Fashion world is changing for good! Not only it became more inclusive and artistic but also it unlearns many discriminatory ideas and changes its one-sided perspectives. Do you remember the dark times that people had to follow the trends and imitate or fit in what fashion world provides for us? Now fashion world imitates real life; it gets inspired by people and includes people… as it should!
All these beautiful things are happening since fashion industry finally came to the realization of who they are working for. Clothes are designed for people to wear and fashion shows are held for people to see and buy. The keyword in here is “people” because we all are different from each other just like our needs and likes and everybody deserves to be represented by one of the biggest industries in one way or another.
Representation of people from different backgrounds was a big step, but it was not enough. Luckily, this big step was followed by the representations of fat people, transgender people and people with different skin conditions such as albinism or vitiligo. For instance, famous model Tracey Norman was one of the first African-American transgender woman represented by fashion industry. Diandra Forrest is another African American model and she is the first female model with albinism that was signed to a major agency, Elite Models NY. Similar to these beautiful people, Canadian model Winnie Harlow was one of the very few models with vitiligo skin condition.
While we are talking about representing everyone, let’s not forget to mention Gucci and their models! I personally love and appreciate inclusivity of Gucci fashion shows and advertisements, I think they are doing a great job at representing different people and raising awareness. Lately, they’ve been working with Ellie Goldstein, a model with down syndrome. Ellie has been modeling since she was 15 and worked with different brands such as Nike and Superdrug. In November 2019, she was scouted by Gucci and Vogue Italia during the Photo Vogue Festival and represented in Gucci’s Unconventional Beauty Campaign. She is the first model with a disability that represents Gucci and their beauty line.
This gave me a new perspective because even though I’ve been actively talking about the need of inclusivity in fashion industry to raise awareness, I never actually mentioned models with different health/body conditions such as down syndrome or mental/physical disabilities. Such a shame! Of course, inclusivity of fashion world should be unlimited. Beauty and differences of people can coexist!
Oh! Before I go, I want to suggest you to read the Vogue article through the link listed in Sources section. They had an interview with Ellie Goldstein and I genuinely want everyone in the world to read her story and perspectives of life! Feel free to check out other articles to read interviews with other beautiful people I mentioned!
Until next time… bye byes fashion-pies!
Göksu Güneylioğlu
“Fashion needs revolution so here we go!”
www.vogue.com/article/winnie-harlow-2018-victorias-secret-show-casting-interview/amp
www.vogue.co.uk/beauty/article/ellie-goldstein-interview/am
amp.tennessean.com/amp/1245018002
www.glamour.com/story/barbie-fashionistas-2020-vitiligo-hair-loss-dolls
