Despite the on-going efforts to diversify the fashion industry, this season’s crop of runway models was overwhelmingly white. Just like every season before.
In a new report by Business of Fashion, researchers surveyed 117 major shows during New York, London, Paris, and Milan fashion weeks. It turns out there was a total of 3,875 model bookings during the events; however, only 797 models were racial minorities (black, Asian, non-white Hispanic, and other). That means 80 percent of those on the runway were white—an alarming number that proves the industry still has a long way to go.
“It’s not a particularly diverse industry,” Robin Givhan, The Washington Post fashion editor, told BoF. “We are drawn to people who look like us. Unless they’re making a conscious decision to deviate from the standard, then the standard is what they go for. And [their] standard is blonde and blue eyed.”
The study revealed that blacks were the most represented minority at 10.2 percent. Asians accounted for 6.5 percent, followed by “others” (including those of Indian and Middle Eastern descent) at 2.3 percent. Non-white Hispanics came in last with only 1.6 percent.
Those are pretty sad numbers that many experts attribute to the “myth and ideal of the western product.”
“Fashion didn’t invent the tendency to regard certain types of Caucasian bodies as beautiful. There’s a pre-history in art, literature and drama, of presenting a certain type of European as the cultural ideal,” London College of Fashion professor Reina Lewis told BoF.
Lewis goes on to explain that while some beauty standards have changed, most notably weight, “whiteness” has remained a constant signifier of the “ideal” body.
So how can this all change? Well, thanks to social media and user-generated imagery in fashion, we’re seeing more and more minorities making their marks in the industry and broadening the definition of beauty. We can only hope decision-makers will be influenced by this trend and realize the benefits of diverse runway shows. If people demand it, they’ll likely give in.
