Naomi Campbell has previously been portrayed by the media as rather notorious due to her underlying anger issues; what has come to light is the humanitarian effect that perhaps the Late Nelson Mandela had on her. He regarded her as his ‘honorary granddaughter’. In 2013 she, along with Chanel Iman and Bethann Hardison set up a coalition in order to eliminate what’s deemed as racism on the runway, whatever the intention may be; to bring back diversity. I specifically cited ‘bring back’ as Naomi Campbell expressed to CNN that when she initially began her modelling career back in 1986, “there was Asians, blacks, whites, Indians, Chinese. It was very diverse”.
It is really rather heart-breaking to have witnessed such regression in what should be an industry that unites all ethnicities. Especially with designers such as Prabal Gurung and Miu Miu to name a couple, as well as other industry professionals from the globe over. I feel the three of these ladies as ambassadors for the coalition, are extremely influential in conveying their message of ‘Time for Change’. My reasoning for this is not only because of their authority due to celebrity status; but insofar as the fact they’ve witnessed reversion to this 1950’s mentality first-hand. An example of this is when The Sunday Times articulated what Chanel Iman had said in an interview that, “A few times I got excused by designers who told me, ‘We already found a black girl. We don’t need you anymore’”. Naturally she felt extremely disheartened by this, and many would regard it as a racist comment.
Some have argued it not being the designers or casting agents who are racist and at fault per se, but purely the system. Though historically racism would stem systematically, it is quite absurd for designers and companies alike to entirely blame the system when it’s pretty evident they, themselves are fully aware of the decisions they make not to hire models of colour. Again although their intention may not be racist, the outcome very much is offensive. It is refreshing to see not only the likes of Tom Ford and Diane Von Furstenberg taking the issue of diversity seriously; with Tom Ford casting his own models and working closely with the likes of Jay Z (my heart skipped a beat whilst typing his name <3); but also young independent designers such as TRIKKI and NIKITA KARIZMA both based in London. They both use models from various ethnicities in their promotional campaigns. This is encouraging as they are sending the right message to today’s youth.
Neelam Johal for Burberry
The Turban and Vuitton
Seeing as though we are coming to the end of Fashion Week 2014, I thought to do some research to see if there was an improvement in diversity on the catwalk. I found that 985 out of 4,621 looks in the 148 Fall/Winter 2014 shows were unveiled by models of colour, making 78.6% of the models white. Not a huge contrast from the Spring/Summer 2014 shows where 79.98% of the models were white. This has been around the 80% mark for the past 6 seasons. Having said this, it is encouraging to see a wide range of people get involved in the movement both direct and indirectly to aid in shaping this change. Not only does Tom Ford have a strong influence; Louis Vuitton’s new creative director Nicolas Ghesquière debuted a first ever campaign with a Sikh man Jatinder Singh Duhailay wearing a turban and Burberry has enabled Neelam Johal to become their first ever Indian campaign star, she is most definitely one to watch!
Stilettos & Silhouettes 