The Fashion Industry is Racist
George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man was brutally murdered by 4 police officers on May 25th, 2020 as he was being arrested for forgery of a 20 dollar bill. It is no question that the violent arrest that resulted in Floyd’s death is due to the systemic racism held by the police as a whole and the individual officers. The video of George Floyd’s murder went viral and sparked a series of (still ongoing) protests fighting for the Black Lives Matter movement. I wrote an article for the LA Times High School Insider on Donald Trump's affiliation and actions regarding the Black Lives Matter movement today as well as his racist past, and if you are interested in the politics (not that this has anything to do with politics and is much more an issue of right and wrong) and current events of the movement than I recommend you read that article as well.
But for today's article on What She Really Wore I am talking about racism in the fashion industry. The fashion industry is notorious for cultural appropriation and racism. Recently, very few fashion brands have been halting posts promoting new collections and campaigns in efforts to make room for Black creators and voices to be heard and spread. Arguably the most well-known fashion brand ‘Chanel’ posted three black screens with the same exact caption for Instagrams blackout Tuesday as to ‘not mess’ with their aesthetic. The fashion industry is so wealthy and yet very few fashion brands and designers have donated money to charities and go-fund me’s that support the movement.
The sad thing is, this isn’t new, the fashion industry has been racist. Fashion journalist and Instagramer @bxnpcrk posted an Instagram discussing Black fashion designers that the fashion industry has silenced in the past. I recommend you read that post for a detailed history of Black fashion designers being overlooked in the fashion industry. But my main takeaway from reading the post is Black designers are to credit for some of fashion's most iconic drapings, silhouettes, and designs. However, they are often not given the credit they deserve for inventing and or designing some of fashion's most revolutionary pieces, and rather they are snubbed of any recognition.
This brings me to my next point, which is cultural appropriation in fashion. White fashion designers, hairstylists, and makeup artists steal customs, ideas, and practices from a culture that isn't their own. I wrote an article on the COMME DE GARCONS cornrows scandal a couple of months back so if you want an in-depth analysis on a specific event of cultural appropriation in fashion then I would recommend checking that article out. In fashion white models often wear their hair in cornrows and dreadlocks. Fashion designers also steal aspects of Black, Native American, and Asian culture in their designs without credit or representation of any of those races in their shows.
This brings me to my final point, lack of representation of POC models on the runway. This one doesn’t take much explaining. Just a quick scroll through Vogue Runway’s recently listed shows and you will see a large difference in ratio when it comes to POC (specifically Black) models on the runway. Only one of the top 10 models from New York, Paris, and Milan in 2019 is Black (Adut Akech.) The statistics just back up what is clear to see, there is a clear issue with the absence of POC models on the runway.
What these points prove is that the fashion industry loves to use Black culture to their advantage and for publicity, style, or monetary gain. However, when it comes down to it, the industry has no interest in giving any actual credit or jobs to the Black fashion community and has no desire to help out the community that has given them so much when they are in need.
sources and recommended readings:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA-02hMnSUD/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBBqv3ynYE5/
https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-51177738
http://www.mtv.com/news/3114758/fashion-racism-2019-timeline/
