Elle Magazines all over the globe are being called out for their lack of cultural sensitivity and diversity!
The US version of the magazine celebrates 30 years with its September Issue, and marked the occasion with a spread featuring dozens of designers and their muses. For the feature, they didn’t pluck any black designers.
The Huffington’s Post’s Jamie Feldman caught wind of this omission, and wrote, ” The magazine called upon 30 prominent designers and their muses to recreate “The Elle Look,” which the publication describes as “channeling our rich history of strong, sexy women with great personal style. Of the 81 designers and muses chosen for the story, only one is black: English actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who is biracial. The collective number of Asian and Latino or Hispanic designers can be counted on one hand, while the muses that represent each designers’ ideal were overwhelmingly white. ”
Feldman continues, “The spread serves to highlight an issue that runs rampant in the fashion industry: a lack of diversity both within the pages of magazines and on the runways. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen pose alongside Beatrix Ost, Giorgio Armani is pictured with model Karolina Kurkova, and the list goes on.”
The US version of the magazine celebrates 30 years with its September Issue, and marked the occasion with a spread featuring dozens of designers and their muses. For the feature, they didn’t pluck any black designers.
The Huffington’s Post’s Jamie Feldman caught wind of this omission, and wrote, ” The magazine called upon 30 prominent designers and their muses to recreate “The Elle Look,” which the publication describes as “channeling our rich history of strong, sexy women with great personal style. Of the 81 designers and muses chosen for the story, only one is black: English actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who is biracial. The collective number of Asian and Latino or Hispanic designers can be counted on one hand, while the muses that represent each designers’ ideal were overwhelmingly white. ”
Feldman continues, “The spread serves to highlight an issue that runs rampant in the fashion industry: a lack of diversity both within the pages of magazines and on the runways. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen pose alongside Beatrix Ost, Giorgio Armani is pictured with model Karolina Kurkova, and the list goes on.”
Are we surprised? While Black Girl Magic abounds on several September issues, Elle’s oversight shows that we have a ways to go.
I have a dream that one day we can have a Fashion Magazine that acknowledges, celebrates, and embraces us. I have a dream that one day we can have a Fashion Fund that discovers, mentors, and uplifts the next Proenza Schouler or Marc Jacobs, regardless of race.
The Fashion Industry has a persistent and pernicious diversity problem. We will be the solution.
What do you think?
Read more at the Huffington Post.
