From magazine covers and ad campaigns to runway shows, there is no denying that representation in the fashion industry is important. We consistently applaud fashion labels and designers who are inclusive of models regardless of their race, ethnicity, size and beyond, but we can’t help but wonder how some brands are still lacking when it comes to diversity.
Since Spring 2015, theFashionSpot has tracked diversity on New York Fashion Week runways, and while huge progress has been made practically every season, a recent report revealed that Fall 2018 was pretty lackluster in terms of racial and size inclusivity. Although models of color made up 36.9% of models who hit the runway for Spring 2018, they represented just 37.4% for Fall 2018, which is less than a one percent increase this season.
Additionally, while curvy models may be finally getting their deserved spot on the runway, only 26 plus-size models walked in shows for the Fall 2018 season compared to 34 in the Spring 2018 season.
So why exactly has less progress been made in terms of diversity on the runway? While the lower-than-expected numbers could be related to designers like Yeezy and Tracy Reese, who repeatedly cast a diverse range of models, not showing this season, it could also be that some designers aren’t concerned or simply do not care about being inclusive.
The plea for diversity in the fashion world has been exhausted season after season and frankly, it’s more important now than ever to show our support for those who support us, or even better, support Black designers.
For Fall 2018, we applaud the following designers with the most diverse runways: Alexander Wang, Brandon Maxwell, Christian Siriano, Chromat, Eckhaus Latta, Gypsy Sport, Jeremy Scott, Maki Oh, Marc Jacobs, Matthew Adams Dolan, Pyer Moss and Vivienne Tam. And to those designers who truly lacked diversity, we won’t call you out this time but we have two words for you:
Do better.