News flash: Runways don't represent reality

An article in today's New York Times Style section points out the lack of model diversity in fashion shows. The author, Guy Trebay, justifies the gripe by asserting the spending power of African Americans:

Although black women in the United States spend more than $20 billion on apparel each year, according to estimates by TargetMarketNews.com, it was hard to discern an awareness of this fact on the part of designers showing in New York, where black faces were more absent from runways than they have been in years.

Of the 101 shows and presentations posted on Style.com during the New York runway season, which ended a month ago, more than a third employed no black models, according to Women’s Wear Daily. When the fashion caravan moved to London, Paris and Milan, the most influential shows — from Prada to Jil Sander to Balenciaga to Chloé and Chanel — made it appear as if someone had hung out a sign reading: No Blacks Need Apply.

Trebay follows this assertion with a quote from an America's Next Top Model judge:

"Years ago, runways were almost dominated by black girls,” said J. Alexander, a judge on “America’s Next Top Model,” referring to the gorgeous mosaic runway shows staged by Hubert de Givenchy or Yves Saint Laurent in the 1970s. “Now some people are not interested in the vision of the black girl unless they’re doing a jungle theme and they can put her in a grass skirt and diamonds and hand her a spear.”

I agree with the premise of Trebay's piece. It's true that African American models are far less represented on the runways than Caucasian models—at least from my own observations and what Trebay's reporting shows. However, why focus on the African-American population alone? Aren't all minorities under represented on the runways? It's true that African Americans do have apparel spending power, but then, so do Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans.

For example, an August 2006 report I found online from PackagedFacts, a division of MarketResearch.com, said that Asian-American households spend an average of $7.2 billion each year on apparel. Although I couldn't find a specific amount they spent on clothing, this Web site says the Hispanic American population is expected to reach 42 million by 2020, and its buying power this year is expected to reach the $928 billion mark.

Beyond not addressing why these other minorities are also not well-represented in fashion (considering their buying power is also considerable), Trebay also misses out on something else that's key: Is fashion representative of anyone? Do runway shows, in any way, shape or form, represent reality as it relates to an average American? That's highly debatable.

Remember that last fall, there was a lot of talk about whether New York's runway models were too thin, after the organizers of Madrid's fashion week required that models be 125 pounds. By contrast, let's compare this 125-pound standard to the average weight of American females over 20, which is 163 pounds.

I would daresay that no runway model in any show— regardless of location —weighs anywhere close to this. Should runways be more representative of reality? Ideally, yes. Do I think that will happen? Not anytime soon.