More than a dozen black models have declared they are boycotting Melbourne Fashion Week in response to multiple instances of racism they have experienced across the wider Australian fashion industry.
A spokesperson for the City of Melbourne, which organises MFW, said: “All models walking at Melbourne Fashion Week are paid the same rate, with the exception of some higher profile models – including those from diverse backgrounds. The standard rate is comparable or above similar fashion industry events.
“Australian Fashion Week and Melbourne Fashion Week are when brands hire plenty of black models,” Malek said. “It’s the only time they hire black models in numbers, and honestly, it’s because we are the cheapest at this time. It’s good PR for them. It looks like ‘wow, these campaigns are really inclusive’, but the next week and the next month, we have no work, and they go back to whitewashing fashion.
“I felt awful, I felt like an outcast, and I felt like everyone else was looking at me as though ‘we know the only reason you’re here’,” she said.“I’ve walked five fashion weeks – I have it easier than black female models for sure, but it’s still not easy or enjoyable for me,” he said. “We have to work 10 times harder and put up with a lot of racism and are expected to keep quiet about it.”
One Melbourne-based black model who does not wish to be named for fear of career backlash told this masthead that her agent accidentally emailed a white model’s payslip after the two were featured in a shoot together. “When it comes to who is the caster making decisions – it’s always a panel of white people, sometimes four, five or even six white people,” Jeffrey said.
In 2015, Adelaide-based talent agent Juach Cyer launched Rin Models, focusing on dark-skinned models. He signed modelling superstar Adut Akech. Cyer credits much of his agency’s success to signing Australian models to major agencies in Europe and the US.
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