Jul 17 2008
Lack of Black Models is Why Campbell Won’t Retire
According to Naomi Campbell the lack of black models might keep her on the catwalk til her golden years.
She says, “I’m very grateful for my career, but I worry for the girls after me for the opportunities they get — the way they get treated. And this is one of the reasons I still do what I do. I don’t do so many shows anymore, but I do count how many girls of color they use in the shows. It happens to be last year New York was the worst,”
Campbell explained. “Now at Paris Haute Couture, there was only one black girl out of all the shows. It cannot be a trend.”
To combat this very problem, Italian Vogue featured mainly black models in its July edition.
Campbell says about that, “For me, it is something that is history-making. Something that I’m going to keep forever,” she said about the magazine, according to Reuters. Source
Though I applaud Italian Vogue for its efforts to create a safe sphere to view black models I’m upset by the fact that this has to be done at all. It’s as if we’ll never be fully included so we must resort to being coralled into a niche market. Black models, black athletes, black professionals…Black people can’t stand by their merits alone. We must always be reminded that we’re black. Don’t get me wrong. I’m proud of who I am. But being reminded that I’m different ON A DAILY BASIS and being adversely affected because of it is painful. So thanks Naomi for sacrificing your geriatric years to continue to model so that there will always be a black presence on the runway. Thanks to Italian Vogue for bringing black models to the forefront. But how long can this continue before these models are accepted because they’re fierce…not because it’s token day backstage at the fashion show?
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