<![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash - Jezebel Comments]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash - Jezebel Comments]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> Firstly, I would like to thank you for your close attention to this years Fashion Week and the obvious absence of ethic models on the runways. The castings examples were a brilliant idea as they critically highlight the numerical abundance of Caucasian and European models in comparison to other ethnicities. Additionally, I thought the pie charts were also a stark visual example in proving your point. While it is clear that the runways have been clearly "whitewashed" this season, I cannot help but ask, why? In you post you present only two possibilities that might have been responsible for the homogenous runway castings: designers themselves and modeling agencies. I agree that a level of liability must be placed somewhere and that racializing a trend is completely irresponsible of the fashion industry, but I do not think that we can point fingers at fashion designers or modeling agencies alone.
I believe that this whiteout has been an impending, and unfortunate trend. Over the past few years the fashion industry has taken a depressive turn away from health and sexiness toward a kind of heroine chic. This new trend seems to decree an "avant garde" vibe by psychologically distancing audiences from coveted fashions with elements of lifeless, almost robotic, bodies encapsulated in mysteriously beautiful garments. Furthermore, Fashion Weeks shows have also hinted toward the idea of diversity being passé-clearly an artifact of 1970s runways. Surely, one would assume that when CFDA president, Diane Von Furstenberg, encouraged designers to create shows "that are truly multicultural," designers ought to have considered her proposition as a vital "take notice" that fashion is a billion dollar industry catering to a new multicultural global market.
Ultimately, it seems that although black people have progressed tremendously in the social world, it seems that we still have yet to come so far in our mainstream perceptions and imaginations. I truly enjoyed reading your piece exploring the statistics you provided surrounding this issue and hope to read more of your entries in the future. Finally, let's hope this pale, bony, emaciated white model trend passes with Milan's Fashion Week and plaid gowns!

AAG2

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> Remember when Michael Jordan started doing Hanes underwear ads and all the pictures of him in underwear were from the back? It was because of the fearful and racist mentality that "Black men have bigger penises than White men", and that "White men might get an inferiority complex, or White women might get turned on".

Given that a large number of non-Whites models listed are Asian and that all the models named (and are of African and Latino descent) are abnormally small, I get the suspicion that those in charge of modelling agencies take the same view now of non-White models that was once held toward Black men: that all Black and Latino women have "big hips and asses" and that Asian women don't.

Modelling agencies have a long history of preferring women with all the curves of a flagpole, i.e. cylindrical. Those morons think that's what the average woman looks like.

KJones

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @KidPresentable: I'm sure she's young. She doesn't even know that London, Paris, Milan, and even L.A. also have, as she put it, "Fasio" Week.

Rooo sez BISH PLZ

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @cannotedit: "How many AleK Wek or Naomi wannabes are they going to put out before a designer says, "Is this the only way black women look?""

NEVER thought I'd have to ask this on Jezebel, but do Alek and Naomi actually look the same to you?

Rooo sez BISH PLZ

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> I think that something else to be considered is the fact that in order to be a really top model right now you need to be really young. Not to make generalizations but I think that a lot of minority families are stricter in what they will allow their minor children to do, so if they are interested in modeling they might not get into it until they are older, which could possibly mean that in terms of what is considered "in" they might be past their prime even though they might only be 21. Speaking from personal experience, I have had many chances to break into the modeling world starting when I was a baby, but as a former sucessful model my mother held me back because she wanted me to have a childhood, which I completely understand and am glad that she did, however she continued to hold me back despite having numerous legitimate offers throughout high school. I'm not writing this to whine about having missed opportunities, nor am I trying to buy into the whole there are no black models to choose from lie, I just wanted to maybe point out another reason why the problem exists.

courtcobb

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> Well, in 2050 white folks will be the minority and then we won't have to deal with this bullshit. I will be 76, but it will be funny and validating. All we have to do is wait. Obvs, I'm just being bitchy 'cause this shit pisses me off. It's not a matter of one being attracted to their own race or any bullshit like that. It's institutionalized racism, plain and friggin' simple. Just look around, everything (t.v., magazines, movies, makeup companies) caters to the white aesthetic. And everyday women of color are reminded of how they don't measure up on the beauty scale. It's annoying, it's maddening, but it's reality. And I doubt that if this pendulum swung in my favor that I would be hell-bent on bringing down the establishment.

@BugMeNot2: But seriously, you can totally shut the fuck up any minute now. I've seen beauty and fugly in all races. So, black women like all women can be and often are fucking gorgeous. I know you're just trying to start shit, but c'mon.

Ulookinatmyjunk!?!

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @Reluctant Financier:
In general they are not what fashion consumers would deem to be hotter, sure there are exceptions like Tyra Banks but in general White females are more attractive, as are latinas and asians.

BugMeNot2

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> Mesdames et Mademoiselles, I am just as eager as you to chalk it up to racism or racialist preferences (cf. melanie.dawn's slightly confused but mostly correct comment).
Alas, it is really down to economics. Why? Think of the most famous supermodels. They are almost all from the past two decades 80s-90s, they are intriguing to look at, enviously feminine, or both. The more recognizable a female model is, the higher her premium, and the more likely that when she comes on the runway, you will notice not her clothes but her. This is a designer's nightmare. Why would I pay you extra for my show to essentially become a mini-celebrity's platform?
The trend towards pallid Siberianoids is the fashionista's economic revenge. The models are all so similar that they become interchangeable, their fees stay low, and their bizarre bodies/looks makes the buyer and editor refocus on the clothes, not the model. The minute you add a drop of color to the runway, you divert attention away from the clothes because we've been locked in this one aesthetic. How many of the Eastern Europeans can you name off hand? There's a reason.

Money has a sordid way of dictating everything... but you already knew that, non?

MademoiselleWallSt

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> I'm thinking this all has to do with that whole sickly, androgynous, pre-pubescent blank canvas thing. There's nothing more blank and plain than a blonde-haired, fair-skinned girl with poles for limbs and a lack of life experience to complete that vacant model fierce stare.

Lipstickiller

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @melanie.dawn: I am in no way a racisit BUT... (emphasis mine)

I'm sure this is going to end well!

JennaW

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @melanie.dawn: ouch. really?

"I just really dont think this is a racisit issue. I think its a... matter of circumstance issue."

are you for real? or NTJ?

dokuchan

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> Aw man, that tears it. Now I'll really start having to read Jezebel regularly. This was an outstanding post. Now I really won't get any work done.

@no.no.notorious: I'm a black woman, 5'9 1/2" and 105 lbs. I just come from a family of beanpoles with insanely high metabolism, we tend to not really gain weight until we have sprogs. I don't believe black women are any more likely to be "curvy" (whatever that means) than white women. There are ruler types in every race. I think that because black culture tends to value "thick" women, there is less pressure to lose weight than there is with white women, though, and that perception may be part of the problem.

KarmaChameleon

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @jenalicious: maybe this is naive of me, but is it possible that its perhaps just the trend of the year?

More like the last 10 years, though.

Dodai

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @melanie.dawn: Whoa, edit your thoughts before you comment. And use the spellcheck.

KidPresentable

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> Now this is just getting absurd.

ambitious

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> maybe this is naive of me, but is it possible that its perhaps just the trend of the year? the models that appear on runways seem to change as much as the fashions do... perhaps its just "the look" their going for. ive been to a few fashion week shows before and i just cant believe that the people choosing these models do it because they think theyre more attractive than women of color. in reality, theyre pale and too thin for words. it was literally scary to see them in person. they're clothes hangers. and this season apparently they're white clothes hangers...
hopefully the tides will change soon..

jenalicious

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> I am in no way a racisit but my opinion on it is as follows. I once watched a documentary on The learning channel about what makes us attracted to eachother. Not surprisingly, people are attracted to people who look... the same as they do! I don't even mean race... I mean, Maybe you have some weird nose, and lo and behold, the man of your dreams... his nose looks kinda the same. It offered the thought, that perhaps that is why interracial couples are the minority. While I don't care who dates who and nor would I care if all relationships were interracial... I know that I personally just havn't really been attracked to someone who wasn't the same race as me. I don't think less of other races, I have many friends of many different races! But the ones I am attracted to, are my race. So perhaps when it comes to casting, white people find white people more attractive. perhaps Black people find black people more attractive. perhaps Asian people find asian people more attractive. Well, Fasion week is in the US, and I know there are a lot of different races there... but the majority of designers are caucasian. So what if white people are drawn to white people? I'm sure if fasion week was in... for lack of a better example.. Africa, all the models would be black and the minority would be white. Or if Fashon week was in Brazil I'm sure they'd be brazialian. Now, I'm all for more diversity... I just really dont think this is a racisit issue. I think its a... matter of circumstance issue. I'm not at all saying that other races shouldn't be case, just saying how I see it.

melanie.dawn

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> I seriously don't understand how designers can delude / deprive them selves from the oodles of gorgeous african women out there! I thought slim, tall gals with mile long legs and luminous skin is what they wanted? Maybe its Tyra's fault but when I think of 'fierce!' sexy women I don't see a white girl.

Queenieq

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> woo hoo Liya Kebede!

ilovejohnnythunders

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> Where's Danielle from America's next Top Model?

pokeme

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @no.no.notorious:
There are plenty of gorgeous, painfully thin Sudanese (just one example) women who are runway models. The fatty excuse doesn't cut it at all.

trikitixa

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> or maybe they have a problem with dark women on the runway because statistically, dark women are curvier...oh excuse me, "fatter" than white women

no.no.notorious

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> RACIST PRIIICCCKKKKKSSSSSS

i'm really not surprised by the numbers. im sure disney princesses have the same stats.

no.no.notorious

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> BugMeNotz: are you fucking kidding me??

JMacNYC

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> When we have a season where only 10% of the models are white, I'll call it merely cyclical.

ambitious

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> How you also know it's racism: by not including models of color, you take the risk of alienating potential customers. It's bad business. Of course, these dumbass folks might not realize that people of color are among their best customers.

The too-thin 12 year old thing alienates me as a curvy 40 year old. Fie on all of them.

SallyJ

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @yidvicious: I agree. I think that if nothing ANTM has taught us that there are plenty of tall, stick-thin girls of color ready to walk the catwalk. It begins with the designers, if they wanted something other than Russian/Brazilian wannabes then the agencies would go out and FIND them. When Kate Moss hit it big, guess what? Agencies went out to find more girls like her. It's that simple.

shananigans

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @Dodai: But it's all a cycle, right? And in 10 years we'll have hopefully outgrown the tween eastern-european model and gone in another direction. At least that's what I've set my hopes on.

ineffable.me

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @yidvicious: I don't think those models are real? I mean, they certainly don't walk like real models.

ineffable.me

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @SallyJ: Actually, this is the point that Behann Hardison often makes: Fashion was more diverse in the '70s & '80s than it is right now. Some may not think it's a big deal that certain shows have no black models, but the images trickle off of the runways and the pages of the magazines into the world, sending the message that being black is NOT fashionable. That there is one "high fashion" look: willowly blonde. But it wasn't always so. And it doesn't have to be so.

Dodai

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> Question: Every season on Project Runway, there's what seems like a fairly healthy mix of ethnicities among the models. If these are, indeed, working models in New York, how is it that they don't end up on any Fashion Week runways? You'd think, ProjRun clout being what it is these days, that these models would be hot-ish properties. But either way, someone needs to call bullshit on the idea that there aren't enough to go around. You don't think we would have heard about The Great Minority Model Drought if the fashion industry wanted us to? Shit, they've convinced us to buy tiny vests and bubble skirts!

yidvicious

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> I was looking at some old Saint Laurent runway shows from the 70s and 80s, and not only were the models more racially/ethnically diverse, there was diversity within the racial/ethnic groups. But all were gorgeous and (goddamnit) looked like grownups, not emaciated 12 year olds. The clothes were better too. Pat Cleveland rocks!

Everyone should check out Stephen Burrows's show.

SallyJ

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @Seeräuber Jenny: Not to get too picky here but Salma Hayek is actually Mexican whereas Cameron Diaz' is half american german half cuban american so I don't know that I would compare the two.

ineffable.me

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> Scoured this past week's shows on style.com and came across another shocking omission: Not a single model over 115 lbs or under 5'9! So any industry whitewashing itself is heinous, but come on, are we actually expecting the fashion industry to reflect reality in even the slightest degree?

caseynissa

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @kaylinda:
It isn't a contest about who's Hispanic; it's a recognition that someone who has European looks is perceived and treated better.

Cameron Diaz and Salma Hayek are both gorgeous (Hayek is probably the better looking.). But Cameron Diaz is not really seen as Hispanic or Latino, and as a result gets a much broader range of roles.

I blame the designers, I blame the agents, but most of all, I blame the public.

Seeräuber Jenny

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @Reluctant Financier: whoopsie. i am bad at judging gender via comments and avatars. my b.
edit: and gent(s).

titania1285

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> To Jezebel: This report needs to be shared - with everyone, ever. It is excellent.

God Bless the Blogs.

Sukie in the Graveyard

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> Designers, Agents. Why pick one to blame? Designers (and their teams) pick the models for the shows, Agents pick the girls they want to represent.

The only ones who are NOT to blame are the girls who go out there and work their tails off to get noticed and hired. Black, Asian, Hispanic or Caucasian, they all do what they need to do to survive - regardless of their color.

(I do really wish there were more Hispanic girls on the runways, gorgeous!)

Sukie in the Graveyard

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @titania1285: I do hope that when you refer to me as 'lady' you mean it in a totally ironic and humorus way.

;-)

Intern Kevin

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @skinnybonejones: @Reluctant Financier: @ineffable.me: @TruculentandUnreliable: you ladies make me smile.

titania1285

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @nowimpissed: best comment on this post.

schmerd

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @kaylinda: Designers do what is best for their business. If enough people of influence say "Would love to see more of this" they'll show more of 'this' whatever it is. I'm not sure how that's 'special treatment'.

I find it hilarious that people even use that kind of trigger phrasing these days. So, deliciously 1992! But grunge is kind of back too so, there you go.

ambitious

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> Wouldn't it be awesome if they instituted a mandatory quota of 50% non-white models at one of the fashion weeks? Just one time, just to see what happened and how the shows and the subsequent pictures and articles looked. I think it would make a big difference from then on, even if they never instituted a quota again. I suppose it would have to be one of the fashion weeks that designers can't afford to just skip. And, yes, this would be a form of affirmative action--hooray!

schmerd

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @titania1285: Because they're weak, insecure and spineless, and doing what they do gives them some contorted, delusional sense of meaning.

With that kind of filth, simply being themselves is punishment enough, don't you think?

SBJ

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> This is wonderful, fantastic, really fucking outstanding information, Jezzies. This alone, in my opinion, makes what y'all do day in and day out 110% worth it. I doubt anyone else is as blunt or as thorough as y'all are, given the circumstances.

I thank you profusely for putting this out here for us.

Props.

SBJ

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @TruculentandUnreliable: @titania1285: And it wasn't even a good racist comment! It was the kind of thing that like, Perez Hilton would say!

Intern Kevin

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @BugMeNot2: Mommy not hold you enough as a child, honey? These desperate ploys for attention are boring.

pishposhspice

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> So what is your solution? Make them hire more models of color?
I think this is all starting to sound a lot like affirmative action. The designers shouldn't be forced to hire based on racial backgrounds. That is basically saying "Treat black (or other ethnic) models equally but give them special treatment."

kaylinda

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @titania1285: Because it's fun to pull the smart-girls' pigtails.

TruculentandUnreliable

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @titania1285: total high-school bullshit, if you ask me.

ineffable.me

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @kaylinda: I think it's bollocks too. I'm a paler-than-average Brazilian, but have Amerindian and Lebanese blood. The looks don't always reflect the heritage!

Lulu82

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @TruculentandUnreliable: i will never understand why it's considered sport to try to get the jezebels all riled up. if they hate us so much, why do they keep coming over and saying boo?

titania1285

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @tmmkitten: Here's the problem: your initial reasoning is simply false. There are plenty of non-white walking rulers in this world.

ambitious

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @titania1285: exactly!! in fact, i think i would be more likely to buy it because it would show the shape i have, and clothing would be more beautiful on a skin tone other than pale white.

tmmkitten

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @BugMeNot2: WAH WAH WAH I WANT ATTENTION SO IM GOING TO SAY CRAZY STUFF!

@kaylinda: yeah, we've discussed it before and people seem to be ok with this. it bothers the shit out of me though.

@tmmkitten: although you have only the best in mind when you say this, you're falling into the stereotype by saying that women who aren't white are curvy and that's why they aren't models. you can find stick thin girls that are tall in every single color of skin that you might want. the truth is, theres just not a good reason for this ocurrence other than ignorance.

ineffable.me

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> I had the, um,...privilege of interviewing Diddy before his Sean Jean show, and he went on and ON about how important it was for him to only use black models for his return to Fashion Week this year. I wanted to call him a racist, but didn't, for fear of being bludgeoned by him with the 10,000,000-carat diamond necklace he was sporting. But now I stop to think...maybe sometimes two wrongs DO make a right.

The Resident

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> would any of us NOT buy a piece because someone of a different color wore it in the show/ad? i mean, if you think about it, the people buying $4,000 prada cocktail dresses (or even a $350 DVF wrap dress) aren't (pardon the turn of phrase) racist yokels. for the most part, they're of a social set in which it is NOT ok to be outwardly racist (secretly, i'm sure it's as bad as everyone else...) and, i personally don't even really notice. i just think, "ooh, pretty!"

titania1285

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @Reluctant Financier: This is cross-posted at Consumerist. Nuff said.

TruculentandUnreliable

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> here is my reasoning. any model who isn't white, is usually curvy, or has features that don't look like a walking ruler. Designers LOVE the thin ruler look. so, casting agents don't cast ethnic models, agencies don't look for models who wouldn't statistically be cast, and individuals who would make amazing models, but know that agencies don't want their ethnic look don't become models.

i hate to say it, but i blame the designers. if they expressed a need, it would be filled.

tmmkitten

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @BugMeNot2: Black chicks aren't as hot as white chicks?

Are you fucking serious? And that's not a racist statement at all huh?

Intern Kevin

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @nowimpissed: hmm good point.

Hispanic women that are lighter and more european looking are not hispanic enough to be counted? That is a little BS if you ask me. That's like not counting Liya or Chanel because they are "not black enough."

kaylinda

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> If agencies could make gobs of cash with non-white models, they would have more non-white models. So I call "bullshit" on the "agencies never send the blacks, browns and yellows!" ASK FOR THEM. A good rep will light his or herself on fire to please a client and make some cheese. I've done castings and I cannot imagine anyone calling up an agency and saying "Hey, do you have anything darker? We're looking for darker." And the agencies responding "Oh, no. We don't do those. Just use what we've got,'kay?"

Poppycock.

ambitious

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @newjewrevue: I love Tibi. That's a shame.

@Political Party Girl: Word. A designer requiring a homogenous herd of models is simply a crap designer, in my opinion. Anyhow, if they want everyone to look the same, then hire all tall, exotic, black models. With short hair. They're hot. I'm thinking of that fabulous model Laura Whatsherbutt had on the last season of PR.

Archetype

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> it's not the modelling agencies or fashion designers fault that black chicks aren't as hot as white chicks. But this article in itself is racist. Maybe they were rebelling against these people trying to force them to diversify.

BugMeNot2

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @ineffable.me: Thanks.

wolf biter

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @wolf biter: No, that wasn't Alek Wek, her name is Atong.

ineffable.me

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @hammerimissu: that just gets a little iffy cause you can't really force people of a particular race to be good designers for the sake of having good numbers.

(no, im not saying that people of other races cant be good designers.)

ineffable.me

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> If I was a designer I would always book Liya and Alek, if they would have me. They're two of my favorite models, ever. Also, I would find some Indian girls, because I just think they're lovely.

hfree

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @Dodai: I feel like a racist for asking this, but did Alek Wek walk in the Project Runway show too? There's a model in Christian Siriano's collection who is the spitting image of Alek Wek but I can't confirm that it is she.

wolf biter

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @LyrasDice: I know that pale, blonde comment kinda stabbed a bit.
Maybe there also needs to be some diversity in the designers, too. Maybe that is the problem.

hammerimissu

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> Of course, at 12%, fashion has law, business, and Congress beat.

nowimpissed

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> Was it here that I read designers are reluctant to cast black models because the black models overpower the clothes? In other words, they want a blank (white) canvas on which to display their clothes so that the designs are the focus, not the models. Sorry if I'm repeating something already posted here, but either way, I call "Shenanigans!"

Political Party Girl

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @stoprobbers: Where in the world is Alek Wek, you know, aside from helping the world by being on the U.S. Refugees Council.

UpsetPanda

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @stoprobbers: they retire and stuff. she has a line of handbags and accessories i think. atong and ajuma have a similar look to her though, theya re great.

ineffable.me

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> If you watch that Janice Dickenson show, you see that the black models aren't chosen in the very beginning, by the agency. It seems, from watching, that the clients will actually use them if they're available and qualified (the right size, can walk, not drunk).

Mrs. DeLesseps To You, Dahling

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @stoprobbers: Alek Wek walked in the DVF show.

Dodai

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @MsMerlin: Models are allowed to weigh more than 110?

UpsetPanda

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> Do you guys remember Alek Wek? When she dominated? I miss her. Why doesn't she do fashion anymore? She looked like a gigantic African goddess everytime she walked a runway, dark as night and just as enigmatic. Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.

stoprobbers

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> And yet... still more non-white models than I was expecting! Thank goodness for Iman, right?

As for male models- modeling and porn are two of the only industries in which women stand to make way more than men. Interesting.

HeatherNumber1

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @newjewrevue: oof really? I used to work at Tibi.

ineffable.me

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> The Fashion World is in such a "bubble". How else can you explain 6' 135 lb. male models being "in"? Same with lack of diversity.

MsMerlin

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> I'm pale, blonde, Eastern-European-looking, and my last name is full of funny consonants. I'd buy clothes modeled by people who aren't the same colors as me. 'Course, if I had the cash, that is. Which I don't. And that always seems to be what matters.

LyrasDice

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> I tried to get the line Milly in my shop and they were complete snotty twats. Same goes for Tibi.

expatinnz

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> @UpsetPanda: It's the same thing. But female models have 10 times as more opportunity for being super rich and famous modeling. Gisele. Tyra. Kate. etc. Male models, not so much. Tyson Beckford maybe.. but that's about it. So this imbalance in social relevance means men get pushed aside and disregareded.

Intern Kevin

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> According to the Daily News, Michelle Smith, the designer behind Milly, blamed the modeling agencies for the lack of black models. "They're not giving us any people to choose from," she said.

I agree with this. Although it is possible to find a good number of black models, agencies just don't want them becuase the think that their clients don't want them. And when they do bring on a couple of black models, they all have the same look. How many AleK Wek or Naomi wannabes are they going to put out before a designer says, "Is this the only way black women look?"

Nevertheless, I have noticed more Asian models in print and on the runaway. All in all, the Hispanic ladies are the ones getting the shortest end of the stick. But ya'll got a few actresses to look up to, right?

cannotedit

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> I'm all for having diversity on the catwalk...anything about "there just aren't enough colored models" is total BS. There are a ton of models from all different countries, they just seem to want to preserve the "All-American" ideal that went out of play decades ago...whether they want to pretend that the 40s and 50s no black, Asian or Hispanic people existed in America or not, they were there. Japanese immigrants were in pockets of California as early as the 30s and 40s, and so were Chinese immigrants. Hispanic people were populating Texas and the Southwest. Of course black people have been there even longer than the other groups. This isn't rocket science - these girls are out there.

I wonder, what about male models?

UpsetPanda

]]> <![CDATA[Fashion Week Runways Were Almost A Total Whitewash]]> Designers blame the Casting Agents. Casting Agents blame the Agencies. Agencies blame the fact that they don't have many diverse models coming in. Here's an idea:

SEND SOME OF YOUR FUCKING TALENT SCOUTS TO COUNTRIES OTHER THAN RUSSIA AND BRAZIL!!!

kthnxbai.

Intern Kevin

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