To say that fashion is not as diverse as it could be is a giant understatement. It seems that every time fashion week comes around there are sadly too many stories that prove this is still a reality. The latest controversy comes from model Leomie Anderson who claims that she was dropped from a LFW show for being a black model.
Although London is known for being one of the more diverse cities, the model took to Twitter on the second day of the shows to share her experience of racism. Anderson claims that after being confirmed for a show, she was later dropped and told that “the designer doesn’t feel like using more than one black girl.” The designer remains unnamed for now but Anderson – who appeared on BBC Radio 4 this morning – said she would expose him if she felt like it would help to stop things happening like this again.
Being cut from a show, even as late as on the day, is not uncommon but Anderson alleges that she was told the designer “had nothing for her” or a tanned Brazilian model after picking out a look for a mixed-race girl before them. This isn’t the first time Anderson has taken to Twitter to call out a makeup artist at NYFW who didn’t have a foundation to match her skin tone. Fellow model Jourdan Dunn also took to Twitter, claiming she was discriminated against by a London club at her own fashion week event. According to Dunn she had to threaten to cancel the event before her brother was finally let in.
While design conglomerates LVMH and Kering recently paired up to create a charter that stops model mistreatment, interestingly there was nothing included about promoting diversity within the industry.
