Can you guess what percentage of fashion magazine covers in 2014 featured models of color?
The answer: 17.3 percent. Now, why don’t you take a stab at the percentage of fashion ads from this past year. An even more bleak 14.03 percent. In the follow-up of its Diversity Report and a review on the past year in the industry, The Fashion Spot moved on from magazine covers to campaigns to find, yet again, results that are far from shocking.
In an in-depth look at 730 ad campaigns from Spring 2014 and Fall 2014 collectively, we found a startling lack of diversity. Out of 1,105 model appearances* in womenswear ads, 85.97 percent were white. The second largest group represented was Asian models at a dismal 5.25 percent; a strong luxury presence in Asian markets likely played a hand. Additionally, black models came in at 4.98 percent and Latina models held 1.54 percent. It’s important to note that out of the total, 2.26 percent of models were categorized as “Other,” or in this case, did not define themselves under one racial profile.
As often as we’ve seen and celebrated the likes of Naomi Campbell, Jourdan Dunn, Joan Smalls, and even Rita Ora as models with a thick portfolio of fashion campaigns from this year, they are incomparable to the top 10 most booked models who were 90 percent white.
TFS also found a disparity between models of color being cast for mass market and luxury brand campaigns, with brands like H&M being on the more diverse end of the spectrum, while brands like Alexander McQueen and Saint Laurent are on the other.
The good news? Mass brands casting models of color, even in a group setting, dispels any notion that consumers won’t buy if campaigns have diverse casts featured in them.
True, but still—14.03 percent? Sigh. We’ve got a long way to go.
Read the entire report at The Fashion Spot.
SOURCE: Fashion Spot | PHOTO CREDIT: Givenchy
