African American models speak out about being in the fashion industry.
You're looking in the mirror, making those final adjustments before your audition. It’s finally your time to show your beauty and talents. Then a sign of destruction pauses your steps.
In Netflix movie “Supermodel” where a young girl from the Brooklyn housing projects goes from the subway to the runway becoming one of the majority sought-after models in the fashion industry. Nevertheless, in the high stakes world of fashion and beauty. Things aren't always as glamorous as they seem. Realizing when she was positioned to an audition and faced a sign on the door saying “No Blacks Allowed.” If you were a woman of color how would this made you feel?
Diversity is an extensive word in fashion right now, however, it can be difficult to tell how committed the industry is to assemble changed.When it comes to modeling, we’ve seen an increased representation of races and ethnicities. There’s journey to achieving anything resembling an accurate reflection of the myriad people out there. Let’s not forget that breaking into the modeling industry is difficult no matter what. Did you realize it’s extra challenging to achieve this as a person of color?
African American model's face is more challenging once they proceed past the casting stage. As soon as a woman of color steps off the runway she is being judged by the shade of her skin, the texture of her hair, or the size of her body. When a model of color receives hits from all directions and arrives backstage for a fashion week presentation, to realize artists being unequipped to work with her hair texture and complexion. This experience serves to reinforce her otherness.
African American models was their own glam squad before makeup artists could accommodate their needs. Public Figure Brittany Manson
“I usually just bring my own foundation with me before a show and come with my hair already straighten.” aforesaid model Brittany Manson. This sends the message that African American models don't matter, at least not enough for artists to style them adequately. We should care since we need equal rights for every woman in the industry instead of being choosy about who can and can’t. Black models never, with single-digit exceptions in a decade, appear on the cover of major fashion magazines as the black model Jourdan Dunn told the Guardian in 2013,"people in the industry say if you have a black face on the cover of a magazine it won't sell"
According to The Fashion Spot Fall 2017 season, examined 241 shows and 7,035 model castings from New York, London, Paris, and Milan. According to data, numerous women of color walked the runway than ever before. For all four cities combined, 72.1 percent of the models cast were white and 27.9 percent were women of color. This represents a 2.5 point increase over the 25.4 percent non-white models we reported for Spring 2017. For reference, Fall and Spring 2016’s runways were 24.7 and 22.4 percent nonwhite, respectively. With this positive uplift shows how models capture control of racial diversity in the industry one step at a time.
Women of color have hindrance or setbacks into opportunities in view of the fact of the color of their skin. “I did a casting and there were two African American models which one of them is me. We were the token girls. They akin the other model since her African roots were deeper than mine. Meanwhile, there were other non-African American models that were in the casting that experience their audition alone, yet I and the other token black girl was obligated to do our audition together which I felt was unfair. I told my agency they treated me differently. The agency told me that the cast, directors allied my appearance, despite that didn’t give me the opportunity seeing that I wasn't dark enough.’ spoken model Jennifer Roberts. With fingers pointing in every direction who is to blame for these complications in the fashion industry? The blame here lies with fashion editors, designers and, to a degree, the casting directors for the shows. Why can't African American models receive the same opportunity as Caucasian women?
Situations of this nature can be fixed by models taking a stand. Using their voice with no fear. Brittany aforementioned, “you need that confidence”. It's a no-no to allow any casting director or photographer rip out your beauty gem. “When getting in the beauty industry you should proceed within and recognize and appreciate your own beauty as it is. Not as they say it should be or how the trend is. It's about looking and acknowledging your true worth” Jennifer mentioned.
Regardless of how jacked up, the fashion industry may be women of color are beautiful as any other race. The top three solutions I give is to one: be aware of your self-worth. Two: Have a voice and stand up for what's right. Lastly, no matter the countless times you snag a turn down keep trying until you come into the industry. Show other women if anyone else can achieve it, I can too.”Don't let anybody tell you anything regarding yourself is wrong.” answered model Gabby Richardson.
Racism subtly permeates every facet of fashion week from the runway to backstage. Only a few models of color are usually seen on any given runway.While we’ve come a long way, in order to truly effect change, models must continue to speak out and build their marks in the fashion industry. Could you be that change?
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