"We still have a very, very long way to go."Author:Fawnia Soo HooUpdated:Oct 15, 2019Original:Oct 15, 2019At the conclusion of Fashion Month, the industry takes stock on progress regarding diversity, inclusion and representation: racial, ethnic, cultural, size, age and gender identity.
The national brand, which emerged from bankruptcy in January with new owners, has been on the forefront of size-inclusivity both in its store offerings — which go up to 30L — and its website, marketing and presentations. But for this season's presentation, David's Bridal opted to showcase the collection on a group of real brides , diverse in shape and ethnicity, instead of professional models.
She also referred to the scarcity of diversity when it comes to influential designers, especially after the passing of Ethiopian American groundbreaker Amsale Aberra, celebrated as the designer of the modern wedding dress, last year. Leon-McCormack cited Asian-American designer Vera Wang and trailed off.
The guest list at Ingram's tony and tucked away salon off Park Avenue was probably the most diverse I experienced at Bridal Week, along with the model lineup. But when I broach the subject to Osunkoya — who grew up in Nigeria, ran a successful couture business in London for 25 years and moved to New York in 2016 — he seemed surprised it was even an issue to discuss.
"Even designers of color, when they design — when they are creating their lookbooks and their advertisements — they pick a white blond haired girl," says Leon-McCormack. "I don't even think they intentionally do it, but it's become a norm. One person is doing so everybody is going to do it." She surmises that the unspoken reason is that a model of color — and her skintone — would distract from the design.
At the buyer level, a size-inclusive runway is helpful to see the designs worn. I noticed curvy models at Pnina Tornai at Kleinfeld and Theia and Watters, which, along with David's Bridal, are leaders and regular holders of size-inclusive shows. Pronovias, under new leadership of CEO Amandine Ohayon — whose U.S. market strategy includes representation of all women across platforms — included a curve model of color at editor appointments.
One of the reasons I love working for maggiesottero is because of the design and campaign inclusivity and diversity that the company strives for.