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Runways Slowly Becoming Less White

  • 9/12/08 at 5:02 PM
Arlenis Sosa

Arlenis SosaPhoto: imaxtree

Runways are becoming more diverse, but not by much. Modeling agent Bethann Hardison told the New York Times, "The business was dry as a desert for a decade, and now you have Thom Browne, who makes clothes for skinny white boys, putting a very dark-skinned black boy in a show. That says a lot." However, George Brown, who owns modeling agency Red NYC, said, "We’re still stuck in tokenism. I thought this season, with [the all-black] Italian Vogue, we would see a more dramatic uptick. It didn’t bear fruit.” The Shophound has been tracking diversity quotients for each show, which seem to support Brown's sentiments. Minorities in Reem Acra's show, for example, included just two Asians and zero black models; minorities in Chris Han's show included two Asians and one black model. [NYT, Shophound]

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Writer
Amy Odell
Managing Editor
Jessica Coen
Fashion Editor
Amina Akhtar
Assistant Editor
Sharon Clott
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