Alek Wek, Grace Mahary, Joan Smalls, Maria Borges, Kelly Moreira and Yasmin Warsame scored a spot on the runway for Christian Dior’s Paris show. Super casting agent, James Scully’s damning words last week during a Buzzfeed interview where he called out Calvin Klein, Jil Sander and Dior for lacking diversity.
“I’m from the old school ‘a fashion show is theater’ world, and it’s not about just one kind of bland model for every show — it’s about one girl being able to be different things to everybody, which is the hallmark of a great model,” shares the man who heads up casting for Tom Ford, Jason Wu, Derek Lam, Stella McCartney, Lanvin, J. Crew and Carolina Herrera just last week.
Back in March, he was very straightforward saying, “Some of the biggest names who move fashion to the forefront, like Dior, get a D- on ethnic diversity. I feel the Dior cast is just so pointedly white that it feels deliberate. I watch that show and it bothers me — I almost can’t even concentrate on the clothes because of the cast.”
They obviously heard him loud and clear. Fashionistas like myself are grateful to Scully for keeping it real. VogueParis’ Instagram read:”Défilé #Dior haute couture automne-hiver 2013-2014 inspiré par les clientes haute couture des quatre continents Europe, Amérique, Asie et Afrique. #PFW”
English Translation: The 2013-14 autumn-winter collection was inspired by Dior couture’s global clientele from across the four continents: Europe, Asia, America, Africa.
