Fashion in Society

This week I had the privilege of hearing David Wolfe, a leading fashion authority, talk about fashion and its relevance to everyday life. While I support fashion as art, I also definitely believe fashion should be accessible. One particularly noteworthy quote of Mr. Wolfe was the following:

“Fashion is always a reflection of the society that wears it.”

That said, I decided to go through my personal archive of photos and pull those images I thought showed diverse fashion from all around the globe. Some of my peers come from India, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, and the good old U-S of A among other countries.

Racism in Fashion: Minorities Speak Out [Part 2]

Who better to ask about minority representation in fashion than minorities themselves? I interviewed several individuals and their responses were all along the same lines. All in all they agreed diverse representation in the fashion world is significantly lacking.

“Overall, racism [in the fashion industry] does exist in the fashion world, but it isn't know as such,” Darlene, age 23 comments. “Unfortunately, the ideology of racism is pampered. Most Americans call diversity one Black woman and one Asian male in a group of whites. I am no expert, but by watching shows like "Project Runway" most of the women that compete in the show are the "brown paper bag" color or lighter, but at the same time many clothing designers prefer a darker complexion for particular outfits they design. .. I have also noticed that most of the diverse runways are in Europe (which isn't a surprise).”

As far as dissatisfaction in fashion was concerned, complexion and body-weight were the most frequent complaints. Tenille, age 20 says, “Racism in fashion is like racism with band-aids and pantyhose. The "norm" or "nude" colored products don't match dark-skinned complexions... that's racism.”

“In the U.S. fashion world, heavy isn't in, short hair isn't in, [and] being short isn't in either,” Darlene argues. “A sprinkle of Black, Asian and Mexican does not constitute diversity, although many Americans feel that it does.”

When asked if they thought depictions of fashion on runways, print ads, and elsewhere accurately reflect cultural diversity, “No!” was the unanimous answer.

“Ads are getting better at promoting racial diversity,” Tenille argues. “For example, more and more ads show interracial couples together, but their mostly brown and white skinned couples. Asians, Filipinos [and] Native Americans… are left out of the mix.”

I don’t think so because all the women are skinny and fit. Where are…the ones who need plus sizes? April, age 17, rightly questioned. Sure, the Dove Campaign was a good attempt at countering the fashion culture, but so many more companies need to step up.


Today’s young people have the same qualms that our parents had with fashion. Although things have gotten a lot better over the years, the fashion industry still has lots to improve upon. Sophia, age 21, bets sums up the sentiments of many: “All women or color are beautiful and our features are amazing, but for some reason the industry doesn't flaunt it.”

Networking for Aspiring Designers

For budding designers trying to break into the fashion industry—not an easy task by any means—exposure and timing is crucial. Fashion expos, social networking, and word-of-mouth advertising are just a few of the things that must be taken advantage of. If a designer is especially fortunate, he or she may have the opportunity to showcase his or her work in a professional show. This happens to be the case of some local student designers I spoke to. Thanks to a generous grant, ten fashion students at Syracuse University have the opportunity to go to get their work presented at a professional runway show in New York City. I can only imagine the excitement…and tension. That’s ten out of forty-five students, and everyone wants to go! “It’s like the pink elephant in the room,” said one student, “everyone knows about it, but nobody wants to say anything.”

Of course this opportunity would be a dream come true for any aspiring designer. And why shouldn’t it? It’s an opportunity to advertise to all the right people. Take a look at these facts from NYC’s Fashion Week, and these are just a few benefits:
• More than 60 shows take place in Bryant Park.
• The average show length is 17 minutes.
• About 14,000 people attend the shows daily.
• More than 100,000 people will pass through over the eight-day period.
• More than 3,000 members of the press are registered.
• Five hundred volunteers will devote more than 4,000 hours of help during Fashion Week. [Daily News, 2007]

The Fashion Industry can be such a hard field to break into. Fashion itself is very subjective and there’s already so much out there in the market, a designer really has to have a unique style to set his or herself apart. But even with a good style, networking is key! It’s important for aspiring designers to take advantage of opportunities whenever and wherever they can. It can pay off in very big and unexpected ways!