Fashion + Beauty
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The groundbreaking, all-black issue of Italian Vogue (Tyra's in it!) is almost here
editor
There's a story in
The New York Times today about the
much anticipated all-black issue of July's Italian Vogue. The newspaper interviewed both editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani and photographer Steven Meisel about their awesome, monumental project—in which Meisel shot a full 100 pages.
Among my favorite bits:
- "Racial prejudice in the fashion industry has long persisted because of tokenism and lookism. 'We already have our black girl,' says a designer to a fashion-show casting agent, declining to see others. Or: 'She doesn’t have the right look.' Laziness, paranoia and pedantry may also have something to do with the failure to hire black models for shows and magazine features in any meaningful number."
- Sozzani says she was inspired by Barack Obama's campaign and the lack of diversity on the runways.
- Meisel says: "I thought, it’s ridiculous, this discrimination. It’s so crazy to live in such a narrow, narrow place. Age, weight, sexuality, race — every kind of prejudice.”
- And: "I have asked my advertising clients so many times, ‘Can we use a black girl?’ They say no.” The concern is that consumers will resist the product, he said. “It all comes down to money.”
The Times also got a sneak preview of the issue—which features models like Veronica Webb, Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks. The Italian Vogue magazine comes out in Europe next week, and will be available in the US shortly thereafter. You can see a slide show of the
really beautiful photos here.
Earlier
:
Italian Vogue devotes July issue exclusively to black models
Tyra-Banks is over Top Model, gearing up to be next Oprah
Related: tyra banks, italian vogue
-
Posted by Honey Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:43pm PDT
i believe if they can make an issue of vogue to show true beauty of any culture then it should be praised....i see this has turned into a racial argument for everyone but how about we all just embrace that women from every skin tone are beautiful!!
Report Abuse
-
Posted by LAWALKER Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:41am PDT
It is ridiculous for Blacks to still be begging to be considered for anything. Let beauty and elegance win whatever the nationality or physical dimension, if it is sexy, stylish, edgy that vibe will be applauded by all. True talent cannot be denied.
Report Abuse
-
Posted by Kendra Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:55am PDT
I have no idea if any person will actually read this or not but all i will say is that everything in this article seems to hold up in a court of public approval. I mean, if you honestly think about it...statistics show that things don't sell as well if a black model is representing them. So why is this? Well, as every person in this community comment thing has said; discrimination from ad agencies. I agree with that...but wittle it down to the truth people. The discrimination is coming from US. I include myself in this. We give every race a label and say that every person of that race has these characteristics so stick to them, don't rise above them. We, as humans don't like people stepping out of the boundaries we have set for them. So my thing is...don't blame the ad agencies...its about money for them. We all know this... the change from inequality to equality comes from us and how we see things and what we choose to buy, regardless of whether is Heidi Klum on the front or Miss Tyra herself. The change will come when a new generation of people choose to raise their children with the ideals of equality...period. No little boxes or racial roles for anyone to fill. Just meet the challenge of changing. I include myself in this as I have said before...
God bless you guys...
Report Abuse
-
Posted by mamoffive Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:22am PDT
respond to spinkiegirl.I do not know what part of the country your coming from,but where I live,a biracial baby is listed on the birth certificate as what ever race the Mother is.White mom,white on birth certificate,black mom,birth certificate lists child as black.I also find,in my area,blacks are far more inclined to be "color aware".I personally believe person matters,not color.
Report Abuse
-
Posted by A Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:14am PDT
I think the image that black people have now is that they are consistently oppressed and seen to be trashy and ghetto and that white people despise them. That is no where near true and slavery and segregation happened long ago and blacks have nearly a 100% chance to be anything that any other non-black person could be (a black man is the president now, hello).
There are many exclusively black establishments for blacks only. I personally don't agree with that. There are blacks only modeling agencies, blacks only magazines, blacks only friend finder websites, and the list goes on. Many blacks seem to want to seperate them selves from the rest of America because they are running from a non existent white supremacy, like they are paranoid of a white supremacy that's not even there. I mean, come on, you never see many Asian Magazines and asian only establishments.
Many blacks have proven themselves to be just as capable as any other person despite color. And white people have embraced blacks now and we (yes I am black also) don't have to worry about being hosed down in the streets anymore. It seems as though whites are trying to appease the black community by hosting blacks only things, which i personally don't agree with. I believe that blacks should not be looked upon with pity or should be treated any differently because we endured a little slavery. Yes there are black people in this world, and yes some of them look good, so just put them in a normal model magazine just like everyone else.
Report Abuse
-
Posted by Cara Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:41pm PDT
Man it seems like a lot of the people that disagree are all saying the same thing. "There's never been a special issue for all white women". Wow..ok...lets think about this for a second. There's never been a special issue for all white women because white women are the majority on the catwalk, in the magazines, and etc. Think about it: If someone actually printed out a magazine especially to highlight the recognition of great white models, would you honestly look at it and see that its different from other magazines?...not exactly. White women dominate just about all the magazine covers in america. So why is it when Italian Vogue dedicates just ONE magazine to the wonderful female African-American models that are hugely unrecognized and eclipsed by the shadows of the many white women that are ubiquitous throughout all media, that everyone wants to moan and groan like it was such a bad decision? It's just ONE magazine people. Can't we have just ONE?
Report Abuse
-
Posted by Ms. Jordan Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:24pm PDT
Well, if there were rarely any white people in the magazine Al Sharpton wouldn't have anything to say would he? In fact he may be working on the caucasian models behalf. I agree that they should do an Asian Vogue or possibly a Spanish one, but I think that "Spanish" models aren't rare, perhaps you mean Mexican? I think that beautiful women of all races should be displayed, because beauty should be recognized in many more aspects. I am pretty sure I would feel this way no matter what race I was.
Report Abuse
