Kanye West is under fire for posting a casting call for “multiracial women only” to work on his upcoming Fashion Week show. Critics on social media said the rapper’s move got under their skin, regardless of whether they consider their skin to be Black or White.
“This is a major issue. In an industry that consistently cuts Black models out, you do this?! You are the absolute worst. Truly,’’ one woman tweeted under the handle @KatchKenda.
Others cited West’s wife, Kim Kardashian, and his biracial ex-girlfriend Amber Rose as evidence that he prefers light-skinned ladies. Amid all the frustration, there were some who didn’t have a problem with the racially-exclusive requirement.
“Multiracial doesn’t mean light skinned,” 22-year-old Imogen Cooper told the New York Daily News. “You can be multiracial and have dark skin tones or pale skin tones. It doesn’t really matter. If you look at people in line, there are people of all skin colors.”
Jordan Rolling, 24, a friend of Cooper’s, agreed, saying it’s up to the artist to create the type of image they want for their art.
“I don’t see anything wrong with it because it’s his vision,” she said. “As an artist, if you have a vision, people shouldn’t be able to say anything about that vision.”
It’s not the first time West sparked controversy during a style-focused event. Last year, he added a last-minute runway show to the already-congested Fashion Week schedule.
“Kanye knows he is a media sensation and it is just not ethical to do this,” fellow designer Anne Bowen told Women’s Wear Daily at the time. “It’s like we are David and he is Goliath. We have put our heart and soul into our show, and should not be stepped on like this.”
Outrage aside, dozens of women lined up for the audition at Jack Studios on West 26th Street on Sunday, and the 38-year-old rapper is set to unveil his new clothing line Wednesday, Sept. 7, during the famous New York Fashion Week.
