Diversity may seem like a big deal in the modeling industry, especially when 16-year-old white model, Ondria Hardin was doused in heavy bronze makeup to portray an “African Queen” in an editorial for Numero magazine. (Source)
The statement above itself makes you question “Why not just hire a model of African descent?”
Well, that’s what we thought too. According to a report by Jenna Sauers from Jezebel, they reported that 82.7% of the models at New York Fashion Week were white. (Source)
But back to Numero’s spread, we find it quite puzzling that a very young white model was chosen instead of an actual representation of an ‘African Queen’. The same agency that represents Hardin also has several black women to chose from, but even if the editorial team couldn’t find someone with the ‘right look’, wouldn’t there a hundred agencies to choose from?
Still, the ‘right look’ isn’t a valid excuse for a white girl to portray an African woman. We’ve seen it in movies, and we know just how an act like this can be extremely offensive, even when it’s taken lightly with humor.
British model of African descent, Leomie Anderson that racism is a major struggle, even in the modeling industry. Minority models have to work twice as hard as their white counterparts, and it appears that it’s even harder for black models to win a part in Milan.
In an open letter to the UK’s Sunday Times, she quoted:
“The successful black girls don’t even bother traveling there for castings, because they know they won’t do as well, even if they’ve walked for great designers in all other cities. Even people from Milan will say the fashion market there is very behind”. (Source)
It’s quite a heart-breaking to hear the endless number of challenges that women have to endure for the sake of fashion. First, it was having the right size, and now that ethnicity is getting in the way of the dreams of many young women, it makes us wonder what the future is like for the modeling industry.
