Chanel Iman Speaks Out—Again—About the Diversity Problem in the Fashion Industry

by Maura Brannigan


Courtesy of The Edit
Courtesy of The Edit


Chanel Iman has one of the most recognizable faces in the fashion business. As the daughter of an African-American father and a half African-American, half Korean mother, the 23-year-old supermodel has always been one to voice her concerns of the lack of diversity in the industry-a topic that has been under even more scrutiny than usual as of late.

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As the cover subject for this week's edition of Net-A-Porter's The Edit, Chanel is once again opening up on her firsthand experiences with racial discrimination in the issue's cover story-a venture which The Edit describes as, thankfully, "not a subject [Chanel] is likely to shut up about any time soon."

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"I think that everyone should be equal; it should be about color," Chanel began the interview by saying. "It's unfortunate that there is still a lot of politics involved in both the acting and modeling worlds. I do think we've come a long way, but things could still be a lot more diverse on the runway and in films."

In January, Chanel appeared in Beyoncé's "Yoncé" video alongside fellow black supes Joan Smalls and Jourdan Dunn, an experience Chanel deemed one of her greatest accomplishments.

"All three of us models are very successful in our careers, but because in the fashion industry 'there's only one black girl allowed', they've made us compete to be that one girl," Chanel described. "Beyoncé allowed us to show the world that we don't have to fight against each other. She gave us the chance to see that we are far more powerful together." Leave it to Beyoncé to bring the people together.

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