Colorism In The Fashion Industry

Colorism in the Fashion Industry: It’s Real!  

Colorism in the fashion world - is it real? Well, yes, it pretty much is! 

In fact, the fashion industry is one of the most popular examples of the fact that you need to be fair to be noticed and get an opportunity. 

We often talk about discrimination at workplaces based on gender, caste, creed, or nationalities, but yes, if the fashion industry or the film industry even, for that matter, is your workplace, odds of you being turned down because you are not fair enough are pretty high. 

Right from the Beginning

Colorism in the fashion industry is not something new. It has been there for as long as we can remember, from models, designers to creative directors. 

The fashion industry has predefined standards and an image for models. If you don’t fit in this invisible checklist of Eurocentric beauty standards, you are sidelined. 

Right from the early days, a model’s marketability in the beauty, entertainment, and fashion industries is heavily determined by skin color. 

How often do we see black models on the covers of leading fashion magazines? How often do we read about black fashion brand owners, designers….

Or, how often do we spot models of color on eCommerce websites promoting dresses and clothes? Not very often. 

In fact, it is very common for fashion houses to create dresses keeping the fair girls in mind. 

There have been attempts to address the industry's obsession with the white but this hasn’t been on a scale that it could make a difference. 

Why is the Scenario Like This?

A lot of dark-skinned models see “night-shaded” complexion as “an obstacle to overcome.”

Similar is the case with every model of color out there. Because, the fashion world is not very accepting of the black, period!

Well, primarily it’s not just the owners of the fashion houses or the casting directors of movies that are to be blamed, although these groups are not quite diverse so decisions are made based on one's own experience. 

The audience also has a say in this and an important role to play. How many people of color buy items from black brand owners or designers? 

It’s the audience that prefers lighter-skinned models over darker-skinned models and labels them as classier, more profitable, and more digestible. It is also the audience that gives more opportunities to brands. 

The problem doesn’t end there. The real problem lies with the audience as well as the world labeling darker-skinned models as a special segment of the fashion society, but also sticking to brands that have been around for a long time and still use the same standards. 

The darker-skinned models, the models of color or one black designer if paid attention, are used just to represent that we are being fair towards them. For instance, it’s difficult to access models of dark color because this colorism is so strongly rooted that dark-skinned girls refrain from seeing modeling as a career. 

It’s more like a privilege that we are conferring on them by treating them equally. A lot of fashion houses don’t cast these models because they are talented or they deserve to be there, but just to create a statement that the brand is woke towards these issues. That also applies to the big brands having a black designer or creative director to make a point. 

This is pathetic. We don’t treat them equally. We treat them differently, we treat them special because we feel that they are not normal. They are not what should be expected. 

This mindset needs to be changed, in order to change anything. The audience needs to be more accepting of models of color practically and not just post #BlackLivesMatter on Twitter, also support the designer and creative directors of color. 

We should not have to treat them any differently or special, we just have to treat them equally.

                                    Photo by Anna Shvets