#diversitynow

World Refugee Day commemorates the obstacles refugees face each year, while also celebrating their courage and strength.

I’ve already done a previous post about the amazing Winnie Harlow, however I’d like to look a bit further into models with skin conditions/lack of. I’ve seen the most beautiful people who feel unbelievably insecure about how they look due to their birth marks, freckles, acne, burns, eczema and other skin conditions such as Winnie’s Vitiligo. They feel they need to cover these as much as possible, as though it’s the only thing people will notice about you. This is an idea that needs to change, skin conditions do not define the way you look.

Being a natural red head I’ve always had a large splattering of freckles, as soon as I discovered make up i did everything i could to cover up every last one, I felt that they enhanced my ‘gingerness’ which i always got teased for. However it now seems people are using their make up to create fake freckles on their faces! I can now embrace my splattering and feel that it adds character to my face. Looking into models with freckles I found 21-year old Ralph Souffrant. He has a skin condition similar to vitiligo which gives him the appearance of a bold smattering of freckles. The Brooklyn-based model has used his condition to make a name for himself in the world of fashion, landing a spot in Kanye West's Yeezy Season 3 show earlier this year.

I also know many people who suffer from Eczema, an irritating red, itchy, sore skin condition that can flare up and down. Eczema may only appear in some areas of the body but at bad times can appear noticeable on the face and create dandruff from the scalp. I couldn't find any model with this condition even though it is so common. Some models that do have it have been sent home from shoots whenever the its has flared up somewhere or refused jobs due to it even though they fit the bill in every other way. This does nothing for the confidence of normal people who deal with the insecurities it brings them everyday.

Marks or ‘imperfections' on our skin define us and makes us different from everyone else, if the fashion industry embraced these conditions more it would boost the publics confidence.

When looking into the different areas of diversity within the fashion industry I found one of the biggest gaps desperately needing to be challenged is the lack of male ‘curve’ or ‘plus size’ models. Although a lot still needs to be done with getting more curve women on the catwalk I found there were significantly less larger male models in the industry. This is extremely worrying with more and more reports on the rising numbers of males suffering with; body dysmorphia, anorexia and bulimia, a rise of 70% in the last six year, body insecurities are defiantly not just for women. Research has revealed that men have “high levels of anxiety about their bodies and that some resort to compulsive exercise, strict diets, laxatives or making themselves sick in an attempt to lose weight or achieve a more toned physique.” The NHS suggests teenage boys and young men may take drugs because they have bigorexia (or reverse anorexia), where they don’t see themselves as being physically big enough or strong enough.

This shouldn’t be a surprise with magazines, social media, billboards, adverts and fashion shows all promoting the ‘perfect’ image of the male body as lean, toned, tall and muscular and when it comes to catwalks very skinny. However this shape doesn't apply to the majority of our male population so when is the industry going to change it’s ways and address this?

Some female plus size models have been making waves in the fashion industry such as the wonderful Ashley Graham. However I didn’t know of a single plus size male model before researching into the issue which says enough in itself. However there are starting to be some men making changes to the industry.

Model Zach Miko was bet $500 by his girlfriend that he would one day be featured in People’s magazine, at his size he thought this was ridiculous. However he was called by Target who wanted him to be the company’s first plus-size male to model its big and tall line. “For Miko, who can vividly recount the pain he felt as a nine-year-old when a girl called him ugly, the moment was surreal.” He is now a model for IMG Models their first ever brawn model. 

 Another model taking the industry by storm is Dexter Mayfield. The gay plus sized model walked at the Marco Marco show at Los Angeles Fashion Week and it was one of the most iconic walks of all time. “Mayfield sashayed and shimmied and went almost immediately viral" The video of the show is amazing, he brings so much character and sass. During an interview with Strut, Mayfield said “I think it’s so important to have this conversation with young men, no matter how far I’ve come in the industry, I’ve been told, ‘You still need to lose weight.’ When it comes to presenting an image of male beauty, we need to expand that. We have Zach now, but we still have a long way to go.”.

Image: http://www.imgmodels.com/model/new-york/men/17161

Image 2: http://realfmgy.com/2015/10/23/epic-strut-how-this-male-runway-model-dominated-a-fashion-show/

Morwenna Ferrier, Tuesday, 29th march, 2017, available at: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2016/mar/29/zach-miko-male-model-plus-size-body-image-fashion

It is no secret that body image is an issue within the fashion industry and has been for a long time. Although there has been several break through moments within the industry, such a ‘plus size’ model Ashley Graham being on the cover of Vogue, there is still this portrayal of the ‘perfect’ body through social media, fashion magazines and fashion runways. I have done some research into the correlation of body image and the fashion industry that I will discuss in this post.

BODY IMAGE X FASHION MAGAZINES

As I mentioned above Ashley Graham (full blog post on Ashley Graham already up) was the first ‘plus size’ model to be on the cover of Vogue, which is great! However, what isn’t great is that it took until 2017 for it to happen. 125 years since the magazine began!

Another popular fashion magazine, Elle, also featured a plus size model. In 2014 Elle magazine had an interview with Myla Dalbesio, a model for Calvin Klein’s underwear campaign. The interview got a lot of negative feedback as they described Myla, UK size 14, as plus size. Readers lashed back at Elle and said that the model should not be considered plus size. Calvin Klein then released a statement saying that they never described Myla as plus size and that ‘The perfectly Fit’ range was made to celebrate and cater to the needs of many different types of body shapes. Personally, I do agree that Myla Dalbesio does not look like a plus size model, by any means. However, I do think it is good to see woman of many sizes included in worldwide fashion campaigns and magazines, rather than just two extremes.

I understand how difficult it must be for fashion magazines to please everyone. If they don’t include plus size models, they are discriminating against larger women. If they do include plus size models, people still get offended. I think it will be a while until a good balance in created.

BODY IMAGE X MY EXPERIENCE

There are two things I want to talk about in regards to my experience with body image in the fashion industry:

1.     Clothes sizing. Something that I find a huge issue is the different sizing that happens within high street shops. No two shops have the same sizing. For example, I have a pair of skinny jeans that are a size 8 from Tesco’s clothing and a pair that are size 12 from Miss Selfridge. This is something that I have talked about with a few friends and I know it can make a lot of girls feel down about their body when they need to buy a bigger size, even thought they could be several sizes smaller in a different shop. More of an effort needs to be made to ensure a size 8, is a size 8, and a size 12, is a size 12 no matter where you are shopping.

2.     I have volunteered at Fashion Week many times throughout the last 3 or 4 years and, although I love it and getting experience in the industry, have been very shocked in regards to plus size models. Firstly, plus size models only had a fraction of the outfit that the other models had and did not take part in every look. Although it is great for plus size models to be acknowledged and celebrated why aren’t they good enough to be in every look?

In 2012, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and had a colostomy bag for six months. This is obviously difficult for a 14-year-old to deal with and made me feel very self-conscious. I felt that I had to completely change what I wore in order to cover the bag and although it was summer, there is no way I would have been seen in a bikini. Although, thankfully other Crohn’s patients are choosing to embrace it.

In 2014, make-up artist Bethany Townsend posted a bikini photo on Instagram showing her colostomy bag, that most people suffering with Crohn’s try to hide. She got a lot of positive feedback on her confidence which helped her on her dream of becoming a model. It makes me very happy to see that there are people embracing the colostomy bags and not hiding away like I did.

The fashion industry can be a scary place and can often focus a lot on one perception of beauty. It really does seem that there has been huge development on people embracing their differences and their own personal beauty.  

As of right now there are catwalk shows that include models with colostomy bags. In fact, I was asked to be in a local fashion show when I had a colostomy bag, but turned it down as I was ‘embarrassed’. This is a decision I regret. It is great that there are local catwalk shows embracing those with a colostomy bag, but it is unfortunately yet to be seen in major Fashion Week runways.

References:

The theme that I have decided to follow with for my Diversity Now module is age. After deciding this I went to interview a lady called Margery, she used to be a textile teacher for many years and now age 77 she told me her stance on the fashion world.