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Fashion is getting more diverse, but not fast enough

Oct. 27. 2018

Fashion Journalism Developments & Debates

Professor Jacqueline Phelan

Fashion is getting more diverse, but not fast enough PDF

The fashion industry is getting more diverse, but it’s not enough.

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Just ask the 3’5-tall Sinead Burke, the petite Vanessa Youshaei and transgender model Maxim Magnus.

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Magnus, who got her start walking in Paula Knorr and ASAI’s shows for Spring-Summer 2018, told Refinery29’s Georgia Murray, “I definitely think it’s becoming more diverse and accepting, but the rate at which it is happening is far too slow.”

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She isn’t alone in her observations. Burke, who took to a TEDTalk stage two years ago to talk about inclusivity in fashion, said in this month’s Glamour she felt invisible to the fashion world, and that many stores don’t know how to treat shorter customers. 

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Her efforts to expand inclusivity in the fashion industry took off in the last two years, when she started working as a Vogue columnist and collaborated with two designers to make clothing that didn’t just fit frames like hers, but outfitted them.

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Youshaei, who is petite, started Petite Ave., which makes clothes for women under 5’5. Ann Taylor, Bloomingdale’s and Express partnered with Youshaei to sell Petite Ave.

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“I spoke with hundreds of petite women,” Youshaei told Forbes. “They shared the same frustration about not finding enough fashionable clothing.”

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All three are expanding opportunities for those who face the same challenges. However, they say that’s not enough. The fashion industry has taken steps to be inclusive of those those traditionally left out of fashion. Tyra Banks said as far back as 1994, many in fashion thought there was room for one black model--her or Naomi Campbell. Now, 20 years after the age of the supermodel, there are more than two women of color on the runway--although Campbell said she sees diversity “going backwards.”

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By 2018, it shouldn’t be out of the ordinary for those who are shorter, rounder, transgender, of color or any other facet of one’s identity to be included in mainstream fashion. The world contains more bodies than those that are tall, thin or white. At this point in history, it is in the best interests of designers to consider the needs of those who are marginalized by fashion. 

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With the amount of publicity inclusivity is getting, designers and brands stand to make more money by catering to all bodies, not just the ones many expect to see on the runway. It’s past time to diversify the fashion industry by making the industry itself more diverse.

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