The fashion industry, constantly criticized for its dearth of runway diversity, seems finally to be rethinking the skinny white models typically on display. Nowhere was that more apparent than at the annual Fashion Week in New York City.
Alternative collections like Gypsy Sport and Telfar offered the expected multiracial catwalks, but traditional designers, ranging from Zac Posen to Tory Burch, surprised onlookers by putting diversity on parade, too, according to the New York Times.
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Although Fashion Week doesn’t come with an official diversity report, it is estimated that each show had 4 to as many as 25 African-American models.
Not only was diversity on strutting on the runways, but fashion advertisements in spring magazines are also more inclusive, incorporating a wide range of skin tones. Marketers are clearly working to appeal to black consumers.
The fashion industry also seems at last to be addressing widespread concerns that ultra-skinny models create unrealistic body standards for women. This year one of the three cover models for the popular Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is Ashley Graham. At size 16, she is the first “plus-size” model to appear on the Issue’s cover.
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Although the Internet has a range of opinions about putting Graham on the cover, the magazine’s decision is a clear indicator of how the industry is expanding its appeal to women of all sizes.
The industry’s top-paid and most recognizable models are still a pretty homogenous bunch, but the Graham cover could mark a turning point. Click here to see the world’s top-paid supermodels.
