We were happy to report that diversity was up across the board last season at New York Fashion Week. Sadly, we can’t say the same for Fall 2022. Disappointingly, New York Fashion Week Fall 2022 saw dips (albeit small) in racial, age and gender diversity with only a minimal increase in size inclusivity.
We examined 60 presentations this season and tallied the results across all of the categories. Keep reading to see how New York Fashion Week Fall 2022 stacked up.
RACE
New York Fashion Week Fall 2022 featured 54.9 percent models of color. That’s down from Spring 2022’s 55.5 percent. Spring 2021 still holds the record for most models of color at 57.1 percent.
Even with the drop, Fall 2022 is the third most diverse season of New York Fashion Week since we started keeping track during the Spring 2015 season.
TOP MODELS
Six out of the top nine models at New York Fashion Week Fall 2022 were models of color. Chinese-American model Sherry Shi had the most appearances overall with nine. Venezuelan beauty América González was right behind with eight.
Brazilian stunners Barbara Valente and Raynara Negrine, South Korean model Sora Choi, Nigerian-born Victoria Fawole, American model Effie Steinberg, Dutch model Felice Noordhoff and Swedish beauty Vilma Sjöberg clocked in at seven apiece.
Per usual, size, age and gender diversity were not featured in the top nine.
PLUS-SIZE
New York Fashion Week Fall 2022 had 51 plus-size model appearances accounting for 5.09 percent of total castings. This is a tiny bump from Spring 2022 when there were 48 plus-size model appearances or just under 4 percent of total castings. Still, this doesn’t top Spring 2020, which holds the record for most plus-size model appearances at 68.
Of the aforementioned 51 appearances, 35 (close to 69 percent) belonged to models of color. Paloma Elsesser was the most booked plus-size model walking in six shows. While Precious Lee came in at four.
The brand 11 Honoré featured the most plus-size models with 12 appearances. Followed by Christian Siriano and Altuzarra, which had eight and five plus-size model appearances respectively.
TRANSGENDER/NON-BINARY
Gender diversity decreased slightly this season with 24 transgender/non-binary model appearances accounting for 2.39 percent of total castings. Last season there were 30 accounting for 2.40 percent. The highest total on record is still Spring 2019 with 53 appearances.
Of the 24 transgender/non-binary model appearances in Fall 2022, nine belonged to models of color for 37.5 percent of total castings. Non-binary model Valentine Alvarez was tied with transgender models Angel Prost and Magnus Maxine at three appearances each.
Transgender model Dara Allen had two appearances. While Aaron Philip, Moses Battiest, Anjali Lama and Martine Gutierrez each had one.
The most inclusive show this season was Gabriela Hearst, which featured six transgender/non-binary castings. Eckhaus Latta, The Blonds and Collina Strada all had three transgender/non-binary model appearances, while Maryam Nassir Zadeh had two.
AGE
There were only four over-50 model castings at New York Fashion Week Fall 2022 for 0.40 percent. This paltry number was a decrease from last season when there were 12 over-50 model appearances for a total of 0.96 percent of model castings. Spring 2020 and Fall 2019 are still tied for the highest on record with 15 apiece.
Of the aged castings this season, three out of four were white with Susan Cianciolo landing two. Beverly Johnson was the only aged model of color to walk in a show this season.
Eckhaus Latta, Bibhu Mohapatra, Collina Strada and Maryam Nassir Zadeh each had one over-50 model apiece.
MOST AND LEAST DIVERSE SHOWS
Five brands reached the 100 percent diverse mark for Fall 2022. When it comes to the bigger shows, Victor Glemaud was the most impressive with 27 out of 27 models of color. Followed by Bibhu Mohapatra with 17 out of 17 nonwhite model appearances.
The other three brands who received 100 percent diversity had much smaller casts. PH5, Sally LaPointe and Simon Miller each booked two out of two models of color for their lookbooks.
On the other end of the diversity spectrum, we saw a few familiar names on the list. Snow Xue Gao and Vivienne Hu had 0 percent diversity casting zero out of two nonwhite models. Adam Lippes, Derek Lam 10 Crosby and Zero + Maria Cornejo also had 0 percent diversity casting zero out of one nonwhite models for their lookbooks.
We’re disappointed that the latest season of New York Fashion Week saw a decrease in racial diversity from last season. Especially since Spring 2022 marked a return to in-person shows and a rebound in diversity after a rough Fall 2021 season.
New York is historically the most diverse fashion capital so we’re concerned we may see downturns in London, Milan and Paris as well. (Although Fashion Month Spring 2022 was the most racially diverse season ever so there’s still a glimmer of a chance that the other fashion capitals will step up.)
Additional reporting by Mark E.
Only women and non-binary models are included in this data. Models of color are categorized as those who are nonwhite or of mixed backgrounds.
