unusualmusic_lj_archive

Oscar de la Renta:

 

"American fashion right now is struggling," says Oscar de la Renta. "I think I understand what [Obama and her advisers] are doing, but I don't think that is the right message at this particular point....I don't object to the fact that Mrs. Obama is wearing J. Crew to whatever because the diversity of America is what makes this country great. But there are a lot of great designers out there. I think it's wrong to go in one direction only."

He also took a jab at the outfit the first lady wore to meet Queen Elizabeth: "'You don't...go to Buckingham Palace in a sweater.'"

Donna Karan:

"I hope and believe that this is just a moment," says Karan. "And I hope to be able to dress her, and not only dress her but address her, sit down -- I'm interested in her totality as a woman."

Vera Wang:

"I love seeing young designers and their vision and how they grow and all of that," she says. "On the other hand, of course, I wish she would consider some of us, because I think we also have contributions to make."

The coolest thing about being African-American and bilingual Italian is that when you go to a model casting in Milan and are pointed to the sign that reads “no ragazze di colore” (no colored girls), you can: a) understand it; and b) get sent right back to thhttp://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/4/4/716393/-Whites-Only-Designers-Reap-What-They-Sew-w-Mrs.-O-(POLL)e casting as a Brazilian and instructed by your agent not to speak English to anyone.

Today, in an article titled “Dressing Michelle: Major Designers Wait for First Lady’s Call,” Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) posted the outrage of American designers like Oscar de la Renta, who stated, “I don’t object to the fact that Mrs. Obama is wearing J. Crew to whatever because the diversity of America is what makes this country great. But there are a lot of great designers out there. I think it’s wrong to go in one direction only.”

Um. EXACTLY.  So where is that sentiment decade after decade as U.S. designers send all-white models down their runways?  I don’t know whether to shake with laughter or with disbelief!In Feb 2009, New York’s Fashion Week featured 116 labels and 3,697 runway spots.  668 of those spots - 18% - went to models of color.  Not 668 models, mind you, because three of the top ethnic girls took up half of those spots with repeat appearances).  That’s right, 18% women of color - ANY COLOR - on the runways and 82% white models.  In New York City.  So the real question should be “Donna, Ralph and Calvin, where in the world are your ethnic models?”  And the answer is…

 

Calvin Klein: showed 1 look with an ethnic model out of 35 he sent down his runway.

Donna Karan: showed 3 looks with ethnic models out of 45 she sent down her runway.

Ralph Lauren: Nearly 50% of his looks were worn by Black, Latina and Asian models.  That explains why WWD’s Photoshopped look of Mrs. Obama wearing a Feb 2009 U.S. runway design was from Ralph Lauren’s show - where they could actually find someone with brown arms and legs.  (As for the above quote from Oscar de la Renta, comme d’habitude, his runway diversity was nearly 50%).

Understand that Feb 2009 marks a 50% increase over the year before, due to the concerted efforts of model-turned-agent Bethanne Hardison and designer Dianne von Furstenberg to diversify U.S. runways.  As stunning examples, in 2008, Donna Karan cast 1 ethnic model out of 23, Calvin Klein cast 1 out of 21, and Jill Stuart had NONE (Paris’s entire 2008 Fashion Week - 40 designers - also had NONE - but they’re not demanding that the President’s wife wear their clothes). Two years earlier in 2007, 1/3 of the U.S. runways (101 shows) had no models of color whatsoever.  We know that because WWD reported it…so how can they now champion the cause of the same designers to be represented by our African-American First Lady?

Click for list of American designers that didnot use One POC model this 2009 season

I’m an American. And yes, I’m proud of the fact that Americans in aggregate have just conspicuously demonstrated that Bush was not our ideal leader. That we don’t want more of the same. That how we look and behave not only at home but in the world matters to us. And . . . that America can produce a chap like Obama. Can you imagine him as . . . British prime minister? And okay, he’s officially African-American‡‡‡ but he still looks like a white guy with a tan to me.§


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And while I’m now perfectly willing to go with our first heavily tanned half-Caucasian president, I would still like to live to see our first woman president. She could be Hindu or first-generation from Japanese parents perhaps.