(Tracy Reese Spring 2009)
Fashion week is officially over until February 2009. For eight stylish days fashionistas feast their eyes on Spring 2009 collections showcased by more than 100 designers. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend but style.com did, so I felt like had a front row seat. I was excited to see if designers would use more women of color on the runway this season. During the summer, fashion industry heavyweight Bethann Hardison took the fashion industry to task for their lack of diversity on the runway. As the big name designers rolled out their collections in front of star studded crowds, I wondered who would step up to the challenge. Here's a sampling of what I found. Rock and Republic and Diane von Furstenberg both had a total of nine minorities featured in their show. Pretty Impressive I thought. In the past, runways were virtually all white, so this is step in the right direction. Tracy Reese (African-American) won the showdown with twelve models of color in her dazzling Spring 2009 collection. If I had my way, this is how Fashion Week would look every season. A runway teeming with black, Asian, Latino, white, you name the ethnicity, they would be represented. Of course, even in the glamorous world of fashion there are no utopias. The next best was Marc Jacobs with a total of six women of color. I was disappointed with BCBG Max Azria who only had three minorites in their entire show. Donna Karan was just shameful with only one model of color in her Spring 2009 collection. According to PRNewswire only six percent of runway gigs go to models of color during the year. Appalling I say, considering that women of color spend $20 billion a year on clothes. It's safe to say women of color love clothes, and that's a lot of potential revenue that designers and fashion houses turn a blind eye to. Even though it's the 21st century many of fashions elite still feel using a woman of color in their collections will somehow diminish their couture goods. Some still subscribe to the antiquated myth that ethnic models aren't in demand. The July 2008 Italian Vogue magazine featuring models of color disproved that myth. Due to high demand, the historic issue had to to be reprinted. I personally make a mental note of the lack of diversity in fashion magazines. As I flip through the glitzy ads, rarely do I see a face that looks like mine on their glossy pages. Next time you're reading your favorite style mag, count how many women of color you see in ads for clothes and/or beauty products. By the way, Badgley Mischka, Tommy Hilfiger, and Isaac Mizrahi all had less than five models of color in their Spring 2009 ready to wear collections.
photos courtesy. latimes.com
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