Jezebel’s seasonal analysis of ethnic diversity at the New York shows was released on Friday.
After crunching the numbers on 148 shows, we can report that of 4,621 looks, only 985 were worn by models of color. That means that of all the models who walked this past week, 78.69% of them were white. While that number is slightly smaller than last season, it still hovers around 80 percent, which has been roughly the percentage of looks worn by white models for the past six seasons.
Jezebel’s data shows that non-white casting was at it’s recorded height this season. Although far from ideal, it is interesting that this high came during a Fall/Winter season. Non-white models (especially those with darker skin) usually have much better Spring/Summer seasons because designers like the way bright, warm-weather colours look against darker skin. With Fall/Winter notorious for favouring pale complexions, perhaps this small upswing in diversity indicates a dying trend.
Below are two sample shows: Tracey Reese and Lacoste. Both shows were notable for their ethnic composition, but for different reasons. The images we chose to display are of models who walked in the order presented below. For example, the Tracey Reese looks are 25-32, the Lacoste looks are 13-20.
