Italian Vogue has broken one of the fashion world's taboos by featuring only black models in its July issue. The pictures by New-York based Steven Meisel, one of the most successful photographers in the industry, fill about 100 pages of the magazine, and are accompanied by features on black women in the arts and entertainment.
The absence of black models on the covers of fashion magazines has long
been a complaint inside the industry. The justification frequently
given is that such covers "do not sell".
Leading black figures among models, designers and agents claim that the
business has grown increasingly discriminatory, with levels of exposure
for black women among the lowest since the 1960s. Several big names
have formed a protest group in New York to highlight the problem.
Italian
Vogue's editor, Franca Sozzani, said her decision was influenced by the
New York group, as well as by Barack Obama's success in the US
presidential primaries.
