The only time I purchase name brand clothing is when I go thrifting because I know my money is going directly back into the community. If I didn’t thrift it, then it was given to me. There has been a longstanding argument that many fashion retailers and high-end designers don’t really care for groups outside of the white majority. Some have even supported the sell of blatant racially-charged products. Urban Outfitters, for instance, has be known to offend pretty much every social group that exists. I’m beginning to think it is for publicity because it has happened way too many times. In 2010, Urban outfitters displayed “Obama/Black” as a t-shit color option on their website. They also once sold a parody of Monopoly called “Ghettopoly” which perpetuates stereotypes of black communities with sayings like "You got yo whole neighborhood addicted to crack. Collect $50.” Zara has also been accused of being racist after selling "White Is The New Black” shirts. Aside from retail, major fashion companies like Louis Vuitton, Raulph Lauren, Donna karan, Versace, Celine, Alexander Mcqueen, Calvin Klein, Chanel have long been accused of racial discrimination. There are many rumors out there but the fact still remains that blacks are underrepresented on the runway and in commercial/magazine ads for many fashion labels. They may claim to have non-discrimination policies but the lack of diversity in the fashion industry suggests that most designers wish to cater to mainly white audiences. According to Daniel Cohen, “fashion designers, merchandisers and publicists are all mainly white. So in their eyes they design clothes with white figures in mind, to sell to white folk. They, in a way, don't understand that black people buy clothes too. They think the addition of blacks brings the figure down ( unless it’s sport, a black basketball player is, paradoxically, VERY appealing.)” Many fashion designers also believe that catering to minority groups is a waste of time since they can’t “afford fashion.” It frustrates me that people of color continue to put more money into popular white labels than they put towards designers of color. If black doesn't sell, then make it sell. There are many successful black designers who support diversity in their craft and on the runway but people are too busy trying to earn the acceptance of white designers.
When addressing racism on the runway, Model Imam states that the runway does not represent the world we live in and that “the absence of people of color on the runways and photography reinforces to our young girls that they're not beautiful enough, that they're not acceptable enough.” Black supermodels like Naomi Campbell have put a lot of effort into bringing light to this issue. Campbell’s former model agent stated, "I think clients have this perception that black girls do not sell products, which goes way back to the 50’s… the bar is set much higher for black models and they have to be flawless to get booked, so I cannot afford to take them on." It is very common for black models to get turned away from runways and photo shoots after being notified that they “already have a black girl.” Apparently one token black model is more than enough.
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Image: http://www.businessoffashion.com/2013/04/op-ed-racism-on-the-runway.html
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