal perceptions (even if they are playing a part in breaking with convention) it is an area ripe for discussion. As Mimi wrote, in response to a commenter who assumed she was ignorant of art history because she brought up the racist and classist implications in a Nylon photo shoot:

[T]he author of the comment called us stupid, too preoccupied with Gucci (as if) to know anything about art (which fashion, the author asserted firmly, was not). Furthermore, she scolded, we should "educate" ourselves so we might better recognize the "brilliance" of the NYLON editorial as an art historical reference to such canonical images like Edouard Manet's Olympia (1863) (Fig. 1) and not a comment on racial thinking or class inequities at all. [...]

[Y]es, the editorial certainly does reference a canonical theme in European art history, and no, this hardly excuses the editorial. If anything, it makes the editorial that much more a poignant example of the long duration of racisms and their entanglements with other vectors of power, including gender, sexuality, empire and labor. That is, what this comparison makes too obvious is that colonial and imperial histories of conquest and aesthetics continue to exert themselves in the present.

Precisely. Art can exert its influence on society, but society also exerts its influence on the artist. Thus, when we are discussing perceptions of fashion photographs, it is important to understand that an artist brings their viewpoint into their work. So if the artist is a misogynist, we receive rehash after rehash of dead or disembodied women. If the artist likes to objectify the female form, that enters into the work as well. And if the artist is influenced by racism - which includes everything from fetishization to omission - that is also reflected in the work.

As Jenna wrote last week, in her post about Caged Black Women, artist Jean-Paul Goude saw black women through a very specific lens, and that is how they manifested in his pictures:

The French artist Jean-Paul Goude shot that last image of Jones; the two were involved in a tempestuous and sometimes violent relationship. The objectification and exoticization of black women isn't incidental to Goude's art: it's the whole point. "Blacks are the premise of my work," the artist told People in 1979, "I have jungle fever."

In case anyone thought that was a joke, Jungle Fever was also the title of Goude's 1982 book. The shot of a caged Jones made the cover.

So it's no surprise that Goude shot Jones surrounded by raw meat, under a sign that reads "DO NOT FEED THE ANIMAL."

Over at Racialicious, I received a submission from a young Asian American model. (This is unpublished, as we are still working on the edits.) This model submitted a rant about trying to work when every other comment from photographers had something to do with the word geisha. She noted there was nothing in the shoot that would even indicate such a look, but her Asian face led people to automatically place her in a racialized context.

In addition the artist's own sensibilities and ideas, societies perception of minorities also strongly figures into how our images are presented. Since black women are often stereotyped as hard, ferocious, ghetto, or primitive, it is rare to see black women being shown in a way that highlights a soft beauty. Instead, we are often presented as color contrast, or other, more animalistic manner. After all, how many variations on this type of photo shoot have we seen black models participate in? Here's a shoot from the new Bazaar:

The blogger at Le Chic Batik shares in the boredom, saying:

I am so bored with the image of black models running free in Africa with animals, or even, black models as animals themselves. I am also bored with this picture of Africa as a densely unpopulous, primitive place with animals as its one valuable offering. I was surprised that this was shot by Jean-Paul Goude because I'm familiar with his super-modern and edgy photographs of Grace Jones, there is certainly no modernity here.

But it's about more than just boredom.

It's about the roles of black women in fashion being limited to animals, sex objects, and advertising, but banned from higher fashion and catwalks. It's about how we understand racism. There is both the blatant...

Bethann Hardison was so angered by the situation that she emailed Iman writing "Did you realize that over the last decade black models have been reduced to a category?" The two called a series of town-hall style meeting titled "Out of Fashion: The Absence of Color" held at the New York Public Library. Countless models told stories about being rejected for jobs, not because their particular "look" or walk was a problem, but solely based on the fact that they were black. Liya Kebede shared that she has had "experience with people who did not want to work with me because I was black..really, truly." In any other industry, that would be a racist remark, and you would be taken to court for it!" After those meetings the wheels started to turn and the issue garnered more attention.

...and the(ahem) subtle.

In the U.S., Cory Bautista, the director of the racially diverse New York Model Management, and judge alongside Tyson Beckford on the Bravo series 'Make Me a Supermodel', is reluctant to attribute the problem to racism.

'In an industry where homophobia is near nonexistent, I can't think there would be any bigotry towards African Americans,' he said. 'I think it has to be designers in their artistic vision seeing clothes on a certain skin type.'

We, as consumers, have a responsibility to looking at these images critically. Yes, to some, it will always be just fashion.

But in a context where we can easily pick out patterns that fashion editorials will fall into when featuring a model of color, and the relative lack of opportunities for nonwhite models to be seen in a variety of contexts and to challenge what contexts they are seen in makes finding lasting work and a varied portfolio difficult, we cannot pretend that these images are not contributing to the larger problem.

(Cover Image pulled from the Make Fetch Happen blog)

Numero's Sizzling September [Models.com]
Come As You Are | Abbey Lee Kershaw & Catherine McNeil For Vogue Australia's 50th Anniversary Issue [Fashion Gone Rouge]
Photography By Greg Kadel [Ben Trovato]
The Thin Line Between Art And Exploitation [Racialicious]
Background Color, Redux II [Threadbared]
Another Photo Shoot Places a Black Woman Among Animals [Sociological Images]
Model/Animal [Le Chic Batik]
Vogue Asks Is Fashion Racist? [Make Fetch Happen]
High Fashion Still a 'White Affair' [IPS]

Earlier:
Why Photograph a Black Woman in a Cage?

"You could kind of feel it in the air during the shoot. I knew it was going to be a good picture."

What's interesting, notes Ryder, is that Vogue was actually a little behind the times; Johnson had already made a name for herself at Glamour, which had been featuring black cover models since 1968.

Still, Vogue, as it does now, had a reputation, a cachet: "When the magazine came out I had no idea at all that I was the first black woman to be on the cover of Vogue," Johnson says. "I was just overjoyed to be on the cover because that's what you strive for as a model. That's when you know you have arrived."

But Johnson's career was not without its rough patches:

On shoots Johnson often felt like "the token black," she says. Hairstylists often "didn't have a clue about black hair — I was always teaching the white hairdressers and makeup artists how to do me. There were no black hairdressers and makeup artists." On catalog shoots, her white counterparts would earn more, even though Johnson's photos often would be the ones that sold the most product.

Still, Johnson is a pioneer. After her, many black models had the chance to appear on the cover of Vogue (some examples here). And despite recent cover appearances by Jennifer Hudson and Michelle Obama, considering that in 2007, the October, November and December issues of Vogue had zero black models; it's clear that there is still work to be done.

Beverly Johnson Recalls Her Vogue Cover [LA Times]
Black on Vogue [Clay Cane]

Earlier: Vogue's Not Racist; Three Black Models Prove It!
Related: Naomi Sims, 1948-2009: From Foster Care To Fashion Mags

Most of Amber Rose's Complex shoot, which was photographed by Matt Doyle, refers to iconic shots of Grace Jones. The image of Amber with jewelry in her mouth, for example, is a recreation of this picture of Grace eating diamonds, as photographed by Gordon Munro for Interview in the '80s:

There's Amber smoking in a tux…

And Grace smoking in a tux, on the cover of her 1981 album, Nightclubbing.

There's Amber in a cropped grey tee, with boxing hand wraps…

And Grace, on the cover of her '82 single "Pull Up To The Bumper," wearing a cropped grey tee and boxing tape.

There's Amber, her naked body covered in oil, posing with a whip…

And Grace, her naked body covered in oil, with a whip.

Perhaps most offensively, there's Amber in a cage.

And Grace in a cage.

The French artist Jean-Paul Goude shot that last image of Jones; the two were involved in a tempestuous and sometimes violent relationship. The objectification and exoticization of black women isn't incidental to Goude's art: it's the whole point. "Blacks are the premise of my work," the artist told People in 1979, "I have jungle fever."

In case anyone thought that was a joke, Jungle Fever was also the title of Goude's 1982 book. The shot of a caged Jones made the cover.

So it's no surprise that Goude shot Jones surrounded by raw meat, under a sign that reads "DO NOT FEED THE ANIMAL." But why would Complex choose to emulate images, some of which come across as not just dated, but riven with deep and troubling statements about black women as animalistic, primitive, and uncivilized creatures? Latoya Peterson has noted of such pictures that the women are always "looking like they are ready to fly off the page and attack." Claire Sulmers of The Fashion Bomb says of the Complex photos the message is that "these women are so wild they must be caged–they're sultry, snarling sex beasts."

Modeling opportunities for women of color in general are slim; as we know, far too many designers consider diversity on the runway and in their advertising to be entirely optional. The industry's slowness in even inviting black models to the metaphorical table is probably why, thirty years on, Grace Jones remains the most easily identifiable short-haired black model, and therefore a ready subject with which for Complex to associate the close-cropped, bi-racial Amber Rose. (Imagine if Jerry Hall were still considered the only and ultimate blonde model, or Paulina Porizkova were still the touchstone brunette, and white models starting their careers were constantly booked on jobs that recreated exclusively those women's old spreads.)

The industry's general unwillingness to embrace models of color as anything besides the exoticized "other" is thwarting the development and popularization of other kinds of black beauty. Even Alek Wek, the Sudanese supermodel, noted that she was often asked to pose in spreads that she felt fitted into a wider and more troubling tradition of black people's representation in the mainstream media, particularly with regard to a Lavazza calendar where she posed inside a coffee cup, her skin intended to represent the espresso. As Wek wrote in her memoir, "I can't help but compare them to all the images of black people that have been used in marketing over the decades. There was the big-lipped jungle-dweller on the blackamoor ceramic mugs sold in the '40s; the golliwog badges given away with jam; Little Black Sambo, who decorated the walls of an American restaurant chain in the 1960s; and Uncle Ben, whose apparently benign image still sells rice."

It's worth noting that in re-creating these pictures, Complex did tone them down; gone are the chains from the whip photo, and so too is the raw meat and the sign explicitly referring to the model as an animal in the cage photo. The choices the Complex art director made are almost certainly intended to mitigate the offense of the original images; we've come at least some way as a society since Jean-Paul Goude's day. But how long will it be before we automatically recognize any picture of a black woman caged up like an animal as offensive?

Amber Rose [Complex]
Caged Black Women: Amber Rose & Grace Jones [The Fashion Bomb]
When Disco Queen Grace Jones Lamented 'I Need a Man,' Artist Jean-Paul Goude Prowled Too Near Her Cage [People]
Darker Skinned Glamour Girls [Racialicious]
Bitter Coffee [NY Post]

Earlier:
How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?

According to The New York Times, Sims was born in 1948 in Oxford, Mississippi. She was the third of three daughters, and her parents divorced shortly after she was born. All she knew of her father, she told Ladies' Home Journal, was "that my mother told me he was an absolute bum." Her family moved to Pittsburgh, but when her mother became sick, Sims was placed in foster care. In 1966, she came to New York with a scholarship to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology. Since she "towered" over her classmates, some encouraged her to try modeling — but, writes Eric Wilson, "every agency she approached turned her down, some telling her that her skin was too dark."

Sims decided to go directly to photographers instead, and landed the cover of the 1967 Fashions of The Times supplement. From there, her career took off, with the LHJ cover, the cover of a 1969 issue of Life and ad campaigns. The country was going through a "Black Is Beautiful" movement, and, according to former fashion model and model agency owner Bethann Hardison, who spoke with WWD: "She was that elegant, beautiful, classic, dark-skinned beauty that we really needed at that time. She came off of the civil rights movement and the theme of ‘Black is beautiful.' She really was the epitome of that and made it so true."

In the mid-1970s, Sims slowed down on modeling and started her own business. She developed wigs, fragrances and cosmetics targeted at African-American women. She wrote several books about modeling, health and beauty. But Naomi Sims will be remembered as a gorgeous and stylish woman who made a big difference in the world of modeling. As we search for diversity on today's magazine covers, we have to remember those who had the courage and persistence to be pioneers. As designer Halston told The New York Times in 1974:

"Naomi was the first… She was the great ambassador for all black people. She broke down all the social barriers."

Naomi Sims, 61, Pioneering Cover Girl, Is Dead [NY Times]
Naomi Sims, Model, Dies [WWD]

As previously mentioned, for the first time, Elle has overtaken Vogue in ad pages. Today, the NY Post reports that Vogue, "the perennial category leader" may have a hard time producing a 500-page edition this September.

Considered the jewel in Condé Nast's crown, Vogue's September issue is usually the thickest. And heaviest! (Gawker used to weigh it.) According to the Post, "Vogue's biggest September issue ever was in 2007, when it ran an 840-page total issue with 727 ad pages. Last year, it slipped to 607 ad pages in September." This year? All publisher Tom Florio will say is, "We'll have over 400 pages of advertising." Quite a drop.

So why is Vogue having problems? Some speculation:

1. The recession? Though Elle is in the lead — and In Style is doing well — ad pages at those publications are likewise down. Companies aren't spending money like they used to.

2. The zeitgeist? While people are still interested in fashion, it's no longer cool to be all bling-bling and logo-covered. Perhaps attitudes have changed? Accessible clothes — Project Runway, guest designers at H&M — still pique people's interests, but what Vogue calls "aspirational" can often feel like a cruel fantasy.

3. It's stale? Vogue will never die. But maybe it needs resuscitating? A fresh polish on a brand losing luster? Is there a way to restore the enchantment, the magic that Vogue was capable of? Hint: This is not the way.

4. Anna Wintour? The high-profile EIC of Vogue stars in a documentary that may be less than flattering, and recently called fat people in Minnesota little houses. And despite recent covers with Michelle Obama and Beyoncé, there was a time when, for issue after issue, there were no black models on the magazine's pages. Zero. When does your asset become a liability?

5. The Internet? With sites like The Cut, The Sartorialist, Style.com, Fatshionista, StreetPeeper, Refinery29 and so on, it's possible to be interested in fashion and find out about all kinds of runway shows, trends and designers without the narrow point-of-view Vogue offers. In a lightning-fast, interactive way. Like we always say, when in doubt, blame this Web 2.0 thing people are always talking about.

Fashion Feels Frumpy [NY Post]
Earlier: This Recession Will Change Everything (About The Way We Dress)
Vogue's Anna Wintour: High School Dropout & Fat-Shamer
Where Are All The Black Models? Let's Start By Asking Anna Wintour
5 Possible Reasons Why Women's Magazine Sales Are Plummeting
Stylish Doesn't Mean Skinny: Meet The Fatshionistas

Because when the question is what kind of experience black women have when shopping the beauty market, the answer is bleak. Stephanie D. Smith writes:

African-American women spend $7.5 billion annually on beauty products, but shell out 80 percent more money on cosmetics and twice as much on skin care products than the general market, according to the research. That difference comes as African-American women sample many more products to find the ones that are most effective on their skin.

"She spends a lot, but there's little satisfaction. What keeps us buying is the hope that this product will do what it's supposed to do," said [celebrity makeup artist] Sam Fine.

So despite being generally ignored or marginalized by mainstream magazines, black women spend billions of dollars on cosmetics, desperately searching for something that works. According to Smith, Fine also said he believes that the typical African-American shopper is "more likely to buy products from aspirational labels — Chanel lipsticks and Versace perfume, for example — than brands that are associated with celebrities." Could it be because many of the black celebrities who pitch cosmetics — Halle Berry, Beyoncé, Rihanna — represent only a light-skinned sliver of what the general population of African-American women look like?

Fine also noted that older black women are overlooked by the beauty industry: "There's no face of aging in the African-American community," he said. "There's Sharon Stone and Christie Brinkley, but no one who's African-American." Do the cosmetics companies actually believe the old saying "black don't crack?" Or do they honestly have no interest in tapping into that $7.5 billion a year?

Essence Panel Explores Beauty Purchasing [WWD]

Earlier: Marie Claire: 15 Years Of Good Skin; 2 Black Women
Cover Girl's Use Of Gays & Blacks: Progressive? Or Pandering?
Beyoncé's L'Oreal Ad: Lightened?
Beyoncé: Double Takes
Whose Fault Is It That The Ethnic Women In Magazines Are Whitewashed?

• Naomi Campbell: "Some people can handle a drink or a line of cocaine, but I've finally come to realize that for me, it's all or nothing — and it has to be nothing." [E! Online]

• Even Campbell's bons mots are more fun to read than this toothless interview of Stella McCartney. "We love your Spring collections in particular. Do you prefer warm-weather dressing?" is a such a softball it must have hit the ground with a pathetic squish. [FabSugar]
• They could have engaged the famously vegan designer on the topic of eco fabrics, for one. Pharrell Williams just launched a new company, Bionic Yarn, which makes textiles out of plastic bottles. "We want to do everything from high-end luggage to high-end denim, to university caps and gowns to Parks Department uniforms," said the star. [NYDN]
• On Thursday, there were already 15 men lined up outside a sneaker boutique in Las Vegas, in anticipation of the store's launch of Kanye West's Air Yeezy sneakers. Those don't go on sale until Saturday. "I'm having the time of my life," said 30-year-old Wesley Ramos, as he braved what UPI's reporter described as "the chilly wind chill factor." (It got down to 35 with wind gusts of 58 mph in Vegas on Thursday night.) Another man, 29, was on his honeymoon. [UPI]
• This man treats Nylon as though it were the artifact of an alien culture obsessed with headbands and ducking nimbly under the advertising/editorial cordon. (Which is pretty much how we read it!) "The art direction is first-rate hipster," notes the reviewer, on the occasion of the mag's 10th birthday, but it "is filled with enough awkward syntax to wear out a grease pencil, not to mention such errors as tense switching and missing punctuation." Twenty-six interns, and nary a copy-editor. [MediaPost]
• Uniqlo, the Japanese fast-fashion chain that's pushes an aesthetic that's like a less sexist American Apparel, is going gangbusters in the recession. Sales have risen 13% at the company in the last six months. (The chain keeps costs down by manufacturing in low-wage countries like Cambodia.) [BBC]
• A company figured out a way to provide special content just for flatscreens in bars. And what did they come up with? Images of Karolina Kurkova, Gisele Bundchen, and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy strutting down the runway in lingerie. [P6]
• Former model Donna Michelle Anderson, who is biracial, writes about what it was like to see "No ragazze di colore" ("no colored girls") signs at castings in Milan. And she thinks it's entirely fair for Michelle Obama to forgo Calvin Klein's and Donna Karan's offerings (the two American designers were among several to complain recently about being ignored by the fashionable first lady) given the two each used virtually entirely white runways casts for their last shows. [HuffPo]
• Billy Joel's wife Katie Lee spends a lot of time with the designer Yigal Azrouel, who is a) straight and b) hot. THEY MUST BE HAVING AN AFFAIR!!! [National Enquirer]

• Amanda Lepore has a scent which is more art project than perfume — sold at a gallery for $950, the crystal bottle contains notes of steamed rice, mandarins, champagne, and cucumber. It's fermented. [NY Times]

• The first issue of Indian Harper's Bazaar is now available. It features actress Kareena Kapoor on the cover, and a limited number of the issues are also bedazzled with "Xilion crystalized — Swarovski elements," whatever those are. [Mag-Scene]
• Meanwhile, the March '09 issue of V, featuring Natalia Vodianova and Luke Grimes, has a glow-in-the-dark cover logo. [The Cut]
• Back at London fashion week, Sienna Miller threw a "raucous" party for the label she co-runs with her sister Savannah. Her entire street was reportedly clogged with guests and their cars, and she didn't even warn the neighbors. [Daily Mail]
• Niki Taylor gave birth to a daughter, named Ciel Taylor Lamar, with husband Burney Lamar yesterday, the day before her birthday. Aw. [People]
• Chanel Iman has been publicly confirmed as Bar Refaeli's co-host on the revived MTV House of Style. [Sassybella]
• UK Esquire named Prince Charles its best-dressed man. [Yahoo! News]
• Lou Doillon is opening a concept store in Paris's 11th arrondissement. So we can add that to the list of places where I'd shop if I had any money. [Fashionista]
• For a wrap-up of the Milan shows from Aquilano e Rimondi to Versace, you can't really go past Cathy Horyn's analysis for the Times. [NY Times]
• New York decided to count models of color on the runways in Milan — and the results, especially after such a promising season in New York, are depressing. Dozens of shows with all-white casts, and then a cameo from Jourdan Dunn, does not diversity make. [The Cut]
• And, just like that, it's on to Paris. [WWD]
• British bag-maker Mulberry's January sales were up 30% on last year's results — although this article doesn't specify whether those are same-store sales (sales from stores open one year or longer) or if that figure includes sales from stores that have opened in the past 12 months. (Retail expansion inevitably boosts sales but has huge overhead costs, so same-store sales are the measurement usually considered most reliable.) [UK Vogue]
• A Wall St. analyst upgraded Steve Madden to a "strong buy," arguing that the share price had hit a floor and that the company was well-positioned with no debt, and the stock price jumped 10% in one day's trading. [Crain's]
• Urban Outfitters' same-store sales at subsidiaries Anthropologie and Free People fell during the fourth quarter, and earnings for the company were down 24% as a result. Across the whole business, January sales rose 9%, but same-store sales actually fell by 1%. Urban Outfitters won't be opening as many stores as it had planned in 2009. [WWD]
• Jaclyn Smith, former Charlie's Angel and, given her K-Mart label was launched in 1985, grand-mommy of the celeb clothing line world, says her line is doing fine in the recession, but gives no specifics. [Reuters]
• Fashion directors at department stores are finding their roles are changing — or being eliminated altogether — during this economic downturn. Harper's Bazaar interviewed six of them, at top stores like Saks and Bergdorf, only to find that two had been fired by the time the issue went to print. Let's just all cross our fingers and hope Barneys keeps Simon Doonan in our lives. [NY Times]
• Clients of models aged under 16 in the Australian state of New South Wales will have to adhere to a code of practice set by the government, and obtain the permission of the state Children's Guardian, under new legislation under consideration. The government also wants to add a zero to the fine limit for clients found to skip either of the above steps. [News.com.au]

The founder of Premier Model Management, aptly named Carole White, tells the Telegraph:

"In a time of recession, people want to play it safe with blonde-haired, blue-eyed girls.

It's very much the case at the moment that everyone plays it safe and I think it will get worse in the recession. People don't step out of line."

Hear that? Hiring models of color is stepping out of line. Breaking the "rules." And if you do it? You're fucking with your money. Of course, fashion is a business. And fashion is about exclusivity. But in this day and age, can companies really afford to exclude a certain percentage of the population? Or appear to do so?

Luckily, the reporter also interviews someone from Storm models, who says:

"We're finding that clients are looking for girls who are a little bit different and interesting. Our black girls did brilliantly in London Fashion Week. People like Alek Wek, Jourdan Dunn and Lorraine Pascale were booked for lots of shows."

Black Models Suffer In Recession As People Opt For Blonde Hair And Blue Eyes [Telegraph]
Earlier: How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash

There were 116 labels that held shows at the recently ended New York fashion week; that's 3,697 spots in runway and presentation lineups. Of those, 668 were given to models of color — which, at just over 18%, is 6% better than one year ago. (And certainly better than in the fall of 2007, when WWD reported that one-third of the New York shows used no models of color at all.)

The 668 spots that went to models of color were divided as follows:

Legend
Yellow = Black models
Red = Asian models
Blue = Latina models
Green= Other ethnicities

Last February, the biggest slice of runway spots for models of color — 41% — went to Asian girls, and only 38% of the models of color used were black.

I also noted when opening and closing spots in runway shows were given to models of color, since opening or closing a show is considered such a coup. Designers choose opening and closing models who will set the tone for their vision of the season, and being picked for the position is a big deal within the fashion industry. Because of the economy, there were an unusually high number of static presentations this season since they are cheaper to mount than runway shows, and tableaux vivants of models do not have opening or closing positions. Unfortunately I didn't keep track of exactly how many presentations there were vs. actual shows, so you'll have to take my best estimate that there were around 160 opening and closing spots up for grabs in New York this season. Of those, Latina models opened or closed 5 times, Asian models opened or closed 3 times, and black models opened or closed 10 times.

The fact that black models became not only the largest single ethnic group on the runways — save for whites — and the non-white ethnic group who closed and opened the most shows definitely demonstrates that the diversity message people like Bethann Hardison and Diane von Furstenberg have been propounding for years now is at last getting through.

The news is not, however, all positive. There were 7 shows that had no models of color at all. Those designers were: Altuzarra, Davidelfin, Jenni Kayne, Julian Louie, Koi Suwannagate, Temperley London, Vera Wang Lavender Label.

And there were 19 shows that had some models of color, but no black models. They were: Alexandre Herchcovitz, Behnaz Sarafpour, Costello Tagliapietra, Erin Fetherston, Halston, Marchesa, Max Azria, Milly, Miss Sixty, Monique Lhuillier, Nicole Miller, Philosophy, Reem Acra, Tibi, TSE, United Bamboo, Vena Cava, VPL, Vivienne Tam.

The 116 designer shows I looked at break down in terms of diversity as follows:

Legend:

Blue = Shows with 0 models of color

Red = Shows whose casts included 1-9% models of color (this slice includes the designers BCBG Max Azria, Calvin Klein, Cynthia Rowley, Donna Karan, Erin Fetherston, Hervé Leger by Max Azria, Jill Stuart, Marchesa, Matthew Williamson, Max Azria, Miss Sixty, Monique Lhuillier, Narciso Rodriguez, Phi, Philosophy, Proenza Schouler, Reem Acra, Rodarte, Tuleh, Vivienne Tam)

Yellow = Shows whose casts included 10-19% models of color (this slice includes the designers Alexander Wang, Anna Sui, Behnaz Sarafpour, Carolina Herrera, Derek Lam, DKNY, Doo.Ri, Jonathan Saunders, L'Wren Scott, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Nicole Miller, Rebecca Taylor, Richard Chai, Thakoon, Tommy Hilfiger, Zac Posen)

Green = Shows whose casts included 20-29% models of color (this slice includes the designers 3.1 Philip Lim, Betsey Johnson, Diesel Black Gold, Isaac Mizrahi, Jason Wu, Lacoste, Malandrino, Nanette Lepore, Ohne Titel, Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang)

Purple = Shows whose casts included 30-39% models of color (this slice includes the designers Badgley Mishka, Diane von Furstenberg, Tory Burch, Yigal Azrouël)

Orange = Shows whose casts included 40-49% models of color (this slice includes the designer Oscar de la Renta)

Brown = Shows whose casts included 50-59% models of color (this slice includes the designers Ports 1961, Rachel Roy, Victoria Beckham)

Gray = Shows whose casts included 60% or more models of color (this slice comprises the designers Sophie Theallet and Tracy Reese)

For purposes of comparison, the U.S. Census reported in 2006 that this country is just under 74% white — so an 18% non-white runway population is still well below what might be considered truly representative. But New York fashion week this season was also closer to representative of overall U.S. diversity than it has ever been since this sort of data started being kept.

Here are the raw data for 25 of the top shows:

3.1 Philip Lim
9 runway spots to models of color / 41 total runway spots
21% of runway spots to models of color
Wanessa Milhomem (Latina)
Tao Okamoto (Asian, O)
Emma Pei (Asian)
Hyoni Kang (Asian)
Liu Wen (Asian)
Han Jin (Asian)
Du Juan (Asian)
Gracie Carvalho (Black)
Georgie Badiel (Black)

Alexander Wang
4/40
10%
Liu Wen (Asian)
Lakshmi Menon (Asian)
Tao Okamoto (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)

Anna Sui
6/50
12%
Liu Wen (Asian, 2 looks)
Du Juan (Asian, 2 looks)
Jourdan Dunn (Black, 2 looks)

Badgley Mishka
11/33
33%
Flavia de Oliveira (Latina, 2 looks)
Bruna Tenorio (Latina, 2 looks)
Lakshmi Menon (Asian, 3 looks)
Hyoni Kang (Asian, 2 looks)
Sessilee Lopez (Black, 2 looks, C)

Calvin Klein
1/35
3%
Lyndsey Scott (Black)

Carolina Herrera
5/34
14%
Lakshmi Menon (Asian)
Du Juan (Asian)
Liu Wen (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)
Gracie Carvalho (Black)

Diane von Furstenberg
12/39
31%
Caroline Ribeiro (Latina)
Bruna Tenorio (Latina)
Flavia de Oliveira (Latina)
Du Juan (Asian)
Emma Pei (Asian)
Han Jin (Asian)
Lakshmi Menon (Asian)
Sessilee Lopez (Black)
Chanel Iman (Black)
Arlenis Sosa (Black)
Gracie Carvalho (Black)
Georgie Badiel (Black)

Donna Karan
3/45
7%
Jourdan Dunn (Black, 2 looks)
Arlenis Sosa (Black)

Isaac Mizrahi
9/40
23%
Tao Okamoto (Asian)
Aminata Niaria (Black, 2 looks)
Arlenis Sosa (Black, 2 looks)
Georgie Badiel (Black, 2 looks)
Sessilee Lopez (Black)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)

Jason Wu
10/35
29%
Lakshmi Menon (Asian, 2 looks)
Liu Wen (Asian, 2 looks)
Du Juan (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black, 2 looks, O)
Arlenis Sosa (Black)
Sessilee Lopez (Black)
Chanel Iman (Black)

Malandrino
12/47
26%
Joan Smalls (Latina)
Eugenia Mandzhieva (Asian, 3 looks)
Emma Pei (Asian, 2 looks)
Georgie Badiel (Black)
Aminata Niaria (Black)
Rahma Mohamed (Black)
Sessilee Lopez (Black, 3 looks)

Marc Jacobs
10/60
17%
Daiane Conterato (Latina)
Bruna Tenorio (Latina)
Hye Park (Asian)
Han Jin (Asian)
Du Juan (Asian)
Tao Okamoto (Asian)
Chanel Iman (Black)
Sessilee Lopez (Black)
Georgie Badiel (Black)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)

Michael Kors
7/55
12%
Caroline Ribeiro (Latina)
Bruna Tenorio (Latina)
Liu Wen (Asian)
Han Jin (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)
Chanel Iman (Black)
Arlenis Sosa (Black)

Monique Lhuillier
1/12
8%
Cecilia Mendez (Latina)

Narciso Rodriguez
3/39
8%
Liu Wen (Asian)
Sessilee Lopez (Black)
Arlenis Sosa (Black)

Oscar de la Renta
25/51
49%
Daiane Conterato (Latina, 3 looks)
Bruna Tenorio (Latina, 2 looks)
Cecilia Mendez (Latina, 2 looks)
Marilia Dutra (Latina, 2 looks)
Joan Smalls (Latina)
Hye Park (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black, 3 looks, O, C)
Ubah Hassan (Black, 3 looks)
Sessilee Lopez (Black, 2 looks)
Georgie Badiel (Black, 2 looks)
Aminata Niaria (Black, 2 looks)
Arlenis Sosa (Black, 2 looks)
Tara Gill (Other — Native American)

Philosophy
2/24
8%
Daiane Conterato (Latina)
Selina Khan (Asian)

Proenza Schouler
3/38
8%
Daiane Conterato (Latina)
Liu Wen (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)

Ralph Lauren
16/55
29%
Cecilia Mendez (Latina, 3 looks, O)
Bruna Tenorio (Latina, 3 looks)
Tao Okamoto (Asian, 2 looks)
Liu Wen (Asian)
Shu Pei Qin (Asian)
Selina Khan (Asian)
Ubah Hassan (Black, 3 looks)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)
Gracie Carvalho (Black)

Rodarte
3/35
9%
Daul Kim (Asian)
Emma Pei (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)

Thakoon
5/35
14%
Daiane Conterato (Latina, 2 looks)
Bruna Tenorio (Latina)
Jourdan Dunn (Black, 2 looks, C)

Tommy Hilfiger
5/29
13%
Du Juan (Asian)
Eugenia Mandzhieva (Asian)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)
Sessilee Lopez (Black)
Arlenis Sosa (Black)

Vera Wang
8/30
27%
Bruna Tenorio (Latina)
Daiane Conterato (Latina)
Wanessa Milhomem (Latina)
Shu Pei Qin (Asian)
Tao Okamoto (Asian)
Liu Wen (Asian)
Gracie Carvalho (Black)
Aminata Niaria (Black)

Yigal Azrouël
11/28
39%
Bruna Tenorio (Latina, 2 looks)
Daiane Conterato (Latina, 2 looks)
Lais Oliveira (Latina, 2 looks)
Tao Okamoto (Asian, 2 looks)
Hye Park (Asian)
Kinée Diouf (Black, 2 looks)

Zac Posen
5/43
12%
Du Juan (Asian)
Alek Wek (Black, 2 looks)
Chanel Iman (Black)
Jourdan Dunn (Black)

About These Numbers

There's a certain undeniable level of weirdness to looking through runway slideshows on Style.com (and I did only consider presentations and shows by designers big enough to attract Style.com's attention) and counting the models of color. It's hard to put individuals of mixed backgrounds into neat little categories, especially when ethnic labels still carry so much weight within society. It seems thoroughly antique and not a little distasteful.

So, why count models? The fact remains that the fashion industry plays a huge role in promulgating ideas of beauty within Western culture, and how the people in charge of casting for the runways — plus the magazines, and the billboards, and the TV spots and the banner ads — choose to represent beauty has a huge impact on, well, pretty much everyone. It's also naive to think that casting happens anything but deliberately: models of color are still booked as Models Of Color, so noticing when they work and for whom is, in a way, natural.

That's not to say it was easy, or that I'm standing behind these classifications as the be-all and end-all. Take Sessilee Lopez. She may be a Spanish-speaking Latina magazine covergirl:

But in many ways, her career was made when she was chosen as one of the cover models for Vogue Italia's groundbreaking all-black issue last July:

So, I had to pick, and I chose to count Sessilee as black. Gracie Carvalho, a Brazilian of African heritage, and Chanel Iman, who is famously of mixed African-American and Korean background, are two examples of other models I chose to classify as black who could have potentially ended up in other categories.

Latina models were the hardest to count. Sometimes, dark-eyed and dark-haired Spaniards, like Clara Alonso and Sheila Marquez, jumped out at me in runway lineups — but I didn't count them as Latina, because they're both European. I classified the Puerto Rican model Joan Smalls as Latina, even though I just noticed Dodai counted her as black a year ago. But I also put the brown-eyed, fair-skinned Brazilian Daiane Conterato in the Latina camp, even though sometimes when I saw her on the runway, I would take her for white. Nationality isn't much guide to a person's ethnicity. South American models like Pilar Solchaga, Flo Gennaro, and Isabeli Fontana, who have European heritage, I chose not to count as Latina. Them's the breaks.

Now, my Google history is full of fascinating trips to Wikipedia to learn about the Kalmyk people (Eugenia Mandzhieva, a Russian national I counted as Asian, is Kalmyk) and my room-mate heard me chanting "Natasha Poly Natasa Vojnovic Vlada Roslyakova Roza Gough Georgie Badiel Bruna Tenorio Tao Okamoto Olga Scherer Selina Khan Katie Fogarty Fatima Siad Shanina Shaik Sharan Bala Behati Prinsloo Hye Park Ubah Hassan..." softly in my sleep last night. But the good news is, the runways of New York are becoming a more accurate reflection of who we are as a country. And while fashion still has some distance to go, that's worth cheering.

Granted, to piece that together, I could have just looked at the banner for the New York shows on Style.com. From left, I think I can recognize Iris Strubegger, Sessilee Lopez backstage at Marc Jacobs, an Asian model I think is Han Jin, and then, to the right of the "Fall 2009" text, there's Tao Okamoto, a white model I can't place, and a tiny image of Jourdan Dunn. That's four models of color and two white models, happily sharing the same space, picked as emblems of the season to come. For now, the banner announcing the New York shows is actually more diverse than the shows were. But if this trend continues — and remember, WWD found one-third of shows in September of '07 had no models of color at all — soon that might not be the case.

Related: Has The 'Obama Effect' Come To Runway Castings? [NY Times]
Talk To The Newsroom: Cathy Horyn [NY Times]
New York City Fall 2009 Ready-to-Wear [Style.com]

Earlier: Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash

The concept behind this CNN clip is pretty dumb: The reporter hangs out with the young model who played First Daughter in the Harper's Bazaar photo shoot in which Tyra Banks played First Lady, and talks to the head of a modeling agency, who says (very carefully) "We have gotten several calls for lookalikes." Meaning: Girls who look like Sasha and Malia Obama. The tone of the piece is the real problem, because it basically intimates, to any young black girl: "You used to be lame, but now you are chic!" To his credit, David Rogers, the "global brand expert" in the clip says: "Marketers are finally waking up to it: Black is beautiful." Yes, diversity is great. But let's face it: Black girls are not the latest Swarovski-encrusted accessory, and reporting about them as such gives this former little black girl a disgusted feeling in the pit of her stomach. But hey: If white people like you, everything must be okay, right? Clip above.

“It’s not just black girls. It’s ethnic girls in general: Brazilian girls, Hispanic. You really don’t see a lot of Asians either. A lot of designers think that if every girl on the runway looks exactly alike, then people will come to the shows and buy the clothes because they won’t be focusing on the models….It’s not even just runway either... us ethnic girls should be getting a lot of the covers too! I would love to be on half of the campaigns these [white] girls are booking, all looking exactly alike. It’s not right. It’s not fair.”

[Page Six Magazine]

We noted that there were barely any black models on the runways in Milan last year. This year, writes Trebay:

While Giorgio Armani notably cast some black models for his Emporio Armani show, as did Donatella Versace for hers, there was not a single black (or Asian or Latino) face to be seen on the runways at Jil Sander, Missoni, Burberry, Trussardi, Bottega Veneta, Gianfranco Ferre, Roberto Cavalli or Prada.

(Armani and Versace had a few.)

The crazy thing is that there's a tabloid magazine, Urban, that's being given away at the men's shows this week, and the cover line is "Black Fever." The mag's editors claim that "From politics to fashion, photography to art," black is the color. And they don't mean hue — they mean black people. Except, of course, on the runways.

All of the models were white at the Gucci show, but Frida Giannini, Gucci's head designer, said: "I think it would be great if there was an industry initiative on this issue, because I am always looking for black models, or even Chinese or whatever, for the shows. I'm after a specific kind of look, and I request the agencies — I asked last season — to send me someone interesting. But they never send me anyone very new." And so begins the blame game: Designers and editors blame casting directors and model agencies; model agencies blame designers and editors. In fact, Trebay contacts NYC modeling agency owner George Brown, who flew several of his black models to Milan. Brown says: "They had some amazing options, options I’d never seen before on black guys," meaning some big designers put the models on hold. But: "The options fell off and we found the same line-up of white guys doing all the major shows."

Of course, these are the men's shows, and not the more consequential women's wear, but we'll see what happens: Can Italian designers really look through the "all black" issue and not want to hire any of those ladies?

In Milan, Models Still Come in Only One Color [NY Times]

Earlier: On The Runways Of Milan, Color Just Wasn't Considered Chic
Italian Vogue's "All Black" Issue: A Guided Tour
The "All Black" Issue Of Italian Vogue Is Officially A "Success"
The "All Black" Issue Of Italian Vogue: Both A Success And A Failure
Is Prada To Blame For the Lack Of Black Models?

[Image via New York Times.]

According to StereoHyped, Behnaz Sarafpour used one black model; Rodarte used one; Jill Stuart used 4, up from zero last season. Calvin Klein used one. Monique Lhullier used none. Reuters reports that Vivienne Tam also used none.

After writing about this subject repeatedly, it's still shocking to see a post by a commenter on StereoHyped which reads: "Please explain to me why this is such an important issue?" It's incredible that people really don't get it. Having only white models on New York Fashion Week runways sends a dangerous message: That there is only one high-fashion "look," and it is to have pale skin. During Fashion Week, reporters come from around the globe, photographers take pictures that are seen in hundreds of countries. New York is a cosmopolitan city where it is unacceptable to tell a woman you're not going to hire her because she is black. And yet, for the past few years, that's exactly what has been happening in the fashion industry. In New York.

So, are things slowly getting better? "Visually on the runways, it has improved," model mogul (and organizer of the "Absence Of Color" summits) Bethann Hardison tells Reuters. "But the results are still racist. [Designers] choose the same white and never go towards the brown or the dark."

Fashion Week Features Few Black Runway Models [Reuters]
Black Model Watch: Spring '09 Fashion Week [StereoHyped]

Earllier: Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash