Is the Fashion Industry Racist? Supermodel Says Yes

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New York's Fashion Week showcased more than just spring 2008's designers and their upcoming fashion lines. Amidst a swarm of blond, blue-eyed runway models, only a handful of black, Latina and Asian models graced the catwalk this season.

But while some insiders contest that the fashion industry discriminates against women of color, others say it's a designer's artistic right not to use women of color in a fashion show.

Naomi Campbell, who became the first black woman on the covers of French and British Vogue, says discrimination against models of color is still as prevalent today as it was during the '90s when she first made her mark as one of the world's most recognizable supermodels.

Recently, Campbell accused fashion magazines of giving seniority to fair-skinned models while passing up on black beauties, saying outright that "all of that hard work we did has not changed anything," according to New York's Metro. Campbell vehemently believes that the fashion industry has regressed. Click here to read the full story at Metro.

"There was a turning point where you had many girls working at once, and it looked like things were going to change; we all had high hopes," Campbell adds.   

Others argue that discrimination against women of color has also found its way onto the runways. Guy Trebay, a fashion reporter for The New York Times who has kept a close eye on the subject, says the shortage of women of color on the catwalk is nothing new. "The runway doesn't reflect the world," says Trebay in Metro. "It makes fashion feel very backward."

Many people who work behind the scenes say the problem has gotten worse rather than better. Fashion art director Frank de Jesus says he struggles to book Asian models as well. "It is unfortunate that a white girl with blond hair is still the ideal of beauty," he tells Reuters. "I wish there were more girls of color and Asian girls."

To some designers and casting directors, if their shows are not ethnically diverse, it's because of problems finding black and Asian models. However, models such as Keisha Omilana and Ujjwala Raut, who are black and South Asian, respectively, insist that their "kind" and other models of color are simply not wanted because they are not considered "what's in." Omilana tells Metro she often struggles to book runway shows.

"I would go to the shows and see 30 girls walk with only one face of color among them. The imbalance kills all of the other girls' hopes," she says.

Oftentimes, designers will use anywhere from one to three black models per show. J. Alexander, a runway coach on UPN TV's "America's Next Top Model," says the standard for using black models is usually "two girls, three maximum," reports Reuters. 

Are the modeling agencies that supply the models also to blame? According to Models.com, only a few top New York agencies represent more than two black, Latina or Asian models. Anna Park, regional attorney for the Los Angeles district attorney's office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), says the fact that so few agencies hire women of color is not an aesthetic issue, it's an employment issue. Park, who also worked on a case against Abercrombie & Fitch—a company that tried to define "all-American" as a white male—says setting a race-based quota could be viewed as discrimination according to EEOC regulations.

"You can't just say, 'We have enough of you,'" Park tells Metro. "If it appears you only want white people, that can be viewed as discrimination."

While a significant part of the blame lies with agencies, Philippe Brutus, an agent with Art + Commerce, says it's the designer's responsibility to establish ethnic diversity and "push the envelope and cast many kinds of girls."

Godeliv Van den Brandt, a biracial model of Belgian and Congolese heritage, says black models are used much less often than whites, and usually only when there is an "inspiration" such as an African-themed style of clothing.

Other designers feel it is their artistic right not to use women of color in their fashion shows. This decision has legal ramifications, Park says. "There's a fine line between artistic vision and discrimination," says Park. "If a designer chooses to define a certain vision as all white or all black, you run the risk of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964."

When New York Fashion Week ushered in its most recent lines, Diane von Furstenberg and Baby Phat were among the few lines to use an equal racial mix of models. At least half the models used for Baby Phat, which featured Kimora Lee Simmons' urban designs, were black or Asian models.

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