Kanye’s Yeezy 4 show may have divided the media at last month’s New York Fashion Week, but one thing that can’t be doubted is the rapper’s commitment to diversity. Models of color made up 97 percent of the Yeezy 4 show, according to The Fashion Spot’s most recent diversity report. The report tracks the racial, age, and body diversity of models across 300 shows at New York, Paris, London, and Milan fashion weeks.
Other shows recognized for their diverse casting include Hoody By Air, Gypsy Sport, and Chromat. Overall NYFW was highlighted as the most diverse — 30.3 percent models who appeared were people of color. NYC designers also featured: eight of fashion month’s 10 transgender models, eight of the 13 models over 50 who walked during fashion month, and the most plus-sized models ever featured. Although the report did note that body diversity was lagging behind racial diversity.
On the other end of things, The Row and Junya Watanabe featured no models of color. Heading into the spring/summer 2017 shows, The Council of Fashion Designers of America released a set of “racial diversity pointers” to “encourage the industry to be inclusive of racial diversity when preparing casting of models for their company needs.” While there is still a long way to go, the efforts to appear to have paid off, with the past season being tentatively declared the most diverse yet.
Credits
Text Wendy Syfret
Photography Emily Manning