Though the Spring 2018 runway presents more diversity than ever, the Fall 2018 of the New York Fashion Week held on Thursday morning signals that there is still so much more work to be done with regards to being more diversed.
Only a very small percent, exactly 0.4 percent, has increased in terms of racial diversity after conducting a survey on 82 shows and almost 2,300 model appearances. The Spring 2018 fashion show a 36.9 percent casting on models of color, while the Fall 2018 runway produced a higher percentage of 37.3. Somehow, there is a slight improvement, and even the slightest one can be a step towards the right direction. It is also better than the 20.9 percent casting of nonwhite models first recorded on 2015, to keep track of diversity on the runways.
The decision of the other designers to opt out of this season’s show also proves whether the industry is really genuine in their approach towards diversity, is it only for positive PR strategies or only few designers open to diversity?
There is also just a minimal improvement in the appearances of non-binary and transgender models which only resulted to 33 runway appearances compared to 31 last season. There is also a reported decline with the plus-size models from 34 castings last season to only 26 curvy models for the current season.
There is also a decrease in numbers of models aged 50 years old and above. The castings in all of the six shows only totaled to nine compare to 10 castings last season. Take note that among these casting, there were no women color or even transgender.
These statistics only shows that the fashion industry isn’t transforming as quickly in terms of diversity as was aimed. More designers are encouraged to welcome diversity and be more willing to cast different types of models who can also kill the catwalk as the traditional models can.