Colour on the Catwalk

Colour on the catwalk - the real fashion victims

The day before Jason Wu sent his Spring 2011 creations down the
catwalk at New York Fashion Week, the designer declared “Spring is
more dangerous”. The intriguing comment was made clear when his first
model stalked down the runway: Joan Smalls. A sheer pussy-bow blouse,
some high-waisted chinos and a pair of towering wedges – so far, so
Spring 2011. But the surprise comes from Joan herself: tall, beautiful
– and mixed-race.

The lack of black and other ethnic models on high-fashion catwalks is
an oft-commented issue. The use of ethnic minority models appears to
fall in with other 'trends': every few seasons a designer conducts a
brief flirtation with an 'exotic' theme and dazzles the fashion world
with a show full of rainforest-print and black models, but for the
models the work disappears as soon as it arrives.

Earlier this year Sarah Doukas, managing director of model agency
Storm, told the Independent that "There has been frustration over the
years from a lot of ethnic models, stylists and editors who have felt
that they were not working as much as some of their Caucasian
counterparts. But there has been a shift recently: supportive media
coverage has had an impact on the fashion industry."

Yet so far, models such as Alek Wek – the face of high-end designers
from Calvin Klein to Chanel whose family esaped Sudan for Britain
during the civil war – are still very much in the minority. The
November issue of Vogue, with more than 300 pages of editorial and
advertising contained just 16 shots of black or Asian models, four of
them showing Naomi Campbell.

Fashion photographer extrordinaire – and ironic Vogue favourite – Nick
Knight has often been vocal on the issue of ethnic representation in
the pages of magazines. He's previously told reporters that “The
fashion industry and the advertising industry are steeped in racism.
You just have to look around at the number of black girls you see in
ads – virtually nil. Among the main fashion brands, they are
completely under-represented. It's shocking and atrocious."

Although a controversy far removed from our London lecture theatres
and morning style dilemmas, has the fashion race debate reached our
universities? Hopefully not: last year a Queen Mary modelling
competition crowned Woosh Raza – an Asian male student – as their Miss
Queen Mary, and our very own London Student shoot featured students
regardless of their 'ethnic look' – the phrase often used on casting
briefs to exclude all but one ethnicity of models. Whether or not the
monthly installment of 400 magazine pages of Caucasian models
discourages our universities' potential minority models, there are at
least some heroines in the industry. Tyra, Naomi, and Alek are
constantly involved in campaigns for equal representation on the
catwalk, hosting events and raising awareness. Naomi recently drew
attention to the disparity: "There is a lack of women of colour within
the fashion industry which needs to be addressed. It is important for
the agents, managers, advertisers and designers who are promoting
change to speak out. We are not here to complain, we need to find a
solution."

Goldsmiths student Maggie Sarai entered the Top Model of Colour competition and walked the catwalk at this years London Fashion Week for Fashion Diversity. She told me that she had never encountered any problems about her ethnicity during her modeling career: “Designers and photographers are very specific about the look they want and if it is my look they are looking for then they call me in.” However, Maggie has definitely noticed the disparity in the industry: “I don't see as many ethnic models in high fashion magazines and on the catwalk as I would like. Of course there are the big names that have made it, like Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks, and more recently Jourdan Dun and Chanel Iman who do represent ethnic diversity on the runways and magazine fashion pages. I understand that it will take time for ethnic models to be more recognized in the modeling industry but the models that have already broken through have certainly made an impression and will build a platform for upcoming ethnic models like myself.”

However real change will come from designer choices – a wider range of
models on the catwalk will mean a wider range of models in magazines
and in our uni-fashionista lives. Perhaps Jason Wu had a bigger plan
for his industry in mind when he used his Spring 2011 models without
the seemingly obligatory accompanying ethnic theme, and perhaps this
signals a new, more stable, life for burgeoning ethnic minority models
nearer to home.