. Growing up in Montreal–her mother worked in the garment industry there, and Carter describes it as “the fashion mecca of Canada”–she says she devoured hours of style-focused television shows, and gleaned knowledge of design at a young age.
“Every time you’d see nude described in fashion media, it was always just beige,” she says. “I kept waiting for it to change–every time a new trend was introduced, I wondered, would I see something that looks like me? And I was always disappointed.”Carter’s awareness of this issue was heightened as she observed Black and other models of colour–who were expected to arrive at a photo shoot set wearing ‘nude’ undergarments–show up in items that didn’t match their skin tone at all.
“It was huge for me to find that out,” Carter recalls. “That you can’t even trust the dictionary! I started to hunt on the market for anything–camisoles, shoes–anything that looked like me and was described as nude. And I could never find anything.”Carter even took her search State-side in an effort to essentially validate her existence as a consumer–something no one should ever have to endure. “I thought it was a Canadian problem,” she says. “So, I looked in New York.