New York Fashion Week and models of colour

New York Fashion Week (February 13th to 20th 2009), one of the top fashion weeks in the industry, has just ended. Of the appearances by models on the catwalk, 18% were made by models of colour. While that is well short of the 26% of America as a whole, it is much better than the 12% of last year.

Two years ago a third of the designers used white models only. This year only 9% did.
For years Bethann Hardison and Diane von Furstenberg have been saying that more models of colour were needed. Maybe their message is getting through at last. Or maybe it is the Obama effect – or the effect of the all-black Italian Vogue which sold out last summer.