As an industry, fashion isn’t known for its diversity. The models booking work are overwhelmingly white—and apparently the challenges facing non-white models don’t end even when they do get the job.
In a recent Instagram post, African model Nykhor Paul, who has walked the runway for brands including Balenciaga and Rick Owens and starred in a Louis Vuitton campaign, wrote an open letter to the fashion world criticizing its makeup artists for never having makeup on hand to match her complexion. Such makeup certainly exists, she points out, yet she frequently has to supply her own makeup at shows.
“Dear white people in the fashion world!” she writes. “Please don’t take this the wrong way but it’s time you people get your shit right when it comes to our complexion! Why do I have to bring my own makeup to a professional show when all the other white girls don’t have to do anything but show up wtf!”
That unpreparedness isn’t restricted to any one city or country. She calls out “NYC, London, Milan, Paris and Cape Town” in the post.
Paul, who fled South Sudan as a child before moving to the US, is a committed humanitarian. In addition to working as a model, she’s worked with the International Rescue Committee and commented on the violence ravaging her home country on CNN.
Clearly she’s not afraid to speak her mind.
“I’m tired of complaining about not getting book [sic] as a black model and I’m definitely super tired of apologizing for my blackness!!!!” she wrote in her Instagram post.
The question is whether the fashion industry will listen.