Counting Black Models During Fashion Week
Unfortunately, one thing that never seems to change in fashion is the dismally low number of Black models on the runways. We kind of hoped that all the hoopla about which designers First Lady Michelle Obama is or is not wearing might somehow cause a collective, industry-wide "aha!" moment that would result in a noticeable increase in the presence of more color on the runways. Of course, magical thinking of this sort never works. At least not so far. By D. Maria Bryan
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BCBG - We looked at many of the fall/winter 2011 women’s ready-to-wear shows that took place during New York Fashion Week, and for each, we took a quick count of the number of Black model entries compared to the total number of entries. Here’s what we found.BCBG:Number of Black models: 1Number of total models: 34Percent of total: 2.94%
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Alexander Wang - Number of Black models: 2Number of total models: 39Percent of total: 5.13%
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Calvin Klein - Number of Black models: 1Number of total models: 34Percent of total: 2.94%Photo by Fernanda Calfat/Getty Images for IMG
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Carolina Herrera - Number of Black models: 6Number of total models: 41Percent of total: 14.63%Photo by Peter Michael Dills/Getty Images for IMG
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Chado Ralph Rucci - Number of Black models: 9Number of total models: 58Percent of total: 15.52%Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz
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Cynthia Rowley - Number of Black models: 2Number of total models: 36Percent of total: 5.56%Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for IMG
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DKNY - Number of Black models: 2Number of total models: 34Percent of total: 5.88%Photo by Peter Michael Dills/Getty Images for IMG
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Diane von Furstenberg - Number of Black models: 4Number of total models: 49Percent of total: 8.16%Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for IMG
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Isaac Mizrahi - Number of Black models: 1Number of total models: 26Percent of total: 3.85%Photo by Stefan Gosatti/Getty Images
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Jason Wu - Number of Black models: 4Number of total models: 37Percent of total: 10.81%Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images
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Malandrino - Number of Black models: 5Number of total models: 40Percent of total: 12.50%Photo by Edward James/WireImage
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Marc Jacobs - Number of Black models: 3Number of total models: 38Percent of total: 7.89%Photo by Fernanda Calfat/Getty Images for IMG
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Marc by Marc Jacobs - Number of Black models: 3Number of total models: 38Percent of total: 7.89%Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Advanced Academics
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Michael Kors - Number of Black models: 5Number of total models: 52Percent of total: 9.62%Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images For IMG
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Nicole Miller - Number of Black models: 5Number of total models: 34Percent of total: 14.71%Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for IMG
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Oscar de la Renta - Number of Black models: 5Number of total models: 60Percent of total: 8.33%Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
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Peter Som - Number of Black models: 3Number of total models: 37Percent of total: 8.11% Photo by Dario Cantatore/Getty Images
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Reed Krakoff - Number of Black models: 4Number of total models: 36Percent of total: 11.11%Photo by Peter Michael Dills/Getty Images
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Ralph Lauren - Number of Black models: 3Number of total models: 53Percent of total: 5.66%Photo by Fernanda Calfat/Getty Images for IMG
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Rachel Roy - Number of Black models: 5Number of total models: 26Percent of total: 19.23%Photo by Jeff Gentner/Getty Images
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Proenza Schouler - Number of Black models: 2Number of total models: 33Percent of total: 6.06%Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
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Prabal Gurung - Number of Black models: 3Number of total models: 40Percent of total: 7.50%Photo by Stefan Gosatti/Getty Images for IMG
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Sophie Theallet - Number of Black models: 11Number of total models: 31Percent of total: 35.48%
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Tommy Hilfiger - Number of Black models: 3Number of total models: 41Percent of total: 7.32%Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for IMG
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Thakoon - Number of Black models: 5Number of total models: 33Percent of total: 15.15%Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
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Tracy Reese - Number of Black models: 11Number of total models: 39Percent of total: 28.21%Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for TRESemme