Guest Post: Diversity in Modeling in the Millennial Era

They say Anna Wintour’s opinion is the only one that matters when it comes to fashion.

Well, the queen has spoken, and she has had wonderful things to say regarding the collections presented during Fashion Months. Now, aside from praising designers for their boldness and innovation in terms of inspired designs, versatility in textures, colors and mixing of different styles in a singular outfit, stating that fashion has proven to be rule-breaking without being silly, she shared her opinions on the models.

After keeping a close watch on all the runways, we can’t help but agree that this year has truly been a groundbreaking one. From plus size models, women of different sizes, shapes, colors and backgrounds, the runways are definitely starting to resemble real life, and it’s about time. Real women aren’t all the same size, they don’t all have the same hair, the same skin color.

The notion of what is considered beautiful has certainly been reshaped, transformed and we couldn’t be happier to see such level of diversity. Finally, models that every real person can relate to and actually envision wearing the same clothes. Now, we all know that change doesn’t happen overnight, so let’s explore some of the steps that have brought this new face of fashion we know and celebrate now.

Pushing for Awareness

A lot of credit for the changes we see in the world has to be given to the millennial generation. They are the ones raising awareness on issues such as sustainability, environment, social justice, equality among sexes, races, orientation and ethnicities. Prominent figures of the millennial generation whose voice is now louder than ever thanks to the impact of social media platforms also allow for a change in the realm of fashion. We have models such as Ashley Graham who has been more than vocal on the subject of body positivity, and in the face of countless rejections over the years, she has managed to persevere and prove that her body will, in fact, change the world. Last year she has walked for Michael Kors, so it’s safe to say that these voices are definitely being heard.

Of course, she isn’t the only one. The incredibly funny and highly opinionated Chrissy Teigen has also made it clear that change is necessary, particularly when t comes to media representation of different ethnicities. Kanye West is a great example of fostering stronger representation as he chooses only models of color for his shows.

Creating the Melting Pot

Thanks to strong millennial tendencies that are pushing for a new sense of uniformity, we are now actually starting to see some progress in the collections presented by designers. Even though millennials are known for their love of authenticity, the kind of uniformity they’re advocating for isn’t the ‘traditional’ one. What we want to see is designers distancing themselves from the Eurocentric or Western fashion and more inclusion of global motifs – fashion that includes elements from other cultures, fashion that connects us rather than divide us. Marc Jacobs did a wonderful job implementing turbans in his latest collection, Helmut Lang blew everyone away with both diverse models and deconstructed fashion. Then, there’s Loewe, another commendable brand that draws inspiration from different eras in order to create pieces everyone would want to wear. There are also names like Ulyana Sergeenko who has made a name in the West precisely thanks to her unique designs inspired by old Russia.  

Blurred Lines

Sick of being told what the traits of females and males respectively should be, members of the millennial generation are constantly calling out brands for insufficient representation of androgynous models. Thanks to these voices we now have unconventional modeling agencies Anti-Agency, STATE, No Agency or The Ugly Modeling Agency that sign precisely unconventional models, those who don’t fit the mold of ‘traditional beauty’. Thanks to them we now have alternative stunners like Slick Woods as one of the faces of Fenty Beauty. Age is another issue that we’re starting to see a certain level of improvement with, and seeing such prominent faces such as writer Joan Didion walking for Celine.

Final Tally

According to the report released by Fashion Spot, last year’s runways were by far the most diverse than ever before. The numbers say that 25 percent of the model castings were non-white on average (with Yeezy being an exception with 91 percent models of color). The numbers could definitely stand to be even higher, but the wave of change is here so there is hope. However, when it comes to diversity in sizes, with only 0.54 percent of plus-size models in New York, we definitely have a very long road ahead.

.Guest post written by Claire Hastings - Claire is a wanderer and a writer. She writes as long as she can remember, and she is very passionate about fashion, running, other cultures, and her cat.