Blackness is accepted in high-fashion magazines when the model is White, however, Black models are widely rejected.
At least that is the troubling truth that Micropolis NYC reporter, sociologist Ashley Mears, (who is also a former model) found when she asked fashion industry insiders why more Black models do not appear in fashion magazines.
Fashions insiders told Mears that these are the reasons why Black models are rejected:
“A lot of black girls have got very wide noses… The rest of her face is flat, therefore, in a flat image, your nose, it broadens in a photograph. It’s already wide, it looks humongous in the photograph. I think that’s, there’s an element of that, a lot of very beautiful black girls are moved out by their noses, some of them.” —H, London Agency Director
“But it’s also really hard to scout a good black girl. Because they have to have the right nose and the right bottom. Most black girls have wide noses and big bottoms so if you can find that right body and that right face, but it’s hard.” —A, NYC Agency Scout
“Okay let’s say Prada. You don’t have a huge amount of black people buying Prada. They can’t afford it. Okay so that’s economics there. So why put a black face? They put a white face, because those are the ones that buy the clothes.” —L, NYC Stylist
