Magazine covers are one thing. Runways are another. On runways, all designers care about are having human hangers to display their (usually ridiculous) “fashions.” There isn’t an iota of racism about it; designers want androgenous stick figures to display their wares. In Western cultures, black women are rarely stick figures. This is not to call them “fat” — it’s a low percentage of white women who make the designer’s cut, too. But by and large (no pun intended) it will be white girls who have the pubescent boy look that designers want to see on the runway.
And yes, gayness has a lot to do with it.
Bingo.
Iman aka mrs. David Bowie comes to mind. She was and still the best model ever in my opinion.
I think you are absolutely correct. The ideal runway model is a tall, underweight, broad-shouldered androgynous dress-hanger.
Most black models have more breast/butt than designers care for even if the models are underweight. Last year a man took to the catwalk posing as a woman. He was very successful. I expect that boys/men will increasingly be “female” models over time. They are tall, thin, broad-shouldered, hipless, and flat. This is what designers (male and female) want.
The clothes are the thing - not the wearers.
Most fashion designers tend to make clothes for models who look like pretty boys. Most black women past puberty do NOT have the body of a boy.
You make the correct point, methinks.