Chanel Iman Talks About the Racism She's Faced in the Fashion Industry

The model relates personal experiences that reflect a wider problem.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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The fashion industry is no stranger to racist and ratchet behavior. In the past few months alone, numerous publications and leading figures have been put on blast for extremely questionable behavior and decisions. Well if you still had doubts that the industry was still in the stone age when it came to race, Chanel Iman, the it-model of the moment, related in an interview times when she's faced explicit racism to her face. 

In an interview with the Sunday Times Magazine, and brought to our attention by the Huffington Post, Iman was asked if racism is still an issue in the fashion industry. Her response wasn't surprising, but still packed a punch. “Yeah, most definitely. A few times I got excused by designers who told me ‘we already found one black girl. We don’t need you anymore.’ I felt very discouraged. When someone tells you, ‘we don’t want you because we already have one of your kind, it’s really sad.”

[via The Times]

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