August 6, 2018

Why it takes Beyoncé to get a black photographer on the cover of US Vogue

For the first time in its 126 year history, Vogue hired a black photographer to shoot the magazine's cover image. Why now? Unfortunately, this historic decision wasn't initiated by Vogue, but rather mega-star Beyonce. In addition to being the on the cover of the prestigious September issue, Beyonce and her team took over the creative direction of her entire story, which included hiring black, 23-year old Tyler Mitchell to shoot the cover.

In an article for The Guardian, 19-year old David Uzochukwu, who is also a black photographer, explains how important it is to have other people of color in the fashion industry. He said that he got to shoot FKA twigs because he was found online by other black creatives. He further explains "It's still early days for me but I know for sure that having that support is a super-important aspect if you are not white. Things would have been so different if I didn't have that sort of community willing to use me."

HOW DOES THIS CONNECT TO STRUCTURAL RACISM?

Fashion has a huge role in society to define culture and give value to certain looks and style. During the rise of colonialism, whiteness became associated with beauty. This history still reverberates throughout the fashion world. Today, there is still a lack of ethnic and racial diversity in every aspect of the fashion industry, including among models, designers, photographers and creative directors.

According to a New York Times article from just a few years ago, of the 260 shows at New York Fashion Week only three were by African-American designers. This mirrors the percentage of African-American designers who are members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America: approximately 12 out of 470.

For more information see "Fashion's Racial Divide".