Every Single Runway Show At New York Fashion Week Featured A Model Of Color For The First Time Ever

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

This article originally appeared on Essence.com.

It seems as if the call-outs, wishes and complaints of so many fashion diversity advocates have finally been heard.

According to The Fashion Spot, fashion week Fall 2017 was the first time that there was a model of color in every single runway show during New York Fashion Week.

The Fashion Spot recognized Gypsy Spot, Chromat, Kimora Lee Simmons, Yeezy Season 5 and Marc Jacobs as the most diverse shows for the season while Chocheng, A Detacher, Jill Stuart, Zang Toi, The Row and Marchesa lagged behind in the diversity department. However, unlike seasons past where shows like The Row featured no models of color at all, that was not the case this time around.

As far as size and age goes, there were 26 plus-size model appearances on nine runways this season and six women over the age of 50 appearing in shows.

Transgender visibility also saw a rise with eight transgender and gender-nonconforming models walked in high profile shows like Marc Jacobs, Coach and Proenza Schouler.

Founder of The Model Alliance, Sara Ziff spoke to the website about the changes we're seeing in the industry. "Unlike last season, this season there were models of color in every show, which is positive and suggests that stakeholders in the industry finally recognize that it's socially unacceptable not to feature a racially diverse cast." She also notes that there is still work to be done, “it certainly is a step in the right direction, for New York at least. We'll see if this progress continues in London, Milan and Paris.”

This article originally appeared on Essence.com