In the aftermath of Paris Fashion Week, it's time to draw attention the extreme lack of diversity usually seen on runways. Demna Gvasalia, the lead designer of Vetements, failed to cast onesingle person of color, but little attention was brought to that.
The sad part is, when I first heard this, I should've been more shocked than I was. There have been other incidents like this recently, most notably, the Oscar nominations being all white. The fight for inclusion seems to be never-ending, and even with models of color, they tend to be more fair-skinned. There's a lack of natural hair, just so girls can fit into the white hetero-normative beauty ideal.
Model Leomie Anderson angrily tweeted about an incident backstage where a makeup artist did not have a shade of foundation to match her skin tone, saying, "We need more makeup artists and hair [stylists] who are competent with all races backstage at shows."
She goes on to describe what happened, angrily tweeting about her experience:
Leomie accurately and concisely sums up a larger problem: the inability of the workers in the fashion industry to deal with people of color.
Even off the runway, there multiple issues with diversity. A popular clothing line, Brandy Melville, posted a picture on their Instagram which features a large number of their models.
These girls, though they are all beautiful, fit into the same beauty ideal, promptly causing plenty of users to angrily comment things such as:
Brandy's Instagram page does feature some people of color. However, they are few and far between; there are 13 more pictures featuring other models before one single person of color is shown.
It's frustrating to see so many people view fair skin as a beauty ideal, rather than simply a physical aspect of someone. People of color should not be forced to play catch up or fight to even be seen on runways and in catalogs, especially in an industry that capitalizes on appearance. It's time for a change.