Black-British model Kukua Williams, 24, who has worked with the likes of Celine, Erdem, and Jil Sander, postedof herself taken while she was detained in an Italian airport during Milan Fashion Week. It went viral on March 7, and in the caption, she described how the experience had left her deeply shaken: “I’m sharing to shed light on the issues Black models have to face in this industry, issues that would not happen and haven’t happened to everyone,” she wrote.
Every Black model has their breaking point, whether it’s your hair being handled incorrectly one too many times, police stopping you on your way to a casting or your name repeatedly being mispronounced. My breaking point came during Milan Fashion Week AW21 when I was detained in an Italian airport for 24 hours for no apparent reason. While this may sound shocking to some, situations like this can be a normality for Black models.
No pride is lost in addressing racism head on. So much more can be achieved behind the scenes to learn about the discrimination Black models face by simply asking us — but it’s not our job to find the solution. When I was detained, it was left to me to establish and try to process why it had happened. I feel like conversations do not happen when the ‘why’ is race.