During an CFDA panel earlier this month, a group of fashion insiders discussed their experiences with diversity in the fashion industry. Afterwards, I went looking for more articles that shed light on this very important topic:
- The Fashion Spot examined women’s fashion print ads for Spring 2015, and found an alarming lack of diversity.
- BoF reports that one of the most promising growth areas for beauty brands “is the expanding market for so-called ‘ethnic’ or ‘multicultural’ beauty products, meaning products targeted at multi-ethnic consumers in both the West and in emerging economies.”
- Nudevotion is an online store that offers customers nude apparel — clothing, bags, accessoris, make-up and shoes — according to their own skin tone.
- A shoot for Icelandic Glamour featuring five models who set up ALDA, “an organization that aims to widen the definition of beauty and works to expand the size representation of modeling agencies in New York”, is getting very positive reactions.
- Marquita Pring, one of the co-founders of ALDA, is also part of lingerie brand Panache’s Modelled by Role Models campaign that “aims to shift the perception of what being a model really is — being celebrated for contributions to society and personal achievements rather than physical attributes.”
- The public support for 18-year-old Madeline Stuart, an aspiring model who has Down syndrome and wants to change the way people discriminate against disability, has been overwhelming.
- In this video, Nicolette Mason discusses why queer voices matter in fashion.
- Jessica Kane, creative director of online store Cool Gal Blue, explains why they only work with non-professional models.
Fab Links from Our Members
Dee had fun watching the new Iris Apfel documentary, and wanted to share this interview with the eclectic style icon.
E enjoyed this comprehensive guide on how to go on a meaningful “shopping fast” that lets you evaluate your habits and decide what you want your future consumption to look like.
Angie liked Sally’s thoughtful piece on body image and paradigm traps (she does like liquorice though!).
In honour of the Mad Men finale, Kari points us to this article and slideshow on the style evolution of certain characters.
Joy was caught up in Bill Cunningham experiencing the Greenmarket in Union Square, the dogs, wisteria and, of course, fashion. “Do people have a Farmers’ Market style?”, she wonders.
Marlene enjoyed reading Sally’s thoughts on the difference between normcore and classic style.
Vildy liked this article about five Japanese brands who are “reinventing multiple menswear archetypes (the outdoorsmen, the Ivy Leaguer, the surfer dude)”.
Runcarla and her son enjoy analyzing and learning from the outfit posts and the style articles over at Primer.
Vicki’s womanly feminist alarm went off when she read that women sporting flats were being banned at the Cannes Film Festival, even though she finds the story intriguing from a cultural perspective.
Laurinda adds: “Kudos to Inès de la Fressange and Isabella Rossellini for rebelling in flats.”
Deborah loves reading and seeing how minimal wardrobe capsules work for some women.
It never occurred to Karymk that newly purchased clothing might need to be washed before the first wear. But that is exactly what Donald Belsito, a professor of dermatology at Columbia University Medical Center, recommends.
Daria directs us to a New York Times article about the rebirth of Old Navy.
After reading about the art director who wears the same outfit to work every day, writer Alicia Cohn tried the same thing for a week. Beth Ann found the questions she poses, e.g. “Simplicity has become trendy. But what are we simplifying for?“, very interesting.
