Letter to the Fashion Industry: DO BETTER!
Dear Fashion Industry,
(“I” as our collective voice)
As a black model, I have a love-hate relationship with you that is toxic and needs fixing.
I love you and all that you have provided me. I am glad to be a part of an industry that allows me to express myself daily through art and masterful creativity, work with amazing visionaries who become friends, and travel the world. I am grateful.
However, I have cried to you for many years about the pain you have also inflicted on my brothers & sisters and I, but you never cared to listen. When I would speak up about the many injustices I faced, you would blacklist me and deem me “problematic”. You silenced me, and my pain. I challenged you over and over, and you gaslighted me, time and time again… perhaps it was all in my head? perhaps I was blowing it out of proportion? Having me second-guess my own experiences and judgments of utterly blatant, racist situations. Then telling me simply, “You ought to be grateful to be working at all”.
It took the brutal deaths of innocent black lives shaking up the world, searing protests, a global pandemic halting operations, and the world’s eyes on you; for you to finally acknowledge my true existence and pain.
In response, we have now all seen companies left and right rush to post letters of solidarity and support for the black community, to save face; but my question is: what more, beyond posting black squares, impassioned captions, and various performative acts, will you all do now to ensure that everyone on your sets have the dignity of safety and comfort while working?
Grievances:
Racial injustice in our industry and workplace, is unfortunately way too common for comfort.
Black models have continuously been turned away from castings and agencies because you “had enough black girls at the moment”. We have been ridiculed for our distinct features. Our hair has been pulled, tugged, and damaged for your pleasure, because “professional” hairstylists could not handle our textures. Our faces have been made to look ashy, or too dark, or way too light for our complexions, or plainly denied service, because “professional” makeup artists again, did not know how to do our makeup. We have been forced to enter work with our own hair stashes, makeup kits, nude negligeé/lingerie, shoes, and clothes that match our skin tones because you didn’t have them and could not be bothered to provide them. We have been edited to look shades lighter. And at times even told that we weren’t DARK enough!?? We have been told that we look like “white women, dipped in chocolate”. We have been told our bodies were too thick and voluptuous at every turn — that we weren’t “high fashion” enough for the runway or the big magazine covers. We have been put under glass ceilings and promised careers that we somehow could never attain, because our agents fail to push us, as much they push our counterparts.
We are simply tired of our bodies being used as tokens to prove your brand “diversity”.
We are tired of being hired only when it benefits your pockets to be inclusive.
We are not accessories to be sprinkled in a campaign or your agency boards to fulfill quotas.
My skin is not a trend, or device for your promotion.
We cannot be used to sell and promote your works, when you won’t even stand up for our lives!
WE ARE NOT YOURS to play with!! Period.
For far too long, we have been manipulated to believe that we had to play along, without speaking up, for fear of retribution. We were made to believe that we had to accept these injustices, and microaggressions as the rules of the game; to shrug it off, and move on — in order to maintain our livelihood. We have learned to survive in a world that does not accommodate us or bend for us.
[ Proper ] Representation Matters:
Media representation matters because in general, depictions of us in the media has practically shaped the world’s perception of our people. And often, not so positively. Proper representation though, is what we seek and deserve. I believe this is a tool that will aid us in changing the perceptions once held of us, which can hopefully and ultimately lead to the dismantling of systems that have historically oppressed us.
In order to ensure that we are being adequately and properly represented means that participants in the fashion industry must make sure to hire black people on all levels of their workforces, from retail to corporate to executive levels. We demand that you all participate in the #pulluporshutup campaign by @PullupforChange, to disclose your current workforce’s racial breakdowns, and ways in which you actively plan to hire more qualified black people in various positions at your companies. Simply — show us the receipts! Not only will this show that you care and are working on these issues, but you will in turn empower a legion of black professionals and their families. And we will see the ripple effect of having more of us with seats at tables, that we once danced around but were never allowed to sit at or genuinely contribute to.
Next, we must address the incessant adherence to the European beauty standard. Yes, things have slowly changed in the past few years; more girls can work with braids, and natural hair than ever, but we are not fully liberated. Please do not require us to be anything but who we are for your covers, shows, and campaigns. Listen to us, when we tell you we are uncomfortable and do not penalize us for it.
Lastly, I am personally very passionate about fighting for justice, and people’s access to it. I am determined to use my platforms in any way that I can to push for the reimagining of the black narrative. As a model, I feel it’s my duty now, to use the ways in which I am portrayed to shift the world’s perspective of black people, black women, black beauty, and black lives. I want my work to be intentional and purposeful. I hope that you all show up for us in the ways that you have vowed to, in order for this work.
Requests + Actionable steps to move forward:
More than tell you what I have problems with, I wish to suggest solutions and partake in conversations that will lead to real quantifiable change. We as models (of all backgrounds, ethnicities, sizes, looks, abilities, genders etc), and then as black models specifically, are open to having honest & open dialogue on how best to confront these issues together.
Before you reach out to your talent seeking their perspectives though, we ask that you also do your due diligence in research, to understand the many complexities of our plight in this world at large, and then in this industry (due to the systems laid out before we all got here, by white supremacist thought and principles). And to then, determine your own bias and how you have contributed to the systems present in our industry. This will allow us to start these conversations grounded in genuine understanding, and show your willingness to learn.
We need everyone on board in order for this to work…
- Agents, we need you to ADVOCATE for your models to receive adequate care on set. That includes making sure there are professional H&M artists that are knowledgeable in Black + POC faces, and hair textures. We need you to hold clients AND those that they hire for shoots, at a standard that is acceptable for everyone and not just white talent. We need you to be on our side, and to push us forward in our careers fairly and equally. Demand that we get paid a separate rate if in any instance, we have to do our own hair and/or makeup on set. THIS IS IMPORTANT.
- Casting Directors, we need you to be impartial and not racist in your selections. Skin color or ethnicity should never determine one’s ability to perform a job. Nor should it ever be used to achieve an “aesthetic”. Hire models based on merit and desired outcomes. I encourage you to see that you can NEVER “have too many black models”.
- Creative Directors/Photographers, we need you to work with all models to amplify our voices, and to tell stories worth telling. Show faces worth seeing. Directing a completely new narrative of blackness in Fashion, thus humanizing us again. Not using black and brown models to add “edge” to your editorials. HIRE BLACK PEOPLE.
- Designers/Clients/Brands/Companies/Marketing + Ad Agencies, we need more black people + POC in leadership roles (including all levels of your workforce: retail, corporate, executive levels) who are sensitive to racist marketing tactics and can express their concerns without fear — earlier on in the creative process. This will hopefullly translate to less racist, insensitive, and downright out of touch advertisements that hurt communities of color with their perpetuation of stereotypes and prejudice, getting the final “Go ahead” to hit markets…
(ie. No more — H&M “little Monkey” sweatshirts on young black boys; Kendall Jenner ending police brutality with a Pepsi & trivializing legitimate causes [#BLM]; J Crew with black models with undone hair*; white models in afro wigs and abnormally tanned skin; Dreads on white models on the runway but no models of color; Black face sweaters and hoodies from Gucci; and countless other situations of blatant disregard and disrespect of black people and culture, PLEASE!). There are simply too many levels of approval for ads and commercials to go through, for this to be continuously excused. It is unacceptable. Keep your apologies.
Questions to Consider:
How can we hold you (The Fashion Industry) accountable for your support?
What can we deem as change?
What will you do differently personally & organizationally?
What are agencies prepared to do to stand with us models and advocate for us?
Finally, WE NEED YOU! ALL OF YOU, to be actively anti-racist in all that you do, in order to create real change.
Your black models, friends, colleagues, and family deserve love, respect and dignity just like everyone else. It’s 2020, may our vision be clearer and actions be louder, let us all DO BETTER!
Signed,
Mame Adjei
