With the premire of P.Diddy's special If I Were King made me aware that alot of black models are not booked for jobs, even now the problem still exists and not wanting to point fingers but is it the designers fault or the agencies?-or both."A good six months or so ago I had a conversation with a client about their apathy towards booking black models. The client responded with "you sent me a package with thirty white guys and three black guys.....why not send me thirty white guys and fifteen black guys....give me choices" I was stopped in my tracks and the light bulb went on in my head. Who was the super agent who imposed the black quota on most agency's mens boards?" -Rep from RedModels
With New York Fashion Week approaching Im hoping to see more black models on the runway, last season I might have spotted 2 black models out of 50 in one show-for a designer to co-sign on that shouldn't even feel right. If the agencies pushed for more of their black models to attend casting it seems that they would book more work, I've looked through alot of "black models" portfollio's and the pictures are above average while the "white models" books are outstanding-shots with the best photographers and creative direction. In simple terms, it looks as if the agencies are not investing in their "black models", while pushing the "white models" which is why they get more work. I spent the morning looking through the runway shows for Men's Spring 2009, out of the six different shows with over 50 looks each, I spotted only 2 black models-( Above: Versace, Costume National SS09 ) who were used in other shows aswell--it seems as if black models have to battle each other for that one spot.
Politics.
m a r q u i s . p h i f e r
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