The 'Different Kind of It Girl' Casting Problem, Fendi's Bagsplosion, and More
Also, the "nepo model" backlash has begun.
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Body diversity sadly seems mostly confined to certain “quirky” shows.
A big recap of Fendi’s Baguette bagsplosion spectacular.
Shorter recaps of Proenza Schouler, Altuzarra, and Lionne.
Other loose threads (breasts, Jason Wu, and more).
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A fair amount of media coverage in recent years has heralded the influx of non-model models. In other words, people who aren’t 20 years old, a size zero, and beautiful according to conventional, dated standards.
Business of Fashion recently wrote in a story on the booming demand for models driven by endless digital media marketing needs that “today’s models are more representative of society, no matter if they’re fronting a large-scale campaign or appearing in an Instagram ad.” In a feature published in May of last year, Robin Givhan wrote in the Washington Post, “Increasingly, everyone is a model — or at least, everyone can be.” She credited designers like Gucci’s Alessandro Michele with helping popularize this kind of casting with his Gucci Aria runway film. “I tried to find what would define ordinary beauty,” he said. And in March of last year, Vogue.com ran an article headlined, “Why Disability Representation Is Crucial to Building a Better, More Inclusive Fashion Industry.” This is a magazine edited by someone who told Oprah to lose 20 pounds to appear “more beautiful” for her October 1998 cover, so this represents a startling evolution for legacy fashion media’s most influential publication.
Above: A 1998 Newsweek article about Anna Wintour.
If this all sounds a little too good to be true, that’s because it is.
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