In our Spring 2016 runway diversity report, we found that 77.6 percent of the 9,926 models at Fashion Month were white. But representation is only the beginning. The black models who do get booked for shows must grapple with makeup artists and hair stylists who are unequipped to work with women of color. Nykor Paul spoke out last season about makeup artists who fail to accommodate black models. In 2013, Jourdan Dunn aired out hair stylists who can’t properly style black hair. Now Leomie Anderson is the latest model to add her voice to the conversation.
She tweeted yesterday about her experience dealing with creatives who can’t adequately style women of color:
Why is it that the black makeup artists are busy with blonde white girls and slaying their makeup and I have to supply my own foundation
— Leomie Anderson (@LeLeValentine) February 17, 2016
Why is there more white makeup artists backstage than black when when black ones can do ALL races makeup?
— Leomie Anderson (@LeLeValentine) February 17, 2016
Don’t tell me you’ve been a makeup artist for ten years yet your fingers develop a stutter when I mention brightening my complexion.
— Leomie Anderson (@LeLeValentine) February 17, 2016
This is probs the first season that a white hairdresser hasn’t said to me “oh I’ve done Naomi Campbell’s weave, I know what I’m doing”.
— Leomie Anderson (@LeLeValentine) February 17, 2016
WE NEED MORE MAKEUP ARTISTS AND HAIR WHO ARE COMPETENT WITH ALL RACES BACKSTAGE AT SHOWS.
— Leomie Anderson (@LeLeValentine) February 17, 2016
While diversity on the runway is an enduring issue, there’s also the problem of representation backstage. For the most part, makeup artists and hairstylists at Fashion Week are incompetent when it comes to styling black models. It’s another harsh reality of working in fashion that makes black models feel invisible.
With designers like Zac Posen and Kanye West boldly stepping up to embrace diverse model casting, we also need stylists backstage that can cater to a wide variety of skin tones and hair textures. Next week, we will release the official diversity report for the Fall 2016 season of New York Fashion Week. It is our hope that progress will continue from the runway to backstage.
[via Vogue UK]
