Throughout the years, the fashion industry has flown under the radar for the amount of racism and discrimination it has against minority models and races. Although famous models like Tyra Banks and Beverly Johnson have stolen the show in their careers, they still make up the minority in the fashion world. The issue of racism goes past the few great African American models and touches on the thousands of African American models who are left in the dust. The effect racism and discrimination have on the fashion industry over the last forty years has increased dramatically and is hardly getting better. Many people would probably assume that throughout time racism has gotten better, but in the fashion world we are seeing more and more of it every day. As percentages of all white models in fashion weeks are increasing while minority percentages are decreasing, the industry is still believed to be equal. The fashion industry is more than just a superficial part of the world and the issue of racism does not just affect the models and designers within the industry, but also affects the millions of people who look up to the fashion world and see people of their color constantly being shot down. 

A main issue that needs to be brought to the world’s attention is the lack of African American and minority races presented in European and American fashion weeks, magazines and commercial industries.  As people sit at fashion shows and admire the beauty of the clothes   and models, the idea or thought that all the women they are seeing are white, rarely comes to mind. Most people do not even think twice about the color of the girls in Vogue or Elle magazine. People completely miss that the magazine they just read could have lacked to put just one African American model in the whole entire spread. In 1991 there were a mere 3.4 percent of consumer magazines that depicted African American models even though African Americans took up 12.5 percent of the entire world population (Gregory 89). 

In the fashion world and industry it is not just the models who are cheated of opportunities, but also photographers and designers who are discriminated against. The issue of racism in fashion goes far beyond just models and also hits designers and photographers. In many cases certain photographers or designers will not get picked because their style is African American based and touches on their culture.  A lot of blame is put on designers and photographers for being the discriminating ones, but sometimes it is the African American designers and photographers that are discriminated against. 

The lack of color seen in the more recent fashion weeks is causing quite the outburst within the media. In the 2016 New York, Milan, Paris, and London fashion weeks, seventy-seven percent of the almost ten thousand models were all white and the other twenty three percent were among the minority races (Kisonian). As people get distracted by the lavish clothes and gorgeous models, they fail to notice the immense number of white models in these fashion shows and magazine covers. Many people to this day believe that racism and discrimination has gotten better in fashion yet the opposite has happened. When strangers are asked on the street whether or not they think the diversity and racism issues have gotten better in the most recent fashion weeks, almost all say yes. This issue is due to the fact that the public is trained by media to think that because it is modern day, racism is “basically gone”.

It is the obliviousness of the public that is making racism worse.  Not only is the lack of color in these shows infuriating past and current models, but also the girls who follow and look up to fashion. These girls see all but a mere twenty three percent of people that look like them on stage and start to think that is normal. Certain models are starting to call out designers for the lack of diversity they bring to stage and are trying to pass laws to stop this craziness (Dellea).  Most models believe that once certain designers are specifically called out to the public it will cause more of a change in the industry. 

 In response to the lack of diversity and color seen in the 2016 Fashion weeks all over the world, people and former models started taking action at this outrage. One of these former models was Bethann Hardison, who wrote an extremely detailed letter with statistics and lists of specific designers who lacked to diversify their group of models, to the head producers of each cities fashion weeks. (Wilson, Sept 2013).  In response to this letter, Vogue’s Italy magazine launched an entire Black issue where African American models were the main focus. Many people loved this and the issue even sold out faster than thousands of other issues they have sold before. This offer of a magazine article was an attempt to mend a wound that cannot be fixed with one spread. The idea that an all black magazine issue is something rare and should be cherished is an issue of itself. Having the magazine sell out faster than editions where it is all white girls proves how when given the chance, minority girls can do just as much. The fight against racism in the fashion industry calls for diversity of all races in all kinds of consumer industries. 

Another issue at hand with racism and discrimination in the fashion industry is using color and race slogans as a point of fashion or trend. “Black is Beautiful” and slogans like these are all starting to be used when African American girls or girls of color are on the covers of magazines (Vats  113). Many of the designers and photographers who style these “Black” centered shoots think they are touching on the cultural aspects and reaching out to the minorities. The problem with these shoots is that they are demeaning and act as though being of color is not something than can be in or out of style. A specific example of this is in V Magazine in 2010, in which two white models painted in complete black-face were posing together with the slogan “Black is the New Black”. As deserved, this article received extreme hate and backlash seeing that they had a white female model pose as an African American women saying that “Black is back in”. It is not only insulting to people of African American decent, but to anyone of the minority race or with a conscious. They put white models in black face and traditional African clothing to try to get them to portray how “beautiful” black is, yet refuse to use African American models in these shoots. These pictures and models are portraying that your color is something you can take off and put back on. These slogans and ideas are racist in themselves and wrongfully represent the African American culture along with insulting hundreds of thousands people throughout the world. 

As time has progressed and people may think racism is close to gone, there is actually a decrease in the amount of African American and minority women in famous fashion magazines. 

In 1991, there were 3.4 percent of women of color in the magazines, which many people probably think is an increase from years past. In a 1987 edition from Elle, the amount of African American girls seen on the pages was just under twenty nine percent. In another edition from Vogue in the 80s, there were nine percent of African American girls of all the pages (Savage 26). That is a twenty-six percent decrease whereas most people would think these percentages would have sky rocketed over the years of integration. In one instance, Gail O’Neill, an African American model, said, “When I started in 1985, the industry was far more integrated. I feel sorry for the Black girls working today. So many times there is just one brown face, maybe two, in the couture shows. In my day, I would routinely see Naomi Campbell and Karen Alexander; I can’t even count how many brown girls I would see every time the collections came around. In a way, we have gone backwards” (Bobo 92). These young models are taught that being the only girl of their color in a room is normal and that they should just get use to being the minority. As steps in the government and everyday life are going forward to rid of racism, the fashion industry moves away from integration.

Many people are dismayed by the lack of color seen in the everyday fashion industry, which is leading to multiple models and women taking a stand to speak against racism. Pat Clevland, Veronica Webb, Tyra Banks, Beverly Johnson, Karen Alexander, Lana Ogilvie, Gail O’Neill, Roshumba, and Wanakee are all African American women in the fashion industry who spoke out about their racial experiences in one of the most famous magazines of its time, Ebony.  Some of these models were discriminated against in their casting days and early stages of modeling. Whether it was that they were “too” dark and called disgusting words like n****r or that they would only be used as ethnic roles such as maids. Other instances that occurred were when these models would be the only girls of color in their entire show or room, being taught that they should just accept it and that they are the lucky ones. The models finally decided they needed to put an end to all the racism and not letting discriminating designers and clothing lines dictate their futures. These women stopped this by refusing to buy and wear clothes from racist designers. They also hired their own hair stylist so that their hair was not botched by the mediocre employees who were hired to work with the white girls. (Bobo 92-93). After years and years of these models fighting to put the spotlight on women of color, things seem to regress. Racism is seen in multiple ways, as these women have proven, and not just the typical way of failing to put African Americans in their work. Some of these designers put women of color in their shows and magazines just to escape scrutiny from the public, but are still racist and discriminating against their models behind scenes. 

As the talk of how African American and minority races in the industry are decreasing, the actual details of racism are even worse than anyone thought. One of the world’s most famous models of all time, Chanel Iman, is at a loss of words for what to do about this absurd problem going on. From 2012 to 2013, the amount of African American models in New York’s fashion week dropped two percent and is only predicted to get worse (Wilson, March 2013). When designers or photographers are told they need to hit a certain number of colored girls for their shoots, it almost worsens the problem. These teams of people then are just putting girls of color in their show to fulfill a task that they just need to get out of the way. Chanel Iman, one of the top supermodels in the world, has even been told herself that she is not needed anymore because the shoot she was on already had enough African American girls. The issue that some designers and photographers would rather use a worse, yet white model than a stunning, but black model is a disgrace to the modeling world. Anyone who flips through a Vogue or Cosmopolitan magazine would never think there were too many white models in the issue, yet when the idea that there are too many African American models is brought to the table, it is a different issue. One of the main things that need to be done in order to prevent and stop this constant discrimination is the mistreatment of any race other than white. When people stop looking at other races as different, it will stop being an issue.

Whether it is the media pinning African American models against each other or hiding them from the world, the problem of racism in the industry must come to an end. Starting from the first issue in vogue in 1892 to 2012 there has been less than one percent of African American and colored girls featured in covers. Elite Modeling Management in 1999 was caught on tape racially bashing on African Americans and their country as a whole. Other instances of horrific racial injustice in the fashion industry are Vogues “Slave Earrings” that are inspired by authentic earrings that African American slaves use to make for themselves and how in Vogues very first African American cover they had her half covering her face (Complex). These specific examples of how the fashion industry has differently discriminated against other races are just briefly skimming the issue of racism.

The designers who have been called out for the lack of diversity in their shows or photographers who are scrutinized for meeting “color maxes” find excuses constantly. One of the biggest excuses and defenses used in this industry against racism is that the majority of buyers in the world of these high-end clothes are White Americans. They want to provide and give to their consumers an accurate representation of what these clothes will look like on the mass amounts of people buying them. Even if these statistics are true, how can African American women and men get the opportunity to buy these clothes when they are only portrayed on models that look nothing like themselves? One example of this is foundation makeup and how thousands of makeup companies use only white models in their commercials that show their product.  Another reason for cosumers and designers to appeal to the African American race would be the inspiration of the music industry. Famous singers like Rhianna, Beyonce and Kayne West have sky rocketed in fame over the last decade and most people would think the fashion industry would want to be up to date with publicity.

Some major things within the industry could be easily changed to fix the issue of racism if the public is able to see what is going on. Many designers or photographers who have been called out on their racist moves believe that they can fix the shame by creating an “all black” issue or “all black show”. In reality these designers and photographers are making the models even more segregated than they were before. Some photographers even think that by doing “cultural” shots that they are representing African Americans well but are honestly insulting the women and culture. For example, Naomi Campbell was put into a photo shoot taking place in the jungle with African American clothing and was captured jump roping with baboons. This image took tons of backlash because of their failed sensitivity towards the African American culture. Little things like these can be fixed by not just singling these models and women out but by diversifying everything. Making sure that in all shoots there are the same amount of African American girls than white or raising the percentage of African American models in fashion shows around the world. Not judging girls on their color but yet their skill and beauty is what the industry needs to start doing. It is the little subtle changes that are going to make the difference in this industry.

Throughout the history of fashion and over the years in the past and years to come, there has been a constant evolution of racism and discrimination that is slowly getting worse. Without these issues of racism being brought to the attention of the public and media, there will be no way of people knowing what is really going on in the world of fashion. These problems cannot just be fixed by the few people who know about it speaking up. The effect racism has had on the fashion industry over the last forty years is starting to have a long lasting effect on the people and models in the industry today. The lack of diversity seen in the world is not only affecting the models, designers and photographers but also any person who enjoys fashion and has noticed this issue increasing over the years.  