After the tragic killings of so many unarmed black people by the police forces in the US sparked the "Black Lives Matter" movement, a lot of members of the Fashion Industry have come together to support the cause. It makes you feel like people in our community genuinely believe in equality and diversity when you see all those posts with the cause's slogan on social media or all those people attending the protests held in different cities throughout the world. So why is it that when you take a look at the campaigns of brands and magazines or browse through the portfolios or published editorials of most people in the industry, you struggle to find non-white models. Could it be that the Fashion Industry is the biggest hypocrite in the world?
Discrimination and hatred are not stopped in social media. Discrimination and hatred are stopped at home, when you teach your children that we are all equal no matter our skin tone, our believes or who we love; discrimination and hatred are stopped at work, when you cast your models because of their talent and not their race; discrimination and hatred are stopped when your client tells you that they want to use only white models because they sell more and you remind them that if only white people bought their products they would go broke.
We have the power to do some great change but nothing will happen if we continue to rely on hashtags and memes to solve this issue. Real change happens in every day actions. Cast more non-white models in your shoots, support inclusive brands and publications, embrace diversity and spread the message of equality in your work. This is a beautiful industry but there is still a lot of work to be done to make it more diverse and more inclusive.
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