https://www.youtube.com/embed/VGuibZ5Prrc
- 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..
african instruments
https://howtoplaythedjembedrums.com/ep-5-era-of-one-black-model-per-runway-supreme-models/
