The Balenciaga Fall/Winter 2016 collection show boasted an eccentric cast of models but was criticized for its lack of racial diversity. (Olivier Claisse/MCV Photo for The Washington Post)
People want a lot from fashion models these days. Possibly too much.
During the recent fall 2016 shows, critics wanted models that were plus-size, old, transgender, Latina, black, Asian, Body Mass Index-normal, beautiful, eccentric-looking — and smiling. (Oh-by-God did men especially want them smiling because a model who is not smiling is, by default, glaring or angry or maybe just too focused, and how dare these young women strutting about in velvet puffer coats and oversized blazers suggest they might have a serious thought floating around in their head.)
We’re hearing these demands because fashion has ceased being a niche interest and is now a fascination for a wide swath of the population. Fashion is popular culture and big business. The expansion of fashion’s audience is good for the industry and good for the social conversation. People should be more invested in the global production of frocks; it impacts us all. And models are the public face — or body — of that industry. While designers are increasingly becoming celebrities in their own right, it’s still mostly the models who are responsible for embodying the anonymous ideal of the brand — its notion of beauty and desirability. It’s the models who are expected to connect to consumers and welcome them into the fashion fold.
Celine Fall/Winter 2016 collection. (Jonas Gustavsson/MCV Photo for The Washington Post)
Diversity should be part of that equation. But how much? And what sort?
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[Fashion 2015: A little more diverse, a lot more naked. And men looked better than women.]
In the last few years, the conversation about diversity has focused on race. Influential members of the fashion industry, from activist Bethann Hardison to models Naomi Campbell and Iman, have spoken up about why racial diversity matters. Part of their activism included publicly chastising brands that mount runway shows without casting models of color. That public shaming awakened a lot of designers to their subconscious prejudices, and they changed their ways.
And now, that tough love has progressed to a regular statistical analysis.
According to the The Fashion Spot, nearly 32 percent of the models on the fall 2016 runways in New York were women of color. It has been a slow slog to reach this point; in the mid-1990s, the percentage was closer to zero. But this website and others have also taken to counting the number of plus-size models, transgender models and those who are deemed “aged.” What other categories shall we add: lesbian, disabled, Native American, and so on? After all, they are part of the great consumer melting pot, too.
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