The Review

Issue date: 10/23/07 Section: Mosaic

Fashion is a worldwide endeavor - it wouldn't exist without international participation. Fashion is so universal that you'd expect more models representing different ethnicities from all parts of the globe.

Fashion Week's spring 2008 runway shows in New York and Europe, however, failed to live up to that expectation.

Approximately one-third of New York's runway shows lacked models of color, while the majority of the remaining two-thirds had only one or two in order to fulfill their "ethnic" requirement.

This inexcusable statistic struck a livid chord in me, because women of color reportedly buy more than $20 billion worth of clothes every year, according to a recent article in The New York Times. I'm sure other non-white nationalities also spend generously for the cause. I'm not Caucasian and I think it's obvious fashion consumes both my life and my wallet, yet the industry still chooses not to appeal to minorities like me.

Racial diversity is not a new concept in America. We're a country founded by and comprised of different people and cultures. We live in a world where diversity is commonplace, whether in television, movies, music, politics or education. Decades have passed since the time of Martin Luther King, Jr., so one would hope prejudice is merely an exhausted theory only found in history textbooks.

But it appears prejudice still seems to be an active concept when it comes to the fashion world.

It may not be the type of discrimination that's expressed through hate crimes or racial slurs, but the preference of slim and tall Caucasian models over blacks and other minorities is still a harsh reality that dictates how the fashion industry sees beauty. I almost wish its bias was clear-cut with extreme delinquencies, so maybe its ignorance could be popularized and perhaps punishable. Unfortunately though, the industry's subtle bigotry will go unheeded.

These matters should not be easily brushed off because they affect consumers in larger ways than we realize. Our visions of what's beautiful and the norm are skewed. Usually models' weight is the most controversial issue on the runway, but now the color of their skin is, too.

Consumers often follow fashion trends blindly - of course we're going to attempt to follow how models look because that's "attractive."

This is why there are eating disorders and self-esteem problems. This is why some minorities are ashamed of their nationality. This is why many Americans wake up in the morning and hate what they see in the mirror. Designers and modeling agencies decide to push size zero, 5-feet-8-inch white models in their runway shows and ads, subliminally saying, "This is what's beautiful, this is what fashion is."

But that's hardly what fashion is. Fashion is designer Diane Von Furstenberg, who had seven black models strut their stuff on her runway this season. Fashion is supermodels Tyra Banks, Kimora Lee Simmons and Iman who have the confidence and determination to rise to the top of the corrupted fashion food chain despite their skin color.

But most of all, fashion is what we - including all ethnicities and sizes - wear and love, and we shouldn't need some pompous and ignorant industry to inherently tell us if it looks good.

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