On the cover of magazines, on catwalks, in advertising campaigns … Diversity has never been praised so much. Luxury brands now use models of all ages, sizes, genres and skin colors. Is fashion really more inclusive or is it a "trend"?
In recent years, fashion has been focusing on diversity. Exit cloned models, now the representation of bodies, skin colors and different genres shakes up this industry so conformist. As a result, Spring-Summer 2020 Fashion Week was the most inclusive fashion has ever known. What about the one that has just passed?
Revolution on the podiums
Fashion is gradually emancipating itself from established standards. For the past few years, luxury has coveted models of all origins whose beauty defies standards: Adut Akech, the Sudanese top, dominates the podiums, Ashley Graham poses on the cover of Vogue, the Somali-American Halima Aden parade in hijab for Alberta Ferretti and Max Mara.
This season, Paloma Elsesser marked Milan Fashion Week on February 20 by parading for Fendi. With her size 46, she is the first "plus size" model to show for the Italian label. In Paris, the top was also seen on the podiums of Alexander McQueen and Lanvin, of which she was also the first plus size mannequin to scroll.
In terms of diversity, New York is a model. According to The Fashion Spot, it's Christian Siriano who used the most round models during the Fall / Winter 2020 Fashion Week : Marquita Pring, Precious Lee, Seynabou Cissé, Candice Huffine or Chloé Véro. Known for his commitment to diversity and inclusiveness, the young designer has not failed in his reputation by hiring models with different skin colors and sizes.
Also in New York, Alexis Ruby paraded for Marc Jacobs for the second time, after making his debut for the brand in September 2019. Spotted on Instagram, the 23-year-old model also paraded for Tommy Hilfiger in London on February 16.
Finally, with nearly 40 shows on the counter, the American model Achenrin Madit, born to Sudanese parents dominated the catwalks of Fashion Week fall-winter 2020-2021. And not the least since it has mainly sizes among the claws that appeal to it. Stelle McCartney, Miu Miu, Fendi and Valentino to name a few.
The cast diversifies behind the scenes
Today, this diversity also intrudes even behind the scenes of fashion. With the appointment of Virgil Abloh to the reins of Louis Vuitton, the only black designer so far to head a global luxury brand, LVMH had already taken a step in favor of inclusion and openness. With Fenty, the house created with Rihanna, the group goes even further. Not only is she the first woman, black in addition, to launch her brand there, but she is both CEO and artistic director, a combination of roles quite rare in large luxury groups to be highlighted. Same story from across the Channel with the arrival of Edward Enninful, the first black and homosexual man, at the head of the British Vogue.
In January 2019, the American Fashion Council (CFDA) published the "Insider / Outsider" report highlighting the importance of diversity in key positions for companies so that it can be both more effective and sustainable. "Without diversity applied in the studios, the attempts at representation will appear tasteless, without real anchoring" suggests Dinah Sultan, stylist at the Peclers Paris trend office. "Edward Enninful's arrival comes 20 years after he moved the lines with iD, so it takes time. When he calls Rihanna to cover the September Issue, it makes more sense because it's a cry of the community, a community that sincerely shows that it has succeeded and not a story of quota of black faces. We are starting to see these changes thanks to creators who naturally carry this diversity both in luxury (Virgil Abloh, Olivier Roustaing,…) but especially in the new guard (Telfar Global, Marine Serres…) which brings a disruptive vision of fashion and the people who embody it " she adds.
In early 2019, Gucci was the first European luxury house to want to fill its lack of diversity by recruiting a world director for diversity and inclusion. The brand has also launched a scholarship program in New York, Beijing and Nairobi to hire people with more eclectic backgrounds. After Gucci, Prada announced the launch of its Diversity and Inclusion Council, chaired by director Ava DuVernay and artist Theaster Gates. Her goal: "Raise the voices of people of color in business and the fashion industry in general." What inspire other labels, who were quick to follow the example such as Burberry or Chanel.
Sincerity or marketing trend?
Today, with social networks, fashion has no other choice but to take into account the demands of a clientele that demands to be represented. The latest example: the Victoria's Secret brand is reviewing its communication in the era of the inclusive lingerie boom. However, in November 2018, when Ed Razek, marketing director of the brand was asked in the columns of Vogue about a possible integration of transsexual models and / or large sizes, he replied: "No, I don't think we should do it. Why ? Because the parade is a fantasy. It's a 42-minute special and it's the only one of its kind in the world. "
Having failed to take the diversity bandwagon and faced with a major competitor like Savage x Fenty whose success was immediate, the American giant saw its sales plummet. And if Victoria’s Secret is trying somehow to get rid of its controversies with a more inclusive cast, this sudden interest seems too calculated to be honest. "In an era of networks and accounts like Diet Prada that constantly scan and denounce bad practices, it will be difficult to erase discriminatory words with only an advertising campaign" notes Dinah Sultan. And to remember that "The Victoria Secret model is also to be looked at in its entirety. The stores, the marketing, the products respond to a completely archaic vision of femininity. It is not only a question of physics but also of speech". A mysogin and hypersexualized vision shaped by Ed Razek since his arrival in 1983 and who ended up playing tricks on the brand. Proof therefore that diversity must be thought of from the inside. "When Rihanna creates Savage x Fenty, she places body positivism at the heart of her action, but also it anchors a feminist and committed action. When Victoria Secret makes an ad called" inclusive "she takes care to cast only" outsized "Smoothed: mestizo, plus size size 40. We see there that she is not ready to commit fully".
Still a long way to go for inclusive fashion
If fashion is, on the whole, more inclusive, there is still a long way to go and not all causes are advancing at the same pace. While the ethnic representativeness on the catwalks increased season after season, the figures show a small decrease for autumn 2020. Non-white tops went from 41.5% in spring-summer 2020 to 40.6% this season.
The number of plus size models has dropped considerably on the catwalks. For the SS 20 season, the report counted 86 large models, for the fall of 2020-2021, they were only 46. The same observation for trans models whose number increased from 46 to 21. Figures that show that if progress is made, it is not synonymous with consistency. Peclers Paris explains: "Inclusiveness appeared this year as a “trend”, talking to all women, representing them seemed to be a new springboard for brands. Once the public is won over and the consumer convinced, it is not surprising that brands backtrack to return to more classic representations of femininity. " Recently, Naomi Campbell reminded "We (black models) are not a trend".
An advance to note however: the models aged over 50 were more numerous on the catwalk, going from 39 for spring to 44 this season. Paris holds the record for older models. On the other hand, the City of Lights seems more resistant to change when we talk about kilos. "France has great difficulty in accepting size because it is completely stuck in its archetype of the thin and natural Parisian (the eternal Inès de La Fressange), even if journalists like Alice Pfeiffer tried to express that a another French woman exists, it is still complicated to express it " the stylist from the Peclers office.
At the Grand Palais, Chanel was talked about by parading for the first time in 10 years a so-called "plus size" model, Jill Kortleve, the last being Crystal Renn in 2010. Virginie Viard is she making move the lines ? Dinah Sultan explains: "Karl Lagerfeld was known as a notable grossophobic. Virginie Viard probably understood that it was necessary to open the podium to more female representations, by instinct but also by simple analysis of sales, 40/42 being probably one of the best". If this is a significant advance for the traditional house, the fact that Jill Kortleve, size 40, is presented as a "large model" poses a problem when you know that the average size of French women is 42. For Dinah Sultan, "There is a real omerta concerning the large sizes in luxury, even if we see models like Paloma Elsesser at Fendi and Alexander McQueen, it remains an exceptional figure". And to conclude: "Like Christian Siriano to Ashley Graham, opening sizes is doable, you just have to get started and make it a habit".