"I'm awesome because I am not afraid to fall,
nor ashamed to stumble.
Because I never wanted to be beautiful,
and I never pretended to be."

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

WHITE SUPREMACY: The Most Racist Fashion Magazines in 2010

"Well its over 118 years of Vogue US- which means 1,416 covers published and 14 of them are black women, what a remarkable breakthrough right? After years of protesting, once in a while the powers at bay will throw a bone and listen and this is the outcome. 14 covers out of 1,416!!!! That’s equivalent to less than 1% of all covers dedicated to a woman of color."
- Lope Navo
Photographer and contributor to FashionIndie.com

I came across a very interesting, perplexing, entirely saddening yet insightful entry at FashionIndie.com by Lope Navo and it is definitely a MUST read for all!! The overarching essence of racism in fashion is incredible and unfortunately evident and Lope does a great job at highlighting such inequalities in some of the major fashion megaplayers such as Vogue, VMan, GQ, and Vanity Fair. It may be a bit long and a bit scattered but regardless I truly do hope that you guys take some time out of your day to glance at it - just to even skim it - because it's some staggering food for thought. Gracias. 

Click here for the full article. 

18 comments:

JBriggs said...

wow how interesting, it is such a shame how women of colour are shunned in the fashion world my god did you know in brazil fashion week designers need a quota to fill for black models cause they only use white! This is not surprising for the states either just because they have a black president there still seems to lie a deeply rooted racism in their culture

http://jbriggs-becauseitsme.blogspot.com/

V said...

i actually read the whole article and it's a very long one!

just unfortunate it was poorly written and some parts were repetitive.

nevertheless, certain points are valid enough; which keep me wondering...in asian countries or african countries...what's the ratio when it comes to magazine covers?

JBriggs said...

ty for the positive comment but unfortunately i didnt write that! (wish) it is Carl Sagan

Sandra Azwan said...

thank you so much....ur so lovely!

Alejandro Reyes said...

Thanks for your comment! I follow you. Greetings

WhoopyBeatrizLourenco said...

i already noticed.. that's really sad
and i think too that is a shame!!! ...and its not suprising in europe..

RamonMiron said...

thanks for your comments ;)

xx

Anonymous said...

I wrote a (short) similar post a few weeks ago but it concerns women of color in fashion illustration.
I really enjoy your blog.
David, NYC

Mr. Misán Tropo said...

thanks! but.. do you understand spanish? :-)

Mr. Misán Tropo said...

thanks! but... do you understand spanish? :-)

Bisous Natasha said...

Thanks for this link. I was interviewed by ChiCHi says Robyn (see my blog list if you want to read it) about racism in the fashion industry. I am a model and just TODAY I was at a casting for a denim ad campaign and along with me there were only 3 black girls. I started collecting Vogue UK as a 2010 New Years resolution and there are times when I flip through and think God can I see a makeup tip I can relate to?!!! Just highlighting the amount of covers even intensifies it.

I have been to agencies around Europe and half the time they will tell me they have filled their "quota" of black models or that their clients don;t hire black models so taking me on would be useless because they would not be able to book me for anything. Sad but true. I even read an interview where photographer Nick Knight said he wasn't allowed to pick black models for some jobs. Well, you gotta keep fighting the system.

Bijou's Style said...

wow I never knew that ! sad that such a reputable published fashion mag can get away with something like that....I am def reading the full article...thanks for sharing!!

xx

www.bijousstyle.com

Fashion Wh0re said...

WOW..This is really interesting...Great Post too btw i'm about to finish reading the wole article..

Anonymous said...

Do U know flower of the desert? It's a film about a model of colour, the film is amazing...
Regards,
D.Blanch

Berta said...

this will changeee!!!!!!!! or have to change!

Anonymous said...

wow, like your blog and work! best wishes from germany, and thanks for your comments! have a nice weekend!!

American Coffee said...

You have a great blog!
I'll follow you.
xx

L.A.V. said...

Modeling and advertising supposedly avant-garde world are ironically some of the more racist fields in the world. I wouldn’t call Vogue the more racist magazine because even when it is I’ve seen even mores racist magazines not only regarding African but Asian and Latin American as well. The sad about it is that being this magazines canon for the world here in my country the prejudices are reproduced and augmented if you see a television or fashion ad they seems made in Sweden except for the languages and if you see any Latin they are mostly maids .

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