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Tyra Banks isn’t mincing words when it comes to calling out the fashion industry.
During a Q&A at the AOL Build Series, Banks addressed the question of whether or not the industry was liberal and, if it was, why it wasn’t more inclusive.
Banks totally shut down the idea that the industry itself was liberal, even if people within it were, and went on to slam the fashion world for commodifying people’s bodies.
‘My skin is not a trend’
Specifically, Banks called out the fashion industry for “trends” in which people of a certain skin type would be considered “in season” before falling out of favor with the fashion world all over again.
“[The industry] is liberal and cyclical, and trends,” Banks said. “Oh, it’s a Black-girl season! Oh, it’s a Brazilian season! OK, now where are they? Oh, it’s the Russians! Oh, now it’s the Asian girls!”
“To me, race is not a trend. My skin is not a trend; your skin is not a trend. We are who we are, so we should not go in and out of fashion. My booty, her booty, should not go in and out of fashion, that should just be,” she added.
She went on to say that the fashion industry needed to take the focus off of bodies and objectification and put it on actual fashion.
“The trend should be what we put on our bodies, not our bodies. And so that’s the part of fashion that I don’t like, is they’ll say, ‘Oh, the chocolate girls with the short hair is in for two years.’ And now, where’s that girl? She’s trying to figure out how she’s going to pay her bills, because she’s no longer hot, and cannot pay to get hired. And that’s what hurts me,” she said.
