Jezebel recently combed the September issues of ten fashion magazines in search of black models who scored their own fashion editorials:
Aside from Kelly Moreira who graced 8 pages in Teen Vogue, Chanel Iman who represented on 8 pages in Allure, Georgia Badiel on 10 pages in Elle (where she’s rocking an afro!), and Lyndsey Scott in W, most magazines, including Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Glamour, Lucky, and Cosmopolitan, neglected to feature a black model carrying an editorial by themselves:
Why was it important for black models to go it alone? Jezebel said, “A fashion magazine uses its glossy fashion editorial pages to announce what is beautiful, fashionable, and “now.” When only white models are utilized in the highly desirable September feature fashion shoots, the message being sent is that to be beautiful, fashionable and “now,” you can’t be black.”
The story doesn’t count celebrities (like Halle Berry’s Vogue Cover) because, according to Anna Holmes, “[The covers], when they do feature a black face, are almost always given up to a celebrity, a woman who most likely has straightened, lightened, contoured, and streamlined her hair and facial features to as close an approximation of whiteness as possible.”
I’m glad websites like Jezebel consistently and unfailingly hold magazines (and runways) accountable, making sure the industry makes positive strides to reflect the beauty and diversity of America. I’m usually right on board, but this particular article seems reductive and myopic. Why shouldn’t editorials, like Vogue’s “We are the World” featuring Joan Smalls and Jourdan Dunn or Sessilee Lopez’s shoot in Glamour with Tommy Hilfiger count towards their diversity tally?
I personally purchased Vogue’s September issue, and was really impressed by the amount of brown faces I saw peppering the pages.
Shala Monroque is pictured in a trend piece on turbans, there’s a fashion flash on relief efforts in Haiti, a feature on Victoria’s Secret Angels including Chanel Iman, a shoot that I was drooling over with Pharrell, Edward Enninful, Pat McGrath, Liya Kebede and Jourdan Dunn, Nick Cave designed the costumes for a cute story called “Monsters, Inc,” and duh. Halle Berry is on the frickin cover!
When the whole ‘diversity’ in fashion discussion first started, people were agitating for representation in magazines because, at the time, minorities were totally excluded. Our requests for inclusion didn’t come with the caveat, “It only counts if models of color are featured in fashion editorials by themselves.” I haven’t purchased Marie Claire, Glamour or Cosmo, but from what I can see, September issues did a pretty good job showcasing a gamut of women of all colors. Which is what we wanted all along.
And if a magazine was blatantly non-diverse, perhaps that’s why some people chose not to buy them.
What do you think?
Read more @ Jezebel.
