STORY 2 EDIT

Mazen Hassan

Hard News Story #2

With New York Fashion Week coming to a close this week, new statistics by Jezebel.com have taken the spotlight off the runway and on to diversity as it proves that this year’s fashion season has had fewer models of color than ever before; showing that racism is still prevalent within the fashion business, and that Caucasian models are dominating the field yet again, after promises of increased diversity on the runway by many top fashion editors, designers, and casting directors, who are now under fire.

Top feminist blog jezebel.com, has been tracking and researching statistics of model’s ethnicities since 2007. At the time, it was shown that out of 101 shows in NYC in the 2007 fall season, one-third had no models of color whatsoever. Fall 2010’s statistics of New York Fashion Week showed a great increase from previous years, but still a considerable lack of diversity overall.

Out of almost 4,700 “looks”, (articles of clothing displayed on the runway – each look is represented by one model, so therefore there are over 4,000 opportunities to use a model of color) about 8% of models were Asian, 2% were Latino, 9% were African-American, and around 3% were considered multi-racial. While Caucasian models once again dominated the catwalk and the press, as they were featured in almost 80% of all shows.

This year’s New York Fashion Week 2011, showed a significant decrease yet again. Out of 128 shows and 4,170 looks – around 2% were Latina, 7.% were Asian, 18.% were “not-identifiable” i.e. of mixed race, and around 8% were African-American - yet again Caucasian models were the highest in demand, as about 83% of them were the main focus of the shows.

No increase in diversity has been made whatsoever, as numbers are still were they were from over a year ago – even with an African-American president in office; which many fashionites, such as Anna Wintour, Editor-in-chief of Vogue Magazine, use as an excuse to say that diversity is prevalent in the media.

“The designer is in charge of who it is they want to have modeling their clothes. When we are giving casting breakdowns that specify only Caucasian. Asian, or ‘light-skinned’ models – or flat out state ‘NO ETHNIC MODELS’, that is the only type of model that we will sign to our agency or send out on castings,” said model booker and agent Nathan Morales, from ORB modeling agency in NYC. “Ultimately it is the designer’s vision, and it is what we must abide by in order to maintain good standing with designers so they continue to use us for business, and to do our job correctly.”

Bridget O’Hara, an assistant manager of Mode, a PR/Showroom agency in NYC, shared a startling story, that when asking one designer if he wanted any models of ethnicity cast in his show, claimed he said “if you can find a black girl that looks like a ‘white girl dipped in chocolate’, then yeah I guess.”

“I have been in this industry for five years, and am usually on constant request when working overseas in Europe, Asia, and even the West Coast…but this past week I’ve been going on castings for New York Fashion Week, and I haven’t gotten booked for one show yet,” says Az Marie, a multi-racial model, represented by Identities Agency in NYC. “While all the other white girls on my board are sent out on bookings left and right, I am made to stay behind. They get more work and exposure, and overall make more money than I do…It is beyond unfair, and is really disheartening.”

One person has been consciously gotten out of his way to instill more diversity in fashion is up and coming fashion designer Telfar. “I have 32 models in my show, and 24 of my models are of color, I am proud to say. Because I am black myself, I understand how difficult it can be for a young colored model to get their face out their and make a career for themselves. It’s 2011, Obama’s in office, Michelle is a huge fashion icon in her own right – people just need to get over it already.”

The general consensus given when interviewing these subjects, seems to be that they feel most marketers and advertisers may forget that people of color buy and wear clothes too. The models of color interviewed stated that not seeing their racial group identified in a specific brand’s ads disheartened them from wanting to support that designer. And overall, they felt that it could not only potentially have a label lose a ton of income, but it made the label lose them as fans and buyers.

"Fashion has always been a business full of fantasy – but it is time to try and start rooting it in reality, and change people’s perception of beauty," Telfar said. Only time will tell in the upcoming seasons whether that will ring true or not.