British model Leomie Anderson has slammed the fashion industry for ‘underrepresenting’ black models in shows – and claims they’re treated like ‘second-class citizens’ during fashion week.
The 24-year-old Londoner, who began modelling at just 14, said hair and make-up artists at some of the world’s biggest fashion shows still don’t know how to deal with darker skin tones and Afro hair.
On Saturday, Anderson expressed her frustration at being turned away from a fitting that included six white girls because the designer couldn’t find a look for her.
She said on social media: ‘Being confirmed for a show then being dropped because the designer doesn’t feel like using more than one black girl is so sickening.’
Model Leomie Anderson has slammed the fashion industry for ‘underrepresenting’ black models in shows – and says they’re treated like ‘second-class citizens’ during fashion week
‘Can’t believe I went to a fitting, got put into a line with six white girls, watch[ed] their looks get selected, then get told “He can’t find anything for you, you can go.”
On Woman’s Hour today, she explained the comments to host Jane Garvey, saying: ‘At this point in my career, I feel like me being silent is me not standing up for the other young girls who are coming up in the industry.’
The model, who was signed by an agency while still a schoolgirl, says she felt singled out as a younger model because professional and hair and make-up artists would deliberately avoid preparing her look for a show.
She said: ‘I remember when I was younger and I wasn’t saying anything, I’d be going down the runway with my face looking grey, I’d be crying backstage because nobody wanted to do my hair.
She expressed her anger after being turned away from a fitting for a London Fashion Week show that included six white girls because the ‘designer couldn’t find a look for her’
‘Someone said a comment to me that was really offensive and I didn’t say anything. Now I feel I’m 24-years-old, I’m at this point where I want to be able to do something.’
Describing the treatment of black models in the industry, she said: ‘I feel like there have been a lot of situations where black models have been made to feel like second class citizens during fashion week or during their jobs.
‘The only what they we are going to move forward within the fashion industry is by having new people, new blood, new ideas and a fresh perspective’.
Speaking about the lack of diversity in the industry, she added: ‘I would say that we are very underepresented on the runway. If there are 30 girls, then there may be two girls of colour, one Asian girl and they think “we’ve fulfilled the quota”.
During the interview, Anderson criticised a make-up artist at New York Fashion Week who put her hand up to do her make-up but then had nothing in darker skin tones and had to use the model’s own make-up.
She said while the make-up artist wasn’t malicious, she was ‘ill-prepared’ and ‘shouldn’t be at a show where there’s a diverse cast of girls.’
Anderson added that her friends had urged her to speak on Woman’s Hour about hair too, saying that she feels she’s portrayed as a diva when she tries to tell stylists what will and won’t work with her hair.
‘Yes, they have more natural hair on the runway but they don’t know how to treat Afro hair. You have to brush it, shape it, make it shine,’ she explained.
Despite her criticism of the fashion industry, Anderson praised the appointment of Edward Enninful as the first black editor of Vogue.
She described him taking over the helm as a ‘move forward’, adding that magazines need ‘fresh talent’.
Anderson’s comments come after her fellow model Jourdan Dunn accused a London nightclub of racism after claiming she was thrown out because ‘they don’t like black people’.
The 27-year-old was at Reign nightclub in London on Saturday to attend the launch of her new clothing line Londunn x Missguided SS18 during London Fashion Week.
Posting on Twitter, she said: ‘Do not go to Reign nightclub I repeat do not go Reign nightclub they don’t like black people!’
‘They way I was treating at my own event was disgusting! [sic] They want to play our music but don’t want our black a** in the club, ha iight cool!’