(Photo: Steven Meisel for Italian Vogue)
Like everyone else, I was really excited about the prospect of an “All Black” issue of a mainstream fashion magazine. And for it to be Vogue of all books—one of the most respected pubs in the industry and one that is least likely to feature black faces in their pages—was a big plus. After searching the newsstands in vain for a few weeks I finally found a sole issue remaining on the shelf of my local shop. I quickly tore open the package (I do love how international magazines always come with a little gift) and started slowly turning the pages… umm... I was really confused. For every one editorial page featuring a black model there are 20 pages of advertising featuring all white models. I had to stop and flip through the entire thing to make sure there wasn’t some mistake—surely there must be ads featuring black models, maybe towards the end of the book… nope. I think I counted a grand total of two ads, and they were for nondescript brands.
I’m sorry. Wasn’t the whole point of this issue to alleviate the discrepancy between black and white women in fashion magazines? To show that a black face can sell pages, products, a lifestyle, just as well as (if not better than) her white counterpart? Sure, Vogue Italia couldn’t force their advertisers to shoot black models for their campaigns but couldn’t they have positioned those ads featuring black models within the coveted cover spots or far forward placements? Couldn’t advertisers, considering that this particular issue would be read by a huge proportion of black women, have pulled an ethnic face from their repertoire? A Latina, Asian girl, something! Campaigns are shot months in advance; did none of these brands feature a single black model in their entire summer/fall shoot??
The thing is, its not like readers are just flipping through the articles and ignoring the advertising (how many of us who purchased the issue are fluent in Italian anyway? And there aren't that many black women in Italy). The reason advertisers spend millions of dollars on a page of advertising is because they expect that ad to turn into millions in retail sales. But at the end of the day, the cold hard reality is that fashion brands still do not feel that a black girl can represent their brand to the masses.
Personally, I feel like this was all just a big publicity stunt for Vogue Italia. They’re selling the issue like hotcakes (and the July issue isn’t normally a huge seller for magazines in general), getting tons of press and are being toted as the magazine that is bridging the divide. But when they were laying out the pages for the issue, I’d like to know what the discussion was when they saw hardly a single black girl in an ad in their so-called black issue. Granted, I can’t read the articles so there could be some very profound content within the pages, but visually speaking, the obvious discrimination only screams that much louder against a backdrop of black girl editorial. Its a beautiful issue nonetheless and I appreciate the effort. Its a step in the right direction, but until black readers can really see themselves represented throughout a magazine—including in the moneymaker—it’s simply not enough.
At the end of the day, having a fashion spread in Vogue is great, but having a multi-million dollar contract as the face of Dior is just a little bit better, don’t you think?
7 comments:
Stacy, so many other people have made the same comment re the irony of the "Black Model Issue" featuring black models, yet at the same time highlighting the fact that black models aren't getting the ad work. I find this situation horrendous and insulting. I would love to believe that the stark contrast revealed by this Black Model Issue of Vogue may change things, but I'm afraid that, as always, it will be made the exception rather than the rules, and the status quo will remain just so. I hope I'm wrong.
Thanks so much for pointing this out. I hadn't even thought that this might be the case. But that could be because it's beyond difficult to get a copy of the magazine over here so I haven't seen it in hardcopy. I've only seen the great photos that are online.
Erica
blog.African-AmericanBrides.com
BrickhouseOfStyle.blogspot.com
OMG!!! I've been searching all over Toronto, Amsterdam and Dublin for this damn magazine. I've gone into at least 8 bookstores in Europe trying to find this rag, not to mention, visiting and calling tons of others in Toronto, and talking to random people in Little Italy...and it was stunt?!
I was SO excited. I need a moment. :-(
You made the statement that 'there are not that many black women in Italy'. This gives me even more reason to appreciate the statement made by this issue. Having spent time throughout Italy I found the majority of women of African decent to be immigrants from Africa or the Caribbean. This issue, though, is not centered around these beautiful women, but on us. The beauties of color found solely in America. This is an Italian fashion magazine advertizing the beauty found only on the faces and in the bodies of African American women. Can we not appreciate that? Living in a country that rarely finds beauty in our form, can we not see the significance of a foreign magazine recognizing what many of us don’t even see in ourselves – true, unique, and unduplicated loveliness? Truth: The money earned from issues sold is not enough to cover the cost of a magazine. As a journalist, I know that without advertizing, especially of high end brands, a magazine will not be in print for too long. As black women, we all recognize that our face is rarely seen in advertisement – especially when it comes to fashion or beauty products. This is not the fault of Italian Vogue. Did you really expect them to demand their advertisers reshoot all of their printed ads to match the theme of Vogue’s black issue? Do you recognize how much the cost of just one shoot for any advertiser can run? Hundreds of thousands of dollars! I do read Italian, Bisous. Please let me know if you’d like any of the articles translated – because the likes of this issue may never be found again; at least not in Glamour or Marie Claire.
You made the statement that 'there are not that many black women in Italy'. This gives me even more reason to appreciate the statement made by this issue. Having spent time throughout Italy I found the majority of women of African decent to be immigrants from Africa or the Caribbean. This issue, though, is not centered around these beautiful women, but on us. The beauties of color found solely in America. This is an Italian fashion magazine advertizing the beauty found only on the faces and in the bodies of African American women. Can we not appreciate that? Living in a country that rarely finds beauty in our form, can we not see the significance of a foreign magazine recognizing what many of us don’t even see in ourselves – true, unique, and unduplicated loveliness? Truth: The money earned from issues sold is not enough to cover the cost of a magazine. As a journalist, I know that without advertizing, especially of high end brands, a magazine will not be in print for too long. As black women, we all recognize that our face is rarely seen in advertisement – especially when it comes to fashion or beauty products. This is not the fault of Italian Vogue. Did you really expect them to demand their advertisers reshoot all of their printed ads to match the theme of Vogue’s black issue? Do you recognize how much the cost of just one shoot for any advertiser can run? Hundreds of thousands of dollars! I do read Italian, Bisous. Please let me know if you’d like any of the articles translated – because the likes of this issue may never be found again; at least not in Glamour or Marie Claire.
Hi la-lo, thanks for your comment and thanks for stopping by. I think you made some valid points. Just to clarify, I think this was an amazing, beautifully shot, monumental issue-- I enjoyed flipping through it and will keep my copy forever. And I commend Italian Vogue for stepping out on a limb to create it, to make this statement if you will. But at the end of the day, personally, this issue just served to shine a spotlight on the discrimination that I and many of my minority friends in the industry regularly feel. I worked in advertising so I know how expensive and extensive a campaign is-- I wasn't suggesting they re-shoot for this specific issue. I just found it extremely disappointing that so few brands made the creative decision to feature a woman of color in their entire fall campaign. So to me, its not enough. Maybe not necessarily on the part of IV, but for the fashion industry in general. One step at a time though, the scales are slowly balancing out... YES WE CAN! :o)
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