I was super excited a few months back when I heard Italian Vogue's July issue was going to be 'A Black Issue' using only black models in all the editorials.
Well excited but a little skeptical as well. Why make such an issue of it i wondered. Wouldn't it be more lasting and ultimately more poignant to resolve to use more black models overall. Wouldn't readers eventually 'get it'? Wouldn't they gradually get used to seeing more diversity in their magazines and it wouldn't be such a big deal? Was it a case of, "there you go, a whole issue of black models, now let us get back to using our Russians"?
I read in an issue of self service way back (something like in 2006) that Nicolas Ghesquiere, creative director of Balenciaga, had wanted to send model Liya Kebede out as the first face on several occassions, but the suits wouldn't allow it (Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy had better luck, sending out six black models in succession for the A/W 06 show).
Now I have to say that unfortunately I understand Ghesquiere's predicament. You send out a black girl first at Balenciaga and editors and clients alike spend the whole show wondering what point the designer is trying to make, that is after they've gotten over the initial shock of actually seeing a black girl come out first. The focus gets taken off the clothes you see (this I don't believe for a second. It's never been just about the clothes, has it?). You know what they say about the models being coat hangers, blank canvasses. And as it stands a black model isn't a blank canvass. Her/his skin comes along with it's own connotations and the clothes are seen in context in relation to that. That's why (with a few exceptions) in the past when you've seen a black girl in an editorial it's bold, it's loud, likely to be a print story...
or a colour story...
Or maybe editors have just been giving their readers less credit than they deserve.
Super influential creatives such as Nick Knight and Steven Miesel have spoken out against the lack of diversity of models, especially in advertising. I find it interesting how they've done this at around the same time. In fashion, as with all things creative I'm sure, there's that sense of 'something in the air' - a result of the amalgamation of many factors that influences art, literature, film, fashion etc, it's not something that is tangible but people feel it, and it feels like 'now'.
Popular street fashion blogger facehunter has of late (and to be fair even before now, and especially when in new york) featured more black fashionistas (I hate the word but couldn't come up with another, sorry). Look at nyc shots from the last few days. I assume that these are a shortlist, an edit of the days pictures that facehunter has chosen to publish.
See what I mean by being in the air? But the thing is you can't force it. It feels wrong if the fashion story you're shooting doesn't warrant a black model but you have a higher agenda and use one anyway. You can't really get away with things like that when it's creative.
Anyways here are a few photos that don't fit into the usual...
I questioned Italian Vogue's 'A Black Issue' but I absolutely loved it. Being kinda black (I think the pc term is mixed race) the beauty 'ideal' has always been my opposite, so I felt a little validated. Not to mention that fashion wise it was a great issue. The shoots were quite diverse and challenged the norms, there wasn't a 'tribal print' story in sight. Maybe something is shifting? And I do hope that bringing attention to it so wholeheartedly will actually make a difference in the long run. It'll be interesting to see if more black models are cast for the S/S 09 shows that have just begun, but what about the season after that?
I think the fashion issue is that we're getting bored (I think Nick and Steve are too). I know I am. Seeing the same kind of girls, I speak of the pale faced willowy girl featured in most fashion editorials and advertisements, it's boring me. I was so excited when I came across the website of casting director Douglas Perrett's street casting agency development, that I emailed him to say how great I thought it was. He replied something like 'Do I know you?' - so fashion, I love it.
ps. has anyone spared a thought for all the red head models out there? Who's speaking up for them? I love rangers. They are my favourite. I hope to one day marry a ranger boy and have ranger babies with freckles and I would give them all ghetto names like 'Shaquana' and 'Taliq'. That would be fun.
pps. just saw the current issue of i-d. guess who's on the cover?
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