It’s no secret that the fashion industry has a major problem with diversity and representation. The depressing reality is that models of colour are still often absent from major runway shows due to biased casting processes; if and when they are cast, they’re often forced to deal with make-up artists who are ill-prepared to properly work with non-white models. By speaking out about the day-to-day reality of working as a black model in a majority white environment, Victoria’s Secret model Leomie Anderson is spotlighting an issue that the industry has pushed aside for too long.
On the second day of London Fashion Week, the model took to Twitter to share the story of how she’d been turned away from a model casting – despite already having been confirmed to walk in that show – apparently because the designer (who has not been named) had already cast one model of colour.
‘Being confirmed for a show then being dropped because the designer doesn’t feel like using more than one black girl is so sickening,’ she tweeted on September 16th.
‘Can’t believe I went to a fitting for 8.40am, got put into a line with six white girls, watch their looks get selected then get told “he can’t find anything for you, you can go” along with a tanned Brazilian model,’ she explained.
‘Once he selected a mixed girl with curly hair the quota was clearly at capacity despite the fact that I had already been CONFIRMED for the show.’
‘I got dropped because I was black. End of,’ she concluded.
Leomie was immediately and widely praised for her honesty, and followed up the tweets with an interview on BBC Radio Four’s Woman’s Hour earlier today, in which she revealed that she feels compelled to speak out to make things better for future generations of models.
‘At this point in my career, I feel like me being silent is me not standing up for other young girls who are coming up in the industry,’ she told host Jane Garvey. ‘I remember when I was younger and I wasn’t saying anything, I’d be going down the runway with my face looking grey, I’d be crying backstage because nobody wanted to do my hair or someone said a comment that was really offensive to me and I didn’t say anything.’
'I feel like there have been a lot of situations where black models have been made to feel like second class citizens during Fashion Week or during their jobs,' she went on to add, before explaining that 'the only what they we are going to move forward within the fashion industry is by having new people, new blood, new ideas and a fresh perspective. A lot of the mistreatment that we go through is because fashion is a very old industry.'
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