Well said! I don’t understand it, I’m so bored of looking at the same blonde haired blue eyed girl. I live in Australia, which is definately a multi-cultural society, I’m going to have to have a look at our runway models now, editorial models are definately not multi-national.
On a different note, the beautiful dark model, second from the left, what show was she in, I love the shoulder armour she has on?

oooh that’s chanel iman. the armour plate is made of feathers… for alexander mcqueen. cool, eh?

I agree the runways are not diverse enough, but then again diversity isn’t just shown in skin tone. And where are all the Asians?

One of the most impressive things about the Box Eight shows in LA was the diversity of models. Can’t say specifically what race because they appeared multi-racial, but it was a nice change of scenery.

I too wish we could see more diversity on the runway. But women of Latin and African decent are going to be naturally curvy, at least compared to Anglo models. Do you think the fashion world is ready to embrace not only diverse color but body shape? Seems like a stretch.

I love when you pay attention to the less talked about matters in the fashion world, I think you stand out as diverse among most fashion bloggers I come across. thank you for being a conscious fashion blogger on past issues as well.

I agree with clothes horse. when difference is skin deep its not very convincing that things are changing!! when 1 black girl makes it, the problem is she’s IT for the next 5 years. We’ll be seeing Chanel for a very long time i predict…

Yeah, it is a damn shame that no one cares about diversity and that multiculturalism is a joke on the runways. We need to stand up and give a shit so they stop marketing a distorted image of the “real world” to us! If they make it palatable, we will swallow should bot apply in this instance. ;D

it’s absolutely shocking, lydia naomi and chanel are practically the only ones… there are no indian or asian models….
or even that many girls with olive skin and brown hair and eyes (as i do, I’m italian)
gaia

thanks for writing about this…the first pic with all the models is very powerful isn’t it? i’ve been talking about this for a while and it’s nice to see others doing it as well.

Thought you might find this article on the same subject interesting - http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/lifestyle-fashion/stylenews/Vivienne+Westwood-3997.html

Pretty girls make graves.

^ huh?

i think it is rather ridiculous that more and more designers are only haveing white models. everybody looks towards ashion, and everybody likes to see that they are represented on the runway. although it is impossible to feature someone from every country, and equal representation must be met. and it is true, blonde hair, blue eyed girls are seen more and more, and everyone else less and less. even at times a brunette is a shocker for some fashion houses.

diversity is good, but i hate how whenever there is an article about diversity in the news, it’s always about black vs. white, nevering considering asians or other races. they need to widen their scope!

Jennine

I agree with the sentiment, but don’t you think it makes your post from October 19, ‘Oh Karl’, a bit silly? Let’s look at the quote:

… To do this job you must be able to accept injustice - the same goes for fashion. There are other careers. You can work for Social Security, get promoted and work behind a counter. It’s a safe bet. If you want social justice, be a civil servant. Fashion is ephemeral, dangerous and unfair.

Obviously Lagerfeld is posturing, but it’s a very shallow position he’s taking, and a dangerous point to argue.

pressman…

i agree… that is a really silly point for karl to put it up, and i think it’s important to be aware of the kinds of attitudes, ironic or not associated with the fashion industry.

Hadley Freeman of The Guardian (UK) has an interesting piece on the same subject.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2184050,00.html

The agencies must take some responsibility but I agree with HF, it’s a matter of supply and demand. Select, Ford etc are in the business of making money and if they thought they could increase profits by signing on more ethnic minority girls then their books would be bursting with black and Asian models. The fact is that they can’t sell those faces on the same scale as, say, the eastern european models.

Designers need to rethink the accepted model aesthetic and extend a bit of their creative thinking to their choice of girls.

I agree that there should be more skin tones represented, african american, asian, spanish. but one thing I don’t get is if they are going to just use caucasian girls why blond, at least make them different. Every girl in your experiment looks the same.

There are hardly any Asian models because Asians are short. How often do you see a young Asian female that meets the 5′8″ height requirement? Very rarely. True, few white females are 5′8″ or taller, but amongst Asians it’s even less. In addition, Asian parents tend to encourage their daughters to go into “respectable” professions and steer them away from “superfluous” jobs like modeling.

That’s why you never see Asian runway models in New York or Europe.

i know im a little late in commenting on this issue but i have to say i agree with Mary’s point. I think it is important for women of all colours, shapes and heights to be represented and catered for in the fashion industry. The scope really needs to be broadened, as your two images show, and the truth is, beauty is not limited to the likes of tall, blond, blue eyed caucasian woman. Being something of an amateur aspiring model, on the shorter side and having a dark complexion (i am indian)i have found it incredibly difficult to find any kind of work. The industry needs to look at the message it is sending worldwide.

[...] no secret that the fashion industry is a little biased toward tall, skinny, blond hair/blue eyed young, young women. The past few years white has dominated the runways, and we’re not talking about white [...]