Stella Jean just showed at Milan Fashion week and made quite a buzz. The Haitian-Italian designer know for her use of African inspired patters and prints, has always stated her rich cultural roots as inspiration for her line.
After Jean's show the talk was more about the lack of diversity on her runway and not the "geisha vs means wear ensembles.
Out of 30 looks, only 3 were worn by models of color.
Diversity of the runaway has been quite a hot topic, as is the lack of diversity across the fashion industry as a whole. It seems the industry may still think that black wont sell, and so why bother?
African influence on the Stella Jean runway
Some of the changes Jean did make to her runway show were met with some criticism, WWD magazine said, "Jean's aesthetic worked better when she showed the busier pieces with a solid- or at least something quieter". Well you can't always please everyone.
What do you think?
Should Stella Jean have used more women of color on her runway. Do you think designers of color have an obligation to show diversity in all facets of their work?
By
MYSTIQUE
It feels strange saying what someone else has an obligation to do. That being said, it strikes me when designers don't/hardly use models of color. It strikes me even more, and even confuses me, coming from designers of color.
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