Black Is Finally in Fashion at Vogue
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It’s an open secret in the fashion industry: black models rarely get jobs on catwalks, in magazines and on billboards. According to executives, they do not inspire women to spend money.
Apart from Naomi Campbell in one Louis Vuitton advertisement this season, it would be difficult to find a single black model in a prominent position in a magazine. Carole White of the Premier Model Agency says she has received casting briefs requesting “no ethnics” and adds: “According to magazines, black models don’t sell.”
The leading British photographer Nick Knight says: “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.”
Mr Knight blames business people at the top of the industry. A common attitude among them, he says, is that black models are “not aspirational” or “don’t sell in Asia”. He goes on: “I have tried to redress the balance. It is enormously important to use black models and models of different ethnic backgrounds.”
Now a counterattack to the racism of the fashion industry is coming from an unlikely source: Vogue Italia. The July issue of the fearsomely cutting-edge quarterly will feature black models almost exclusively, shot by the photographer Steven Meisel.
Franca Sozzani, editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia, told The Independent on Sunday: “We are using a lot of black models, like Iman, not only the models of today—a lot of different girls.” Asked why she had decided to do this, she said: “Because nobody is using black girls. I see so many beautiful girls and they were complaining that they are not used enough.”
Ms Sozzani admitted the issue could yet prove to be unpopular among some in Italy, where the xenophobic Northern League is part of the new coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi: “Maybe in our country it is not the best idea. But I don’t care. I think it is not my problem if they don’t like it—it’s their problem.”
Sarah Doukas, managing director of model agency Storm, says: “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 she added: “There has been a shift recently: supportive media coverage has had an impact on the fashion industry.”
Nick Knight welcomes the prospect of Vogue Italia’s all-black edition but adds a note of caution: “I hope all the advertising goes in that issue.”
(Posted on April 28, 2008)
Comments
*Now a counterattack to the racism of the fashion industry is coming from an unlikely source: Vogue Italia. The July issue of the fearsomely cutting-edge quarterly will feature black models almost exclusively, shot by the photographer Steven Meisel.*
I wonder if they’ll experience their first “catastrophic” decline in sales during that month?
Posted by Obscuratus at 5:32 PM on April 28
“If readers don’t like it, that’s their problem.”
Does this mean Sozzani has found a way to *force* readers to continue subscribing to “Vogue”?
It would be very amusing to hear her explain all over again to Vogue’s board of directors how she “doesn’t care.” Consumers, it just so happens, have this fascinating habit of voting with their wallets.
Posted by Michael C. Scot at 5:35 PM on April 28
Heres hoping their stupid move causes business to bomb. it isn’t good business, no MATTER the context, to tell your customer, that if they don’t like it its “their problem”. The consumer isnt going to enjoy being spat upon like that.
Posted by Stuck in No Mans Land at 5:35 PM on April 28
“Maybe in our country it is not the best idea. But I don’t care. I think it is not my problem if they don’t like it—it’s their problem.”{snip}
But she added: “There has been a shift recently: supportive media coverage has had an impact on the fashion industry.”
Ah yes! Taking the advice of the dying main-stream media! Their bankruptcy will be so well deserved!
Posted by at 6:00 PM on April 28
“Vogue Italia editor in chief: If readers don’t like it, it’s their problem.”
It’ll be your problem if the readers decide to cancel their subscriptions. Why is the issue of marketing ugly black models coming up in a country like Italy?
Posted by at 6:11 PM on April 28
I can’t wait for “Little Darlings: Vogue Goes Pygmy,” or “the Next Big Thing: Celebrating Samoan Beauty.” I have nothing against Pygmys or Samoans - neither does Vogue, I imagine - but there is one group that is being stomped on in this issue, and that is the shareholders, whose legitimate interests are up on the PC chopping block.
Posted by Ryan Chaserian at 7:14 PM on April 28
Time to sell all your stock in Vogue. Better do it quick before it becomes completely worthless.
Posted by at 8:08 PM on April 28
The ‘fashion industry’ they are concerned about is in Europe, of course. Whites are over 90 percent of Europe’s population. Blacks may be overrepresented in the ‘fashion industry’, however, if the goal is to find someplace black women have a remarkable talent for fitting in, even achieving against all odds, I would suggest looking in the prostitution industry.
Posted by LHathaway at 8:58 PM on April 28
Now a counterattack to the racism of the fashion industry is coming from an unlikely source
Notice how the preference of white readers for models that look like them is automatically labelled as “racism.” If blacks want a magazine in which all the models are black they can start their own magazine. And that won’t be called “racist” by the MSM. In fact, it will be called “a necessary response to the racism found in white-controlled magazines.” Funny how that works out.
Posted by Tim in Indiana at 9:39 PM on April 28
I’m just wondering what sort of black “fashions” are en vogue?
Could it be that nasty black woman I saw the other day at the supermarket? It was almost 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon and she had on pajama pants, a t-shirt, blue house slippers and a hairbrush stuck in her nappy hair.
Or, maybe it’s those morbidly obese black women I always see leaving churches with the big ugly hats and faux Leopard-skin purses and Armani knock-off sunglasses?
Or, maybe the black model will be like Quiana — the overweight black woman I work with — who comes to work without a shower some mornings but drenches herself in perfume? She’s got about 5 piercings in each ear, a nose ring and is dripping with gold around her neck. Her eating habits are atrocious!
Absolutely disgusting!!! I hope Vogue Italia pays a huge price for it’s idiocy.
Posted by at 10:24 PM on April 28
“I have tried to redress the (ethnic model)balance” - Nick Knight
Social engineering imposed on people who never asked for it, by a pompous know-it-all.
Posted by at 10:25 PM on April 28
It is a ” open secret ” that white Caucasian are not shown in black American magazines such as “Essence and Ebony “; where is their critique for their non-representation of non-blacks ? Oops, I know; anti-white racist double standard.
Posted by Michigan patriot at 10:31 PM on April 28
Mr Knight blames business people at the top of the industry. He goes on: “I have tried to redress the balance. It is enormously important to use black models and models of different ethnic backgrounds.”
Enormously important? I have just one word: WHY?
Posted by at 11:43 PM on April 28
I just spent several weeks in Milan. Most enlightening. And equally depressing. One of the first things that caught my eye there was the fad for black mannequins in the shop windows. I don’t think these would sell very well in America or other places that have had a surfeit of blacks. But there, they are seen as fashionable, the “in” thing.
And I noticed entire streets of Chinese shops, one after another, dealing in such arcane fashion accessories as buckles, bracelets, buttons, and beads. Each shop having its specialty. There are, for example, rows of shops and shops selling nothing but beads — infinite varieties of beads; beads of every description. Who would imagine there would be such a huge market for just beads? The Chinese are getting a hold on the fashion industry, working from the bottom up.
The Chinese in Milan, it must be said, are very enterprising. They are all at work inside their shops, running their little businesses. In another generation, they will be big businesses. The Africans, on the other hand, are to be found milling around out in the street, and hanging out in train stations, parks and public places.
Street prostitution is also flagrant in Milan, much of it appearing to be African — some of them West Indians down from London (— they all pitch you in English. All!).
Milan is currently being inundated by the Third World . Soon it will resemble another Paris. There are three distinct sources: Black Africa, the Arab/Muslim world, the Orient. Considering the numbers of blacks one sees in the streets, everywhere, this fad for blacks in fashion cannot possibly last for long. It’s bound to wear off as their novelty does. Just wait until a few fashion designers have been mugged or murdered. And it is so unrealistic, too, since these blacks, newly arrived from Africa, are the filthiest and smelliest of all the immigrants and the very least concerned with anything to do with fashion. You can smell them from across the street.
In fact, the world of high fashion, by its nature, is very largely a fantasy world, catering to the extremely rich and out of touch with the real world. When you look around you, at the thousands of people in the street …. who among them is dressed to look like a model out of a page in Vogue? No one!
Fashion is also a uniquely European and American thing. It’s hardly surprising then that it should feature European/American models. If Africans want a chunk out of fashion, (which really implies the big money that it entails), then let them start their OWN fashion business for African fashions. European fashions have NOTHING to do with them, and never have.
Posted by ghw at 12:35 AM on April 29
Preference is not prejudice. White consumers prefer White-oriented marketing, including White models and spokespeople. This is perfectly natural. There is no law stopping blacks from having their own markets. I would probably be far less likely to buy a product being pushed by blacks then by Whites particularly clothes. Why would any White with half a brain want to dress the moronic way blacks do?
Posted by at 12:39 AM on April 29
At Tyra Banks “America’s Next Top Model” last season, she chose a plug-ugly Black girl over an obvious model-type blued-eyed, tall gorgeous blonde.
I’ve yet to see the Black girl (who Tyra had wearing a wig as her hair was corn-braided) do any modeling work. The girl who “won” was on ONE cover but it’s part of the prize.
What a joke.
Posted by at 1:02 AM on April 29
If not liking something in a magazine is “my problem,” the answer is quite simple. I DON’T BUY THAT MAGAZINE! As to VOGUE, WHY would ANY White woman even want to buy a magazine featuring non-White models. Would a White woman waste money BUYING fashions that will have her regarded as a wanna-be Black female?
I got the biggest laugh not long ago, when shopping with my wife. We saw this fat Black female, dressed in what looked like a dress made by Omar, the Tentmaker, with matching comic hat. Both hat and dress made out of what looked like an old AWNING (fat wide vertical stripes in alternating orange and dark brown colors). My wife and I looked at each other and broke up. The silly Black female probably fancied herself to be an African tribal Chieftess or whatever — but managed to make herself look absolutely ludicrous — like she was going to a costume party for comic get-ups.
Are Blacks really that dumb, or is it an act to get Whites to notice them — even if only in an adverse way? These tribal costumes, or whatever they’re meant to be. They are absolutely the most stupid looking styles anyone ever wore. Not that Blacks have any real fashion taste — unless you consider looking outlandish and weird (by Black males AND females), to be the latest in style.
Posted by Fed Up at 2:22 PM on April 29
Why is it “racist” that a white audience wants to see their own model the designs? Its not racist when blacks demand that they see black faces on television, and argue against having racial aliens rubbed in their faces. Why is it different here?
Posted by Hates PC at 2:54 PM on April 29
I love it when liberals start drinking their own multi-cult Kool-aid. If they want to go down with their ship, so be it. Go ahead, libs…test your diversity theory in the marketplace!!!
Posted by Xenophon at 4:08 PM on April 29
Black models should stick with what they know and what they can sell. Big clunky trenchcoat type dresses, black berets and big fake jewelry or FUBU.
Posted by at 7:37 PM on April 29
Style? Blacks with style? Yeah, right.
Reminds me of an old joke.
What’s purple, green, pink, red and yellow?
A black woman on her way to Sunday church.
Posted by La Refugee at 8:26 PM on April 29
“Style? Blacks with style? Yeah, right.”
The congregants and clergy of B. Hussein Obama’s church resemble nothing so much as circus clowns.
Posted by Cassiodorus at 8:57 PM on April 29
That’s one magazine I won’t be buying, Vogue Italia. I prefer to see all white models who are infinitely more beautiful. Boycott Vogue, it’s a racist mag.
Posted by at 1:34 AM on April 30
If readers don’t like it, it’s their problem.
The hubris of the old media literally knows no bounds. They’re just about to find out the hard way that they’re no longer the only game in town.
Posted by qwerty at 2:31 AM on April 30
“What’s purple, green, pink, red and yellow?
A black woman on her way to Sunday church.”
Hi there I am Korean, I am aware I am also an immigrant, yes I do currently have a Canadian citizenship but I will never deny that I am a non-white and I was not born in North America, I am aware how much of injustice you are experiencing all in the name of affirmative action, I love reading on AmRen,
but it is never necessary to joke about someone who is going to the church. nothing more. I would really appreciate if there are no jokes regarding church or Christianity.
Posted by at 1:53 PM on April 30
“If readers don’t like it, its their problem”,,,,,
Well if readers don’t LIKE it, they won’t READ it or BUY it. Then its YOUR problem. Funny how arrogance can detach one from reality. Perhaps when some corporate accountant shows executives a big drop in sales there will be a wake-up call and mister social-engineer will be shown the door.
Posted by at 9:35 PM on April 30
“I would really appreciate if there are no jokes regarding church or Christianity. “
———-
I didn’t see any jokes about Christianity. Nor about any other religion at all.
The only reference was to the typical way some black women DRESS, and this was in turn related to their sense of fashion. The article is about fashion, and therefore the comment was justified.
Posted by voter at 11:21 PM on May 1
Who buys most of the magazines? White women. Therefore, it makes sense to use white models.
How many white models do you see in VIBE or EBONY?
Posted by at 3:55 PM on May 3
I am sorry, Korean guy, but the evil sermons issued by the ilk of Reverend Wright make a mockery of the notion of going to church for salvation.
A man’s business with his god is his own. We’re all born, like kittens and puppies, and we all die, but only humans KNOW we’re going to die, and also that it’s probably going to hurt. Laughing at our own mortality is every bit as valid a way of coping with it as going to church.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 5:15 PM on May 3