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Thesis on fashion in african american culture
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Throughout time, bright designers, world-known magazines and famous models, where few are only African-Americans, had represented fashion. The fashion industry is one of the most demanding industries ever created. On one hand, designers have to be unique, professionals, consistent and most important, famous, to keep up with the industry. On the other hand, models have to be beautiful, with unique personalities, and most important, skinny. Before the Civil Right Movement, white Americans models and designers represented the fashion industry until famous models such as Naomi Campbell, and Iman Abdulmajid entered the industry. They were the most influential models in the 1980’s and 1990’s with their personal contribution on the industry. Beauty did not only brought goods and happiness; it also brought controversy and discrimination.
Female white models represented the majority of the population on this year Mercedes-Benz fashion week. According to Grace Austin, designers used models that won’t upstage their clothes, in other words, using models that will “blend seamlessly into a garment, pretty but blank-featured.” Famous designers such as Mark Jacobs, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, and Salvatore Ferragamo are some of the famous designers of the 21st century. Each of them were able to present their collection on the Mercedes-Benz fashion week 2013, New York on both, spring and fall. According to statistics, white models featured an 87.6% of the population. Considering that nonwhite models were being added to the fashion industry since the Civil Right Movements on the late 60’s early 70’s, the average seems pretty low. In addition to that, the number of models that participated on the fashion show supports the theory of Aus...
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...he Biography Channel website. Dec 01 2013, 07:06 .
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"White on Black: Grappling with Race in Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, and South Africa." Films on Demand. Films Media Group, 2004. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. .
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While some woman like Sheila Nevins, an HBO executive, feel liberated and empowered by characteristics of raunch culture, other woman like Tyra Banks, co-producer of America’s Next Top Model, discussed in “Ghetto Bitches, China Dolls, and Cha Cha Divas” by Jennifer Pozner, promotes racist stereotypes in order to achieve power. While Tyra and the other judges “ claims America’s Next Top Model aims to expand beauty standards”, Pozner argues that “through selective casting and heavy editing, America’s Next Top Model perpetuates damaging racist stereotypes, while superficially claiming to promote all types of individual beauty and to empower women”, (Pozner). Clearly, women nowadays are willing to take part in practices that oppress them because they crave
Werle, Simone. Fashionista A Century of Style Icons. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1977. Print.
The concept of beauty and racism in modern western society is held to the highest of standards for all of it’s members; including celebrities. The perfect woman is described by Odette (2013), as solely for men’s pleasure and domination. If we look on the cover of any popular magazine, the women are usually: light skinned, slender, and tall. Men on the other hand must be tall and powerfully built. Our culture is valued on the basis of how men and women are perceived by their image, making it impossible for the average man or women to achieve the high beauty standard expected in society. Celebrities play an influential role in the way people view themselves, making the need to look like our favourite celebrities all the more desired. A person's
The problem with this is that these unique designs are often inspired by different cultures. “There is still an issue of ignorance in our fashion world… I don’t even like to use the word racism — [they’re] ignorant. They just don’t want to budge. They just don’t want to change their ideas or be more open-minded, to just [book] a beautiful girl regardless of creed or color” (Campbell). Most of the time the new designs that are incorporated as the new trend of the year, are influenced by different cultures. Bryce Covert in the article, The Fashion Industry’s Race Problem: Models of Color Rarely Get Hired claims that it is rare when models of different races get hired. Covert supports his claim by telling how, many big fashion industries did not hire women of color at all. Furthermore, he said that 82.7 percent of the models were white. Black models were hired for just 6 percent of the “looks” presented to the audience. Latina models made up just 2 percent. The author’s purpose is to point out how even though fashion influenced by different ethnicities it is still modeled by people who do not belong to that certain culture. The author writes in formal tone for everyone involved or interested in fashion. This type of scenario shows how racial
“My lips and fingers were blue because I was so thin that my heart was struggling to pump blood around my body”, said teen model fashion Georgina (Carroll 1). The new skinny has become excessively scrawny. Is it definitely not normal for today’s society models to walk around with blue fingers starving themselves until their organs start failing! As for the model agencies, they couldn’t care less of the pressure and dangerous practices they put the models through in order for them to stay thin for the runway. Even fashion Designers continue to produce the smallest couture sample sizes and scout for the slimiest bodies to wear the designs not aware of the consequences of the pressure they not only put on models, but on the society girls to look like these starving models. And when the models continue to get offers from the most important fashion industries like Prada, it motivates them to keep doing what they are doing to stay in the shape they are in (Carroll 1). But little did the outside world know what this pressure had on the models and what they were doing to their bodies to peruse their modeling careers.
Models of color aren't represented as much as white models sadly, Naomi came into the industry ready to address and change that. “At New York Fashion week in February, only 6% of designs were shown on black models. The vast majority of runway spots (82.7%) went to white models, with a growing proportion of Asian girls (9.1%). Carole White says designers here also tend towards white models for their shows. "I think clients have this perception that black girls do not sell products”” (Davey-Attlee 1) These percentages of models of color are sickening.
The media does not do a good job at diversifying or expanding their representatives, models, actors, employees etc. for women of colour. “Black women’s body esteem and appearance satisfaction is negatively influenced by internalizing idealized media images when these images depict black women with lighter skin and long, straight hair” (Capodilupo 274). When there is some representation of black women is seems as if the women are white washed to fit societies standards. These socially constructed beauty standards can be
It’s no secret that some women believe fashion portrays who they are. Therefore follow every season’s new trend. This leads to spending money that they don’t have. Waller Lea, a journalist, suggest that “for some communities, purchasing knockoffs or generic products are frowned upon, forcing minorities to spend more money. Now businesses and companies are targeting minorities, causing more debt problems.” Addicted to retail or brainwashed? Opponents claim that fashion is simply a creative way to express themselves. There are others ways to express ourselves that are no based on our appearance. Through drawing, painting or through our thoughts and ideas. What happens when someone can’t afford expensive clothing or doesn’t have access to fashionable clothes? They are singled out and excluded from society for being different.
Racism is rampant in the fashion industry. According to Dalton Conley author of “You May Ask Yourself”, ‘Racism is the belief that members of separate races possess different and unequal traits’. Unfortunately, most of the models who walk runway shows, and who are in high end fashion print advertisements are Caucasian. This causes
Fashion has been around ever since ancient times, since the time of the Romans, it survived the world wars and is yet today a business with rapid changes. Fashion started off as an art form, a way for the rich to show their social status with unique and innovative designs that only they could afford. It was a way to separate the social classes of the society. In this paper I will include the creators of haute couture, and how the following designers developed couture, as well as leading names in today’s ready-to-wear industry. The list is long, but I chose to focus on the three most important designers in the modern fashion industry.
Different sources of articles have written about the underlying issue of racism on the runway. Each serves the same purpose and that to inform about the numbers and to persuade the audience that there is a problem in the diversity of supermodels. Racism is an ugly part of our society, and it certainly has no place in the beautiful world of fashion. We all should be open minded to models of color, especially the designers and casting directors because this issue affects how we see things globally and how we are seen as an
...r became more creative person in the fashion shoot, after the designer. The overall photograph would sell your garment to the best ability that the photographer could achieve. It was not just about being a beautiful model in the photograph, there had to be other ways of making the photograph appealing than the simple lacklustre way of being beautiful. Although, every woman wants to be beautiful, the photographer wanted to challenge the appearance of beauty. And also challenge the way we looked at people that were not beautiful, but had a unique quality to them. The fashion photographer had a lot of power in Fashion; they could make a normal street person become the key icon for desire and envy. The photograph had the power to sell the clothes using anyone the photographer pleased, and the designer didn’t mind as long as their clothes were being recognized, and sold.
You would not find Hollywood superstars Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr., Jennifer Lawrence or Nicole Kidman walk the ramp at Milan, New York, Paris or any other top fashion shows worldwide. There are models and supermodels for the job like Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Karlie Kloss, David Gandy, Matthew Noszka, Rob Evans, Adriana Lima, Candice Swanepoel, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Irina Shayk, Emily Ratajkowski and so, so many more. These top male and female models have been lining up the best of fashion shows around the world and not unnecessarily side-lined by cinema