Italia Vogue Features Black Models only
27-06-2008
This bold statement made by Italia Vogue is in reaction to recent anger over the reluctance of fashion magazines to feature Black models on their covers. Many industry insiders claim Black girls are not used because they just "do not sell".
How can this be possible when some of the most beautiful women in the world are Black? And White, Latin, Asian the list goes on. It is sad to see that discrimination against a person because of their race, age, weight, sexuality is still so apparent and especially so in the harsh world of the fashion industry. This is certainly a drastic action taken by Italia Vogue in order to get their point across but why in this day and age does anything have to be just Black or just White?
FashionCapital has recently held its final for the Face of Croydon modelling competition. The panel of industry expert judges selected Kym Whittle as its winner who will now be flown over to New York to model in FashionCapital’s fashion event Profile during New York Fashion Week. Kym is young Black girl and the people’s choice winner went to Sally McDonald, a young White girl. This is pure coincidence to coincide with the Italia Vogue story but I think it demonstrates that not everyone in the fashion industry discriminates against others.
Supermodel Naomi Campbell has often voiced her opinion over the lack of Black models on the runway, ‘Black models are being sidelined by the major modelling agencies. It is a pity that people don't appreciate black beauty. Even myself, I get a raw deal from my own country in England. For example, I hardly come on the front pages of the London Vogue magazine. Only white models, some of whom are not as prominent as I am, are put on splash pages. I don't want to quit modelling until I find that black models get equal prominence and recognition by the world media and information instruments."
Let’s hope the winner of The Face of Croydon Kym can also join forces with Naomi and get Black models equal recognition so magazines like Italia Vogue do not need to categorise individuals so drastically.
Let’s hope the winner of The Face of Croydon Kym can also join forces with Naomi and get Black models equal recognition so magazines like Italia Vogue do not need to categorise individuals so drastically.
