Complex.com illustrates the history of racism in the fashion industry
Complex.com recently published a retrospective photo gallery to demonstrate the history of racism in fashion.
Racism has the tendency to permeate even the most beautiful facets of society, and the fashion industry is not exception. Right on the tail of Fashion Week, Complex.com recently published a retrospective photo gallery that illustrates the history of racism in fashion.
Writer Jose R. Mejia slammed the industry with a heavy dose of sarcasm in the gallery description, writing:
We know what you’re asking: The fashion industry is racist? No way! Fully 20% of the models at New York Fashion Week are people of color, and since 20% of the world’s population is people of color, and… Wait, what’s that you say? The world isn’t 80% white? Don’t you watch television?
Chock-full of “WTF moments,” as Mejia bluntly put it, the gallery features 33 photographs that span from the controversial “black dandy” style of 1768 all the way to reigning pop star Rihanna being deemed a n*ggerb*tch by a Dutch glossy in 2011. The web site even covers the moment French Elle claimed the Obama’s created black classiness in 2012.
“So wrap that African print scarf around your neck,” Meija wrote, “don your Native American headdress, and let’s take a walk down not-so-fond memory lane with our History of Racism in the Fashion Industry.”
Take a look at the pictures, and leave your comments below. Are you stunned by some of these images and facts, or not at all surprised?
Follow Patrice Peck on Twitter at @SpeakPatrice and Tumblr
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