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Beverly Johnson Asks: Where Are All the Black Models?
The Daily Beast ^ | 9/12/2013

Posted on 09/13/2013 6:20:08 PM PDT by Altura Ct.

I didn’t attend Fashion Week in New York this season. And by all accounts, I certainly made the right decision. A disturbing trend that began on the runway a few years back is continuing—a trend of exclusion that is glaringly insulting and simply unacceptable to me.

I’ll never forget Fashion Week in 2010, when a major designer (whom I won’t name) invited me to his fall fashion collection. He messengered over a personal design for me to wear to the show, along with a note complimenting me for all my pioneering work in the industry.

In 1974, I became the first African-American model to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine. I continued to break down racial barriers by becoming the first black model to appear on an international cover of Elle magazine. More major fashion publications followed.

Appreciative of his comments and consideration, I accepted the designer’s invite and proudly took my front-row seat among other celebrities and fashion-industry notables. I sat there as endless numbers of gorgeous garments sashayed down the runway, draped over endless numbers of gorgeous bodies. I loved the detail and the glamour of it all, but as the show neared its end, I realized one unsettling omission: not one black model had strolled down the catwalk. By the time every girl came back onstage—marking the close of the show—my mouth was completely agape. Had this fashion designer actually complimented me on my role in changing the color of fashion and then invited me to a show with absolutely no black models in it at all? He most certainly had, and he clearly saw no problem with it. As reporters approached me after the show to ask my view of the designs, I waved them away, as I’d forgotten every outfit that crossed my sight that afternoon. Now all I could see was red. And it wasn’t a stunning red dress.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: beauty; blacks; blackwomen; blacwomen; fashion; missing
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To: USARightSide

I feel the same way as you do and I am not the only one to make the observation. Snoop dog or Snoop Lion is even a spokesperson for Overstock .com what a joke.


81 posted on 09/13/2013 7:34:09 PM PDT by funfan
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To: manc

Must be invigorating to be in on the consensus of black men when it comes to white women. You’re so lucky to have what it takes for these guys to let you in on their secret thoughts.


82 posted on 09/13/2013 7:37:13 PM PDT by Misterioso (Was born an atheist 76 years ago and haven't changed my mind.)
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To: uncitizen

“I didn’t say you aren’t free to express your opinion.”

No, you tried to intimidate me into keeping it to myself under penalty of public disapproval. Screw that.

“Nobody need say every thought they have. Surely you can see the difference between that”

I see that you want people to refrain from saying such things, and you’re willing to wag your “shame shame” finger at them when they do. The end result of that, combined with sanctions in the workplace, is the loss of freedom of speech. Which is what we have today.


83 posted on 09/13/2013 7:37:44 PM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: Altura Ct.
This is what complaints of racism have been reduced to in 2013. If you are black, the saleslady in an ultra-chic Swiss boutique won't show you the $38,000 handbag, and gay fashion designers are less likely choose you as a professional runway model in New York.

These days, none of the left's victim group members seem to be real victims.

84 posted on 09/13/2013 7:38:22 PM PDT by TChad
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To: Misterioso

“You’re so lucky to have what it takes for these guys to let you in on their secret thoughts.”

They don’t keep it a secret.


85 posted on 09/13/2013 7:39:15 PM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: workerbee

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.


86 posted on 09/13/2013 7:40:08 PM PDT by Gingersnap
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To: TChad

“gay fashion designers”

Sodomite fashion designers.

Complicity in allowing sodomites to hide behind the euphemism “gay” is, IMO, a mortal sin.


87 posted on 09/13/2013 7:40:49 PM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: dsc
Black women are, with excruciatingly rare exceptions, unattractive. Nobody wants them on the runway, not even black men.

Excruciatingly non-PC, but I believe this to be true.

The few black female models of note obviously had a honkie in the woodpile some time in the past.

88 posted on 09/13/2013 7:41:22 PM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: al baby

Toe-headed? :-)


89 posted on 09/13/2013 7:41:26 PM PDT by rabidralph
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To: Maine Mariner

Being tall and super skinny isn’t a norm among black women so I’m not surprised to not see more black models. I say this as a black woman.

But still leftists talk of diversity but don’t practice it. Typical of their hypocrisy.


90 posted on 09/13/2013 7:44:11 PM PDT by RginTN
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To: uncitizen

By the way, what’s up with “uncitizen?”

Does that mean you are not a citizen? That you are a citizen of the UN?

And a signup date of 1999? I’m skeptical.


91 posted on 09/13/2013 7:44:13 PM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: manc
Yeah, but Asian woman are the best. And this is coming from a white guy. Where are all the Asian models, anyway.
92 posted on 09/13/2013 7:46:10 PM PDT by fhayek
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To: dsc

Go on and be skeptical.


93 posted on 09/13/2013 7:46:57 PM PDT by uncitizen
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To: manc

After Martin Luther King was killed the networks bent over backwards to put blacks in the spotlight. All kinds of black TV shows showed up over night. Blacks were featured in every other commercial. 2013 will be the year of the black guilt in Hollywood. They will award Oprah Winfrey and probably Forrest Whitaker academy awards for the fictional version of a black White House butler. In addition to this there are a half dozen more movies starring black actors that will win academy awards. It will be a shock if any white actor wins anything this year. The year of white liberal guilt will be in full force at the academy awards. There are vast territories in this country that have no blacks whatsover. Most black people live in the big cities of America. Hardly any out in the heartland. 12% of the US population is black. If you were to look at entertainment and professional sports you would think it was the other way around, and whites made up the 12%. But the majority of blacks are still on the blame whitey parade and the liberal media will tell you how bad they have it in the United States and how they just can’t get ahead because of racist America.


94 posted on 09/13/2013 7:47:23 PM PDT by NKP_Vet
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To: patriotsblood

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-haaaa That’s hilarious!


95 posted on 09/13/2013 7:52:34 PM PDT by patriot08 (NATIVE TEXAN (girl type))
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To: uncitizen

I don’t think you can fake sign up dates. ;>)


96 posted on 09/13/2013 7:52:36 PM PDT by Rennes Templar (Seen any scandal headlines lately?)
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To: Altura Ct.

My wife does not get Victoria’s Secret catalogs these days, but I seem to recall a few rather attractive black chicks in there. They might not have been in the NYC fashion world, if that is what the article was about?


97 posted on 09/13/2013 8:05:53 PM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: dsc

Are you joking? Some of the worlds most beautiful women are black. Ethiopian women are just gorgeous.


98 posted on 09/13/2013 8:09:26 PM PDT by Chickensoup (...We didn't love freedom enough... Solzhenitsyn.)
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To: dsc

My black daughter just married into the whitest of families the other day. They think she is gorgeous.


99 posted on 09/13/2013 8:14:59 PM PDT by Chickensoup (...We didn't love freedom enough... Solzhenitsyn.)
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To: Altura Ct.
This thread is only possible on FR.

Good for us!

100 posted on 09/13/2013 8:24:22 PM PDT by Praxeologue
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