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

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Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
02/26/09

In reply to How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
Yes, little girls, you can one day model clothing regardless of the color of your skin. Or the content of your character. Just your height, weight and hip/waist ratio.
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Definer-not-defined
02/26/09

In reply to How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
Wow, I just got around to reading this, but I too want to say that you did a great job with a very blurry area.

Regardless of whatever the models want to call themselves, you've done a pretty good job of identifying ethnicity - which gets muddled with nationality.

Also, I think that you made the right choice with Lopez. You don't have to be from the US to be considered Black - that just means that you are of African descent, and we're everywhere.

Many people would be surprised to realize that there are African Americans in Canada (also North America), and Central and South America as it's just a classification for people of African descent in the Americas.
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AuntieBee
02/26/09

@Definer-not-defined: The trouble is, much of the rest of the Americas chafe at being under the same label as the USofA. If I were to say that I am American, because I DO live in the Americas, it wouldn't be true. Residents of the US should be tasked with coming up with a new name, that wasn't co-opted from a much larger group of peoples, perhaps.
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boxspelunker
02/25/09

In reply to How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
This is wonderful! I find this absolutely fascinating, and it's so nice to have graphics and charts to refer to.

I just have one little nitpick: would it be possible to put the legend on the chart? It would make it a million times easier to read with the colored boxed next to the descriptions.

I may be the only one with this issue, though, so... :D

This must have taken a buttload of work, and I sure am impressed!
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♥AntiSocialSocialite♥
02/25/09

In reply to How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
Tatiana, you're pretty brilliant - GREAT article. Very impressive - that goes to you and to the fashion industry for its progress.
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LibidinousSlut
02/25/09

In reply to How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
i think your census data on how white the US is, is off. hispanics are the largest at around 13%, and blacks are right behind at like 11%, what about the Asians, the Native Americans and the "others"?
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TatianaTheAnonymousModel
02/25/09

@LibidinousSlut: Because Hispanics aren't a race, their percentage as tracked by the census overlaps with those of all the racial categories. So the census data on racial demographics add up to 100% -- plus whatever percentage of people describe themselves as "Hispanic." Does that make sense? It's explained better in the link.

For the purposes of this post, and all the other posts Jezebel has done on this topic, we don't count people twice. And so distinctions that are really kind of fuzzy end up becoming lines that are firmer than I agree would be ideal.
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
02/25/09

In reply to How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
This is awesome, awesome research and analysis and you are hearted, Tatiana.
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Hammer Pants
02/25/09

In reply to How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
I'm happy to see that more women of color are being used for fashion week.

But I was pretty bothered over the fact that ARLENIS SOSA who is in several designer categories in this post (Oscar De La Renta, Donna Karan, Diane Von Furstenberg Michael Kors) is written up as black. She's Latina, Dominican to be exact & can barely speak a word of english.

She's a personal friend.
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
02/25/09

@Fabiola: What does whether or not she speaks English have to do with whether or not she's "written up", as you put it, as black?
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TatianaTheAnonymousModel
02/25/09

@Fabiola: Arlenis was in the "All-Black" issue of Italian Vogue, so I decided even though she's one of the many models who are hard to classify in this way. I do actually realize she's a Dominican national. These categories are far from perfect. But I did my best.
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TatianaTheAnonymousModel
02/25/09

@TatianaTheAnonymousModel: Er, that sentence should read, "...so I decided even though she's one of the many models who are hard to classify in this way I would maintain that label."
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Jzb2
02/25/09

@TatianaTheAnonymousModel:

It seems like you are assigning labels to people without knowing what they'd like to call themselves. It's very troubling.
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cwisto moweina has got yer goat
02/25/09

@Jezebabe: um, what else do you want her to do? Call them up and ask what they would like to be called?

I know people should be referred to as they wish to be referred, but you have to admit that the task of gathering that information is daunting and a bit outside the scope of the subject, seeing as how modeling is all about what people look like.
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TatianaTheAnonymousModel
02/25/09

@Jezebabe: How on earth could you expect me to divine what these models would like to call themselves? That's not a realistic expectation of this project. I did my best, and I think I've been clear about my methodology, such as it was, and the limitations of this kind of data in general.

The point is, models are cast because of how they look, not who they really are. Casting directors don't care what passport you travel with -- they care about your hair, eye, and skin color. If those are different than the Caucasian look which is still accepted as the default beauty standard too often in this world, then you stand out on the runway. Cintia Dicker has every right to consider herself Latina, but she is cast as a white girl, and a red head. I don't think it's remiss at all to say that girls with stereotypically European looks don't contribute to the diversity of a given show. That's what I was trying to track -- the appearance of diversity. You might reasonably quibble with the inclusion of this or that particular model in this or that particular category, but the preponderance of the data is such that I think -- I hope -- that in the end it evens out and provides a good snapshot of how the runways were for models of color in New York this season.
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Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
02/26/09

@TatianaTheAnonymousModel: Maybe we could get all their pics and put them in a gray scale of some sort, from lightest to darkest?

I am only being partly facetious. I think pics would definitely help - because, as you mentioned, background is moot unless everyone at the show and looking at the pics is well aware of it and if it had anything at all to do with casting. It's all looks. And if every black and 'Latina' model looks half a shade away from Heidi Klum, something's rotten.
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Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
02/26/09

@HeatherNumber1: Pics might also help because of make-up - if everyone's in a feathered wig and black foundation, does their ethnic heritage really shine through?
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Dallifornia
02/25/09

In reply to How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
I'm sorry, but the fact that a label called Unified Bamboo didn't use any Asian women stuck out to me.

Not saying they should, but if I ran that joint, they totally would have.
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TatianaTheAnonymousModel
02/25/09

@Dallifornia: Actually, United Bamboo had five of their 28 runway looks worn by Asian models (Tao Okamoto and Emma Pei wore two looks each, and Selina Khan wore one). But they did not have any black models.
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AuntieBee
02/26/09

@Dallifornia: I kind of feel like you are saying they should have. It is, to me, the most confusing part of race relations in the US that people can be outraged that stereotypes exist and are maintained as beliefs while they are simultaneously upheld. Why doesn't it make you angry, hearing that assumption that 'bamboo'=asian chicks? I seriously have a hard time identifying which scenarios will make people angry, and in which direction that anger will flow.
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CherriSpryte
02/25/09

In reply to How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
Wow. This was clearly a ton of work and research - thank you!
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PetiteGal
02/25/09

In reply to How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
What does "O" mean? I've noticed that some people have "O" next to their race?
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gerbilsoutofexile...is cheap and easy
02/25/09

@PetiteGal: "Open," as in opens the show. I believe C means "close" the show.
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TatianaTheAnonymousModel
02/25/09

@PetiteGal: 'O' or 'C' means that model opened or closed that particular show.
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Jamie Sommers
02/25/09

In reply to How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
A Native American model?! Wow. Even if I can only afford a keychain on layaway, I'm gonna buy myself an Oscar de la Renta.
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TatianaTheAnonymousModel
02/25/09

@Jamie Sommers: Well, technically, I think Tara Gill has mixed Irish and First Nations heritage (she carries a Canadian passport). I have no idea how Native she is -- but to me, she stood out in the lineup, so I figured she'd been cast as a non-white model and I should take her as such.
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Jzb2
02/25/09

@TatianaTheAnonymousModel: Andi Muise looks more Native American than Tara Gill. I wouldn't know she was part Native unless someone told me.
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TatianaTheAnonymousModel
02/25/09

@Jezebabe: You're right about Andi Muise, and I did count her two looks for the Luca Luca show as two instances of a model of color on a New York Fall 09 runway.
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Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
02/26/09

@Jamie Sommers: Being canadian, I doubt Tara Gill would appreciate being categorized as Native American. it's got nothing to do with the native part - she might go by Native, Aboriginal, First Nations, Indian - it's the American part. Yeah, it's the continent, but most Canadians don;t love being lumped in with their US neighbors.
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EkaterinaBallerina
02/25/09

In reply to How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
The white model you can't place is Raquel Zimmerman, who is Brazilian.

Far left is Hanne Gabriel Onne (I think that's the correct spelling)

Frankly, I was impressed with the strides the industry was making this year in diversifying the runways. I found myself noticing more and more when there were not models of color walking and appreciating designers who diversified more. Hopefully this will only improve.
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TatianaTheAnonymousModel
02/25/09

@EkaterinaBallerina: You think that's Hanne Gaby Odiele? My model-identifying skills probably shouldn't be trusted right now because my ability to distinguish between 5'10 skinny girls is at an all-tie low after flicking through 3,700 runway pictures.

And, duh, that is Raquel Z. Of course. Thank you.
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EkaterinaBallerina
02/25/09

@TatianaTheAnonymousModel: Okay, totally bumbled her name! Oops! But yeah, I believe that's her:

[www.style.com]

I think that image is from the same show.
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kimkimi
02/25/09

In reply to How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
wow. thank you for doing this. could we know which designers were part of the 'blue' slice (no models of color)?

again. great job!
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TatianaTheAnonymousModel
02/25/09

@kimkimi: It's actually in there -- two paragraphs above the "How Diverse Were The Individual Shows?" chart. I also listed the 19 designers who included some models of color but no black models.
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SleeplessNights
02/25/09

In reply to How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
This is always really interesting, but what would be even more interesting would be if a fashion industry type, be it a model or a designer or a secretary or anyone really, provided they worked in the industry, who happened to not be white, and gave them a platform on Jez to relate their experiences firsthand.
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la.donna.pietra
02/25/09

@SleeplessNights: For all we know, Tatiana might very well be non-white and has just left that little detail out to stay anonymous. (I could be wrong, but I don't think she's ever mentioned her ethnicity.)
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baraqiel
02/25/09

@SleeplessNights: Indeed. I'd love to read an account of what a go-see or a casting is like for models of color (apart from what you see on ANTM...) versus for white models. It'd also be really interesting to hear about what the designers' thought processes are when they're choosing models to cast.
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theruraljuror
02/25/09

In reply to How Did New York Fashion Week's 116 Shows Treat Models Of Color?
is it bad that now i only want to buy the clothes of the designers that used 30% or more of the models of color?
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angelheadedhipster
02/25/09

@theruraljuror: As if we needed another reason to want to buy de la Renta...
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