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- Are we good? - A, B, C, marker. Quiet on set. Here we go! And... I remember my agents being extremely blunt, saying, "You're a little too dark for this season." I'm like, "Okay." They could have said I had no experience and they didn't want me, but the thing they said is, "No, we're not looking for a Black model." - This one was tough. - And that was right in front of everyone. I had to take my leave. It just felt like a door that was just not ever gonna open. You start believing that it might be something wrong with you, and that's just not the case. Let's talk about the white-out. The '80s and the early '90s were like the heyday of the Black model. A model could become a muse to anyone from Saint Laurent to Gianni Versace. She and the designer and his team were the only things. They were the ones who all got in bed together. Veronica: The '90s supermodel glamazons who were sometimes even bigger than the designers that they were walking for.
We each came down the runway, you know, exuding our personalities. You got designers who were angry because they felt that they were financing the supermodels' rise to success, and then the models would get all this press afterwards, sometimes not even mentioning the designer. So there was a backlash. When Eastern Europe opened up, when that Bloc fell down and scouts started going into Eastern Europe, that's when it starts to change. When Miuccia Prada got tired of the idea of the supermodel, the ego was reversed, so the designer had to regain that power. So what she did, Miuccia Prada, is that she basically said, "All right, I just want all the girls to look alike. I don't want any movement. I don't want any shape. Just walk straight." In the end of the day, it ended the possibility of a lot of girls working. The Black model had basically disappeared. It was like that for, like, 10 years.
That's a long time. You had models who were all the same height, all the same race, and all the same shape. You know, some people refer to it as the white-out. I refer to it as the dry cleaning rack seasons. They wanted to just see the clothes come down the runway and go back. The Prada effect, it happened to Calvin, it happened to Jil Sander. You would just have these parades of white girls. I'm not pushing personalities.
Right now, it's not about the personalities. It's about fashion. This erasure of the Black model was stunning. How is it even on the runway that a Cabine of Black models exists, and then next year there's none? In the '90s, they started having people who were casting. So the casting agent becomes, like, for lack of better words, before you see the Oz, the one at the gate, so you have to go through them. Those are the people who would decide who would be in the fashion show. My name is James Scully and I'm a former fashion show producer and casting director.
( no audible dialogue ) As a casting director, you have several different clients, from Carolina Herrera to Stella McCartney to Tom Ford. As a casting director, I knew what each designer was looking for. I can say by looking at one model that she's either great for all seven of my shows or she will be good for this one show. You kind of slot them almost as if they were playing a part. Thank you very much. In the early '90s, Milan, at the time, was still the place to go. You had Tom Ford's Gucci, you had Prada, you had Jil Sander, you had Marni, and then a lot of those people ended up leaving their houses. What it did was left Prada as the sole influencer of the fashion industry. Any girl with a personality sort of disappeared, but then all the girls of color were just gone within two years.
And so they started telling the agencies, "Oh, this season, we're not seeing Black models." As if they were a trend. I questioned a lot of things that the casting directors were saying. They didn't feel there was a market, and that's what we had to change. André Leon Talley and Naomi Campbell came to me and they said-- it was a year and a half ago. They said, "Bethann, you've gotta do something." But it had been being said to me for over a decade. We'll talk to the CFDA. The CFDA, which is the Council of Fashion Designers of America. They will make a decision and make the designers maybe put some models, hopefully in January. After I started having press conferences in 2007, 2008, 2009. So they-- things started to change, so they started to have that one girl, and that was enough.
There was only one space for one of us, and that would either be me or Chanel Iman or Jourdan Dunn. When you are working, you know that it's between you, the other girl that kinda looks like you, and then the light-skinned girl and then the dark-skinned girl. The scarcity of a job creates a space where there's no camaraderie. The competition would stem from people backstage betting each other against each other. So you're telling me that I have to compete with this woman in order for us to get the same job? I don't want to compete with my fellow sister. I do know girls who just pushed themselves away from other Black girls because they were just so competitive that they couldn't see beyond the fact that you are the enemy, I guess, because you are taking money out of their mouth. In 2008, like, that was the middle of the recession.
If there was a worst time to start being a model, 2008 was the worst time. When I first got signed, it was about 2007, 2008, even though it seems like it wasn't that long ago. I really struggled because that was the era of one Black model per runway. Um, literally one. Maybe two. I was, like, trying to survive on dollar pizza and, like, going to Europe and just-- just completely-- just begging for work. Models are very much like very glamorous migrant workers. You know, you pack up your high heels and you go to the next town.
In Fashion Week, sometimes you pay your own way. You spend all this money, a model's apartment, your flight, everything, and then to be told, "Oh, we're not using Black models." You go to this country and you've made no money. Then you move on to the next city and you hear the same thing. And I didn't make any money when I was a model the first time, so I was like, "Oh, my God." You know, at the beginning, I would have to go to 10 to 15 castings, and then be rejected. I was always in Europe. I was always in Paris. If you're a Black girl starting out in this business, you feel like nobody likes you, nobody sees you.
I had to figure it out on my own. For sure there's microaggressions that you just have to brush off. I had to, you know, fight through it, cry through it. It wasn't the right time, when I first started in 2008, and I kept, you know, going and kept trying. And I think about three years in, I realized I had to kinda just surrender. And I quit and I went to school, 'cause I-- it wasn't happening at all. And I was just devastated. You have some models that are amazing models, but if they don't have that one person to push them, they don't make it to be the star they could be.
Jeneil: I grew up in Kingston, Jamaica. Listen, there's a lot of great Jamaican models, from Lois Samuels, to Nadine Willis, to Grace Jones. I love Grace Jones. She's just so rebellious. She's strong, she never let anything try to break her, and I love that. I admire that. When I first started, everything was different. You know, you show up to some of these major couture and big brands and they send a casting director outside to tell me that, "I'm sorry, we're not using any Black girls this season, but thank you for coming in." I still hold my head up high and I exit. I wouldn't want to work for someone like that anyway. I'll go and I'll tell my agent, "Please do not send me to this casting again or this casting director again." It took a while for me to stop being angry. You know, it follows you. You know, you have to be built strong for it not to break you, I swear.
My agent, Steven Bermudez, he was the only one that was like, "You're perfect and let's change this game together." And then, bam, my first cover was "Love Magazine," where I was just like, "Here I am," you know? My agent never stopped. He never took no for an answer. And we did so much incredible things. Just work, work, work, work, work.
It just took off from there. In fashion, it takes someone else-- a photographer, an editor, a stylist-- to see the value in you, even though you know you have value. And that's where allyship comes in. We need more allies to coexist and open doors when some of us on the outside aren't able to do so ourselves. Having Black people in decision-making positions behind the camera is what really changes things. Black models of the moment, you know, Adut, Anouk, Paloma. I mean, they're all my children, so I don't want to single too many of them out. They all see me as Papa Edward. Edward Enninful, he put me on the cover of British "Vogue." Me, wearing a hijab. He's a visionary. British "Vogue" with Edward, that'll put you on people's radars.
I met Edward Enninful in Milan. He was like, "Do you know Steven Meisel?" I was like, "No, I don't." And he's like, "Well, you will soon. I'm sending him your picture right now." For things to change, Black people can't do all the work. We have photographers like Steven Meisel. Steven and I would always try to do what we can. I was working with Italian "Vogue" and Steven was a great advocate for Black models. It's appreciation of talent, you know? You just-- you don't even think about-- I mean, I don't even think about it.
I think Seven Meisel's absolutely an ally for Black models. The first time I got confirmed to work with Steven Meisel, I remember getting so excited on the phone that I walked through, like, a red light and almost got hit by a car. 2008, "Vogue Italia," I had been working with Steven Meisel. I came back from the collection and said, "Steven, there are no Black models anywhere." Steven and his agent Jimmy Moffat called in Franca-- Franca Sozzani, one of the greatest "Vogue" editors who ever lived-- to say, "You know, we have to do something about this." And I remember speaking to Franca, saying, "What can we do? Because the Black model is disappearing." And then literally she gave over her whole issue, and Steven asked me to collaborate with him on some covers and some stories, and we wanted to create a history of Black models.
So when you look in that issue, it goes from grand dames like Iman and Pat Cleveland to Naomi, who was on her own, essentially, to new models like Liya Kebede, Jourdan Dunn. There was a spectrum of Black beauty. So it was a very proud moment for me. ♪ Rising up to fight for change ♪ ♪ A system broken, deranged ♪ ♪ You hear 'em saying those names ♪ For Italian "Vogue" to do that, that was-- that was big. Law Roach: The Italian "Vogue" all-Black issue is the highest-selling issue that they've ever-- that they ever created. It was a hugely important issue. However, it didn't really open up opportunities for the Black model at that time. I just remember Steven saying, like, "I can't believe Sessilee has not gotten enough work at this point in her career. She's absolutely exquisite." Milan was a little hard, and it was a bit of a struggle to book jobs. I'm like, "I'm literally on the cover of the biggest magazine out of this country." It was just, "No, you're just a little too dark." Some things you just cannot change.
When I got signed with Major, I was probably 18, 19. They were the ones who changed my life, 'cause they believed in me. ♪ Brush the dirt off of my feet ♪ ♪ Whoa, oh, oh ♪ That also gave me a chance to work with Meisel again, which, also, when you work with Meisel, you are a Meisel girl, which means that everybody wants you. - ♪ Come on ♪ - ♪ Come and get it ♪ - ♪ Are you ♪ - ♪ Ready for it? ♪ - ♪ Let's go ♪ - ♪ Come and get it ♪ ♪ Whoa, oh, oh ♪ So I was able to do Victoria's Secret, shot with H&M, shot music videos with Kanye West. And being an Afro-Latina, I remember my "Latina" magazine cover.
It was kinda funny 'cause it was like, "Oh, she's on the Black issue. But, yeah, now she's on "Latina"? Well, which one is she gonna be next week?" It's like, I can be multiple things. Hello. And it's beautiful. If you're working, it felt good, I guess, in a way. 'Cause you're like, "I'm the one that they chose." I was being seen, and at the same time, I was like, "Something is kind of off." Like, what else can I do? There's only so much I can personally do.
I am not the decision-maker. If a runway show features only white models, or just one Black model out of dozens, is it racism? More Black models were used in the '70s and '80s than is being used now. I'm not sitting here saying boycott designers. What I'm trying to do is educate designers. I don't like it and I say it. I say, "Where's the others?" Naomi has never been one to bite her tongue. She's someone who basically will call you out, call it out, and she can only come and tell me, "You're not here to see this, but it's going..." And this is-- we're talking about 2013. We're not talking about 19-something. At some point, you start to say, "Okay, okay, okay." I was getting ready to go in there with a machete. When I was asking to the agencies to get more models of different ethnicities, they will answer to you, "There is none." These designers don't even know what's going on on their behalf - through the casting agent. - I was shocked.
I had to talk to others who were in the industry. They would tell me things that I could use as fuel to do more. So they would tell me what it looked like over there. And I was the one who wrote the letters to the fashion councils, telling them that hiring only one model of color per season, even if they don't do it on purpose, the result is racism. Naomi Campbell joined us, so it was the three of us. We went on the news. CNN, ABC, BBC, you name it. And we highlighted what was at issue. Reporter: Fashion's biggest names are listed on what the Fashion Diversity Coalition calls a lack of Black models during the fall 2013 collections. What I actually did was had someone in my office sit and go through every single show.
And so we could actually see who did what and who didn't. And they would say, "Zero Blacks, one Asian." They would just-- she counted them out. And that's how we came to know what we did is right. Woman: And the numbers don't lie. - No. - The pictures don't lie. - You can see them right there. - That's what I said. If somebody said, "Well, how dare you say--" I said, "Roll the tape. Just look at the shows.
When it was being questioned, "Is the industry of fashion racist?", that gave the model agencies a chance to start to find other girls, and it changed things. New York shows have just finished. Huge difference. Big difference. So many more models of color. Six black models in Calvin Klein. There were none last year. It was so weird at the time to think, like, "Oh, my God, Bethann! There were two Black girls in Prada." And she's like, "Call me when there's five," and hung up on me like that. She's like, "We're not done." So, Prada, for the people who started the problem, they actually started to become very diverse. And people started to really follow the example. I had my first Italian "Vogue" cover with Steven Meisel and the Prada campaign right after. So, every door opened. Like, the connection just, you know, it happened. I was like, "Oh, my God. Now I can call it a career." "I am a model," you know? Just saying this, "I'm a model. I'm a full-time model. That's my job." I have to give a lot of credit to Miuccia Prada, too, because she really-- for what she did before-- changed things.
Using five girls, putting them in the show, and then doing it again, and then continuing it in advertising. Do you know that that influences the other designers? That the other designers are now using girls of color in their advertising? That has never been done. Just to see the amount of Black models on the runway, on covers, and just so many models of color working right now, that's amazing, because in 2008, that was not happening. Fast forward to 2015, 2016, this agent from Paris is like, "I want you to come to Paris. I know I can get you in the door to a big show." There's backdoors into these opportunities, 'cause sometimes you need new avenues when, you know, the gatekeepers are saying no. So she sent me to YSL. "They need a body there who is helping them do fit modeling." Anthony Vaccarello really connected with me and he was just like, "I want you to be in my show." And I went down the runway and closed the YSL show with blonde hair. Closing the YSL show was definitely pivotal. Also, around that same time, I went to casting for Roland Mouret. His stylist, Sophia, she's the stylist for Victoria's Secret as well. Soon after that, I ended up getting Victoria's Secret.
Seeing the transition from my experience in 2008 where there was only one model per runway, to now, and to see the level of opportunity, it's almost to the point where it's like, oh, wow. I didn't know that racism played a part in my inability to get into a door. Most of these girls who are successful today owe it to Bethann and the Coalition, because if it wasn't for them, we would've been overlooked. When you look at fashion shows in 2003 or '05, you don't have so many Black models on the runway. Right now, you do have more. No, we're not going back to the old days of just one token model. No. - Hello. - Hello. I definitely dreamed of being a model. I didn't necessarily think that it was a possibility.
But I found an article about how a hashtag could make you a supermodel. So I hashtagged a picture. It was so spur of the moment. I really didn't think anything was gonna come from it. And then I think it was a month after that, I ended up moving to New York City. Social media really has been the game-changer when it comes to the fashion industry and modeling in particular. Trust me, the world has changed. You have an Instagram that you can make your point across even if you are silenced by the industry. Sometimes it is racism, and now we're using our voices to talk about it. You know, you open your browser or you open TikTok or you open Instagram and you see so many different perspectives.
It's extremely powerful. Today, being a Black model is not just being a Black model, beautiful-- but it's as well bringing a real conversation to the table. I wrote an open letter to the fashion industry called "A Time for Change." I DM'd every Black magazine editor that I could find. "Harper's Bazaar" got back to me, and the piece was published probably, like, a week later. That article went so viral, a couple months later, I was onstage giving a TED Talk called "Black Girl Magic in the Fashion Industry." At one point, you reach a moment of your life where you know that you have a platform that can help. We got our power back. And I'm trying to use my platform to have a positive impact. I think in the industry, we need to support each other, lift each other up, to just feel safe. I mean, Cindy Bruna is one of these incredible models that in a couple of years will not maybe only be a model, but she will be-- she could be a politician.
She already uses her voice to express so many topics. Her strength is to use her beauty as revolution. Over the shoulder? ( music playing ) - Joan Smalls, definitely an Instamodel... - Both: Major. ...who used her fame as a model as a way to get more followers and as a way to get more work. Joan, she embraced me right out the gate. Joan Smalls, that's my girl.
I mean, I started my career with Joan, and I think my first MET Gala was with Joan Smalls. We know each other super well. I love her. The fact that I was able to just think outside the box of what modeling is is what made me. My agent Kyle Hagler was the one person who I met who understood my struggle, he understood the pain. She just said, "I wanna try something else. I want to see if I could actually work with high fashion clientele." She was at her breaking point, and she's like, "Listen.
I'll shave my head off. I'll do whatever it takes to do this." And I was like, "Don't shave your head. Just be yourself." And she's like, "Nobody ever told me that." She happened to have blonde highlights in her hair. And I was like, "Go back to your natural brown and then let's go." And literally within a month, her life transformed. Joan: First season that I go to Paris, I got the exclusive with Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy, and that changed how people saw me. Kyle: She's now working for Givenchy and Gucci. And then, by year's end, she was an Estée Lauder spokesperson. Joan: And I was the first Afro-Latina to be part of Estée Lauder. You're in it, you're in a vortex, and you're moving so fast, and you're doing so many things at the same time, that you don't realize what's happening until someone else says, "Well, she's the first Latina to do this." "She's the first Black girl to do it." I was the first Black model to have shot the Chanel campaign, and I don't-- don't quote me.
I don't know if it was 15 or 18 years. Joan: Like, there's no way 18 years or 15 years can pass and I am the first to do this. I'm like, how are we not talking about that? The fact that I'm outspoken about things that nobody wanted to talk about cemented who I was in this industry. Olivier: The moment that we talk about lack of diversity in fashion, we re-question the entire industry, entire companies, entire teams, entire campaigns, entire magazines. When you have social media and you have the ability of someone to directly direct message talent, it started to change the power structure. People had Instagram accounts dedicated to modeling. Instagram was how I got discovered. Edward: Models can get booked through social media. You don't need to be with an agency.
It's no longer just a god sitting somewhere dictating what should happen in fashion anymore. Black women aren't a monolith. I think that's super important and can no longer be treated as a trend. The whole modeling industry has now gone through a whole revamp, and a whole reckoning, if you want to say. This means a lot of brands have to step up. They're kind of afraid of getting called out. Especially now during cancel culture. You have to come correct or we're gonna see you and we're gonna say and we're gonna make sure that you know.
Marcellas: Social media gave the model a voice to talk about what's good about fashion as well as what's bad about fashion, and it set the stage for the biggest revolution in the history of Black models. This is a first. Ladies on all the cameras? I'm just like, "Yes!" Woman: Woman grip, woman media manager, woman camera. - It's amazing. - Woman director of photography. Telling the woman's story. It's nice..
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