From shows to shoots, why we should strive for a more diverse modelling industry

The fashion industry holds a certain responsibility to promote diversity due to its large-scale efficacy as a tool for activism. In recent seasons, major fashion houses have begun to show a sense of accountability for their global influence. From Stella McCartney’s sustainability rhetoric to an in-depth analysis of the difference between gender-fluid and gender-neutral collections, the fashion landscape is beginning to change. Increasingly, trends more aptly reflect the issues faced in modern society. Unfortunately, this open-minded scrutiny of social norms typically fails to transcend into the modelling sphere.

When I was younger, I was scouted for my tall and slim physique and worked on and off as a model for around four years. Throughout that time, I became increasingly aware of the truth in model stereotypes. Most models I encountered were tall, slim, white, cis girls like myself. Looking back on a brief stay in Paris in 2017, I can see how homogenous the modelling scene was. I had stayed in a flat with three others: all young, white and European, barely women and barely eating. One was a 16-year-old Russian, who had her allowance stolen at her first casting. She was pale and thin and looked like she would much rather be in school with her friends than alone in Paris with no money.

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the fashion industry continues to promote unattainable body standards as the norm.

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During that same visit, I recall a brief doctor’s appointment in which my weight, heart rate and general health were measured. It was part of relatively new legislation in France that called for health checks on models to validate their right to work. Though these laws failed to recognise the depth of the issue, they began to acknowledge that the perpetuation of the size-zero fashion ideology was having a serious impact on models’ health. But it was a lacklustre attempt to prevent more cases like that of Ana Carolina Reston and Isabelle Caro, two high-profile models that died as a result of complications caused by their long-term battles with anorexia nervosa. Despite obvious warnings from a growing body-positivity movement, the fashion industry continues to promote unattainable body standards as the norm. This places extraordinary pressure on models to look a certain way and advertises to the public that sample-size is the only desirable size.

Admittedly, Spring 2020 proved to be the most body-positive round of fashion events yet, with a total of 86 plus-size models walking the runways. However, this is not representative of the range of body types and shapes seen outside of the fashion world. The average women’s dress size is a 16 in the UK, or between 16 and 18 in the US. And yet, the array of sizes on parade at fashion weeks across the world seem to be relentlessly skewed in the other direction. Though occasional inclusion of ‘curvy’ models contrasts the ultra-thin idolisation of the Lagerfeld era, it fails to recognise the multitude of sizes between zero and plus-size. Furthermore, some agencies segregate ‘Women’ and ‘Curve’ or ‘Plus-size’ in their agency. Their attempt at inclusion only serves to dehumanise models above a certain dress size by isolating them from the women’s category. Where they are not separated, plus-size models are excluded from the industry entirely.

But diversity in the modelling industry is multi-faceted, and discrimination extends beyond just body shape and size. Perhaps even more potently, racial diversity within the fashion industry is treated as a quota-hitting, box-checking allowance. Fashion persistently reinforces the racist white-beauty motif by disproportionately hiring Caucasian models over people of colour. But a lack of racial diversity in all roles within the fashion industry only exacerbates this, when predominantly white casting directors cast predominantly white models. As a result, people of colour are continuously excluded because make-up artists and hairstylists are only proficient in working with a limited range of skin tones and hair types. Spring 2020 was reported to be the most diverse season since 2015, with 41.5 per cent of those attending castings were models of colour. But that does not mean that racial bias does not remain. What the data cannot show is that the inclusion of token racially diverse models fails to protect them from fundamental racism within the fashion industry. And inclusion does not necessarily describe a landscape with true diversity and full representation of all ethnicities.

This concept of one-off inclusion as a substitute for true diversity is true for other underrepresented minorities. Last year, Sinéad Burke became the first little person to feature on the cover of Vogue. This was a huge step for disability visibility within the fashion industry, but I cannot help but wonder when a little person will feature again? Teddy Quinlivan’s 2019 Chanel Beauty campaign champions inclusivity for the transgender community, but there is little recognition of the fact that she had to work ‘in stealth’ for many years to build rapport before she felt comfortable to come out as openly transgender. Models like Munroe Bergdorf have gone on to highlight the significance of intersectionality within the diversity agenda. As a transgender woman of colour, she feels a responsibility to speak out about racial and transgender discrimination. But perhaps Bergdorf represents what it really means to be a model today.

To take the dictionary definition, a model is “something that a copy can be based on because it is an extremely good example of its type”. And, increasingly, models are becoming synonymous with role models, using their platforms to champion change in an industry that continues to discriminate like no other. There has been a shift towards personal branding rather than just a model’s image. To promote a narrow and non-diverse modelling industry is to say that inclusivity is not necessary. Models should be a representative of the world in which we live, or at least the one in which we strive to live. Endorsing the importance of a diverse, equality-based society, requires diverse models, all treated equally. We need models that represent the norm, but also those prepared to help normalise the diversity.

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the fashion industry is at the forefront of social change.

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Though there has been obvious progress over the past few years, the fashion and modelling industries are not yet truly diverse. Until every single person within society can look at campaigns and catwalks and feel represented by the models they see, we lack true diversity. Whether or not they acknowledge it, the fashion industry is at the forefront of social change. I maintain optimistic that the industry will continue to recognise the importance of promoting these values and its responsibility to do more to welcome greater diversity by making space for under-represented groups. This means hiring diversity- and inclusions officers to regulate and monitor model casting. It means casting more people of colour and hiring capable hair and make-up artists. It means casting plus-sized models, but also models of all body shapes, sizes, types; making clothes to fit all people – not casting models to fit clothes. It means welcoming transgender and non-binary models, creating a working environment in which they feel safe and appreciated. It means championing disability rights and creating wheel-chair accessible runways.

I quit modelling because I found the unnecessary pressure was taking a toll on my mental health. I cannot fathom how much more damaging the industry as I experienced it could have been for someone of colour, or for transgender models. Or for anyone that was exposed to the same level of criticism about their body, but also about their ethnicity, or gender identity, or level of ability. I can only hope that we begin to see a more subversive fashion scene in the future, like Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty Show, which moved international crowds in its inclusion of women from all walks of life. People of colour, plus-sized models, transgender and non-binary models, people with disabilities – this reflects the diversity we see in our society. So, this is what we should be seeing amongst models. And the modelling industry needs to set “an extremely good example”, by creating a diverse set of role models for the public to look up to.