There seems to be some consensus out there in cyberspace that designers are somehow consciously deciding not to use models of color.
When I was casting earlier this year for my show, of the nearly 100 girls that came, there were less than 10 girls of color. Of those ten, roughly half were Asian, and the other half black. And believe me, I tried to cast just about all of them, but what with the normal maneuvering that goes on with castings, I lost out on nearly every one.
I did, however, manage to get Gabi, who almost made up for the other girls. She's the type of girl that makes anything look good. Not only that, she's a true fashionista. She loves clothes.
Normally, models don't have a preference, they'll will put on whatever you ask them to. Not Gabi. I loved that she voiced her opinion on the looks she wanted to wear. She's the kind of girl I could hang out with, and our fitting felt like we were in a shop, trying on clothes and talking about what we liked, or didn't.
I'm sure that's exactly the kind of thing she does with her own gal pals. At the fitting, she mentioned she was meeting her best friend, Han, outside. Han?, I asked. Yes, as it turned out, it was that Han who-has-become-such-a-presence-on-the-runway-
that-she-can-dispense-with-a-last-name-Han.
1 comment:
Gabi is beautiful.
The lack of diversity among the working models is disappointing. I applaud your efforts to address that in your casting.
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