Diversity

"Despite Gains, the Fall 2016 Runways Were Still Less Than 25 Percent Diverse", a news report by The Fashion Spot.

This news report embodies values fashion should posses, embracing diversity. From studying this article, fashion appears to be unveiling righteous diversity movements that will impact the world of fashion; the Fall 2016 season saw New York-based designer Zac Posen make a powerful declaration that “Black Models Matter". He achieved this by hiring a tribute to a woman of color - the first East African woman to be admitted to the English bar, Princess Elizabeth of Toro. However, in Paris, one of the main stars in the industry, Demna Gvasalia, only hired one non white model to walk the runway at Balenciaga - this is shadowing the ideology of all races being beautiful, this could appear to be seen as regress in the world of fashion. Diversity is a movement that is constantly progressing and is moving forward.

people of color, plus-size, transgender and aged models continue to be underrepresented. There is still significant work to be done to eradicate that message of exclusion. Personally, I advocate for diversity on the runway. Designers need to be more inclusive, I believe this because no matter who you are, you are beautiful. It is barbaric to view only white people as beautiful. I look at Zac Posen’s recent show as an example of a diverse runway. Moreover, The lack of diversity at Balenciaga left the casting director to quote: "So if you’re the designer the whole world is looking to right now, how great that your message is one of exclusion which is never in fashion. It must feel like a slap to all of the people of color who line up to buy your clothes that your message to them, is that you don’t see them in your world". However, change is occuring at a slow pace:

The Fashion Spot examined 312 shows and 8,727 model castings from New York, London, Paris and Milan. Less than 25 percent of the models cast were models of color. For all four cities combined, 75.25 percent of the models cast were white and 24.75 percent were models of color. However, this is improvement from Spring 2016, which was 77.6 percent white.

The show that held the most diversity was Kanye West, who sent 100 percent models of color down the runway for Yeezy Season 3. The report then goes onto state, despite the industry-wide call for diversity, some designers failed to hire any models of color.

Body diversity continued to lag far behind racial inclusion, states The Fashion Spot. At all the shows in New York, Paris, Milan and London, there were only six plus-size models - this is a massive regression from Spring 2016 which saw 14 plus size models.Plus-size models were the least represented group for the Fall 2016 season.

Eleven aged models walked the runway. Notably, veteran supermodel Veronica Webb walked for Yeezy Season 3 and Sophie Theallet in New York, while Pat Cleveland walked for H&M Studio and Redemption in Paris. This marked an increase in representation as there were only five aged model appearances in Spring 2016.

eight transgender models were cast at Fashion Weeks in New York, Paris and London. That’s a slight increase from the Spring 2016 season, which saw five transgender model castings in total. The report then goes on to state Milan was the only city that did not cast any plus-size, transgender or aged models.

The most inclusion was seen most palpably at H&M Studio.Transgender, nonwhite, plus-size and aged models all felt at home on the runway. Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M creative advisor, said, “This collection is about the strength and beauty of women, and how we express that power through our style.” - This is everything I believe fashion should be.

#feminism #Fashion