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2008 and 2013 shows that asian models never comprise more than 10 percent of turns on the runway in five of the nine seasons asian models have less representation than black models and in the four seasons in which there are more asian models represented the difference is minimal falling somewhere between 5 percent and 3 1 percent this month during nyfw spring 2014 asian models outnumbered black models by the very slimmest of margins 02 percent by no stretch of the imagination can we take these numbers to be evidence that asian models somehow have it easier in the fashion industry than other nonwhite models across these ten seasons white models never make up less than 79 4 percent this massive disparity can only be the result of the fashion industry s systemic racism that inordinately benefits white models and disadvantages all nonwhite models while i applaud the diversity coalition s mission and efforts i m holding out hope that it doesn t reproduce the same kinds of racial exclusions it intends to critique as an example of the groan inducing moment in recent fashion history i turn to the buzziest show of the season rick owens show in paris in which he used teams of mostly african american step dancers to introduce his spring 2014 ready to wear line the fashion media so far has universally praised the show as a powerful move by a leading fashion designer to overturn the industry s dominant racial order but power is exactly what s missing in this show and for that matter what is missing in the discussions about this show and about racial diversity in fashion in general to pass muster as real change would require the racial dynamics of power that structure fashion s visual cultures and practices be disassembled instead owens show represents a continuation of the same hierarchies of race and power that make it possible for a famous white designer to request that predominantly young black women serve up a routine that embodie s viciousness for a mostly white audience fashion s racial problem is not that white models far outnumber nonwhite models on the runways and in mainstream fashion magazines the racial makeup of fashion s visual cultures is only a symptom of a much deeper problem the almost exclusive control of white perspectives to define what is beautiful the exercise of this control is apparent even in fashion imagery and events that include a majority number of people of color if they are there to serve a racial function some of the most common racial functions in fashion are people of color used as multicultural scenery there to provide contrast and intensify the difference between them and the white model s multicultural scenery more multicultural scenery people of color used as multicultural window dressing there to cover over the reality of fashion s systemic racism multicultural window dressing people of color used as multicultural spectacle for an audience of cultural tourists who do not belong to or associate with the people whose racially gendered bodies are on display multicultural spectacle people of color used as embodied evidence of the multicultural cool of the white designer white brand white magazine etc click the image to see my post about this film and the issue of multicultural cool what each of these categories share and what links them as liberal multiculturalist posturing as opposed to radically substantive change is that each of these multicultural moments unfolds and emanates from the privileged and controlling perspective of whiteness in these situations the standards of beauty as well as the standards of unconventional beauty are established and contained by white perspectives and white needs for racial difference owens has said that he chose to introduce his spring 2014 line through step because he was attracted to how gritty it was in the context of racial spectacles what is important is not the cultural history or cultural present of the cultural practice on display what is important is the display of racial difference itself the significance of racial difference for its own sake rather than for the sake of social and cultural political equity is summed up in suzy menkes review for the new york times in which she describes the joy of seeing a sea of black faces owens show and the popular discussions about it are reflective of a general misunderstanding about the ways that racism and exploitation work as i wrote in another post racism is not about individual intention well intentioned people speak and act in ways that reinforce racism all the time the only way to undo racism is to fundamentally alter the structures that enable whites to benefit from racism and people of color to be exploited by it and just as racism doesn t require intention exploitation doesn t demand dominance it is entirely possible for fun and gratifying experiences to be exploitative for more on this see mark andrejevic s excellent essay estranged free labor the dancers surely enjoyed the global spotlight the free trip to paris and the free designer clothes that i imagine owens allowed them to keep as a gift and because these outfits were individually tailored for each dancer s body stepper adrianna cornish tells reporters that the experience is something she never would have dreamed of a blogger for the wall street journal notes that some guests dabbed tears during the show and that dancers themselves were wiping tears from their cheeks following the performance to draw attention to the exploitative conditions of the performance is not to deny or diminish the fact that the show was emotionally moving for some of its participants and observers but if racism is not necessarily a product of personal feelings and intentions then anti racism cannot be achieved at the level of personal feelings either so how do we know racism or exploitation when we see it hint they are usually conjoined a quick and handy litmus test is one in which the following two questions are answered positively does one party benefit not just more but disproportionately more from the multicultural event than the other participating party does this relation of benefits mirror and repeat the prevailing social relations that already structure dominant society if the answer to both questions is yes then it is a pretty good bet that the multicultural event is racially exploitative in the example of owens show the white american designer stands to reap immeasurable social cultural and financial rewards for this show already the show is securing his reputation as a cultural provocateur and a fashion rule breaker in the professional and user generated press owens is regarded as a leading force in the industry an edgy designer and an innovative showman the dancers on the other hand are merely looked at as evidence of owens creative genius as the current hot topic in fashion one that will as all hot topics do fade out and an outré spectacle new york magazine s fashion blog the cut likens them to a ufo sighting and fashion blog the gloss describes the dancers as an orange is the new black celebration referencing the new netflix original series about women inmates remember all of these dancers are college students or college graduates thanks to the deluge of reviews of instagram photos and videos and tweets owens brand is winning in the attention economy that now drives fashion in the age of social consumerism and if others felt the way a dazed digital reporter did after the show wanting to clear her savings and buy a rick owens leather jacket then this publicity will also generate sales the dancers on the other hand the women whose bodies energy and time made the show will be remembered only as owens dancers the few dancers that have been interviewed and named will be forgotten but owens bold statement his powerful message and his creative vision will be memorialized in fashion history in academic language owens will be remembered as the agent of the show while the dancers will be remembered as the people who instrumentalized his agency his vision and his mission so i repeat the global fashion industry should stop trying to be inclusive stop trying to be diverse rather than count racial bodies it should begin recalibrating its structural dynamics of race power and profit so that a statement like menkes that the imagination of the white male designer is the greatest achievement of the show a show brought to life by the talents and hard work of mostly black women dancers is simply unthinkable 8 comments filed under fashioning race fashioning the human labor and the creative economy on beauty tagged as paris fashion week rick owens stepping by minh ha t pham august 27 2013 9 14 am the techno orientalist white feminist history of harem pants from vogue may 2007 before there was jean paul gaultier s kimono bikinis and tom ford s gucci line of satin jackets with the cherry blossom embroidery there was paul poiret s jupes sultan or harem pants in an article that is now published in configurations i locate poiret s harem pants and his larger 1911 fashion line at the intersection of modern white feminism orientalism and the machine age analyzing the design and construction of key pieces in the collection i show how his harem pants mandchou tunics and hobble skirts are a kind of machine art and an early example of wearable virtual technology while the loose design of these garments freed european white women from crinolines and corsets and enabled proto feminist physical and social mobilities they were also technologies of racial virtuality vogue and other women s and fashion magazines at the time breathlessly described poiret s collection as modern magic wearing his clothes the magazines promised would transport the woman from the dull materialism of the temperate zone to warmth colour and perfume in the tropics and as you can see from the photo above from an article vogue ran a few years ago on poiret s influence poiret and his wife were all too happy to participate in virtual racial play my article includes some amazing photographs of other pieces in the collection worn by some of the poirets friends in some ways this essay is a one off for me i don t usually do this kind of historical research though it is part of my larger interest in fashion s virtual technologies but once i discovered this collection and the thousand and second night party he threw to introduce it to the fashion public i had to write about it also it was maybe the most fun research ever the full title of the essay is paul poiret s magical techno oriental fashions 1911 race clothing and virtuality in the machine age and it s in the winter 2013 issue of configurations journal of the society for literature science and the arts 21 1 configurations is an academic journal that emphasizes the relationships between the arts and science and technology very cool reading this journal 2 comments filed under ad dressing gender sexuality fashioning race fashioning the human tagged as feminism harem pants hobble skirt orientalism paul poiret thousand and second night party virtual racial play wearable technology by minh ha t pham july 25 2013 4 42 pm meet the burka avenger i m so excited to have just discovered this new animated series called burka avenger that i want to post all the episodes 13 so far i think but for now will just post the english language trailer the original series is in urdu the burka avenger is a mild mannered teacher with secret martial arts skills who uses a flowing black burka to hide her identity as she fight local thugs seeking to shut down the girls school where she works explaining the reason this superhero wears a burka creator and pakistani pop star aaron haroon rashid says it s not a sign of oppression she is using the burka to hide her identity like other superheroes since she is a woman we could have dressed her up like catwoman or wonder woman but that probably wouldn t have worked in pakistan to read more about the burka avenger go here 1 comment filed under uncategorized by minh ha t pham february 13 2013 10 08 am deja vu 2013 from the sports illustrated swimsuit issue 2001 from the donna karan spring summer ad campaign fashion photography and i m using the term very loosely to include si is sooo innovative 6 comments filed under fashioning race on beauty by minh ha t pham january 7 2013 3 34 pm what can a discussion about fashion tell us about america s culture of violence a lot like so many others i ve been thinking a lot about gun control in the wake of the mass shooting in newtown connecticut although the discourse around gun control can be sometimes mystifying if not downright mind numbing teach kids to rush at shooters rather than hide enlist a male janitor to heave a bucket at the shooter s knees i ve appreciated the many thoughtful discussions that link unthinkable violence such as that which took place at sandy hook elementary school to the many acts of violence that many americans just don t think about like the u s drone strikes in pakistan and yemen that have killed scores of civilians including children and the street shooting deaths and injuries of predominantly black and brown young people in cities like chicago oakland and jacksonville florida but what does fashion and style have to do with america s culture of violence a better question might be what can a discussion about fashion and style illuminate for us about this culture of violence a lot it seems recent reports tell us there are clear links between the aggrieved entitlement of white middle class men and mass shootings of the 62 mass shootings in the past 30 years 70 percent were carried out by white men but america s culture of violence is not limited to masculinity and as vijay prashad reminds it doesn t always take spectacular form though fashion media is replete with spectacles of violence see trigger warning here and here for a start there s another also gendered dimension of america s culture of violence in which women and girls are predominantly the perpetrators and victims the slow violence of body dysmorphia and eating disorders are a significant if often invisible part of america s culture of violence that implicates women across generational racial class and sexuality differences in uneven ways rob nixon defines slow violence as violence that occurs gradually and out of sight a violence of delayed destruction that is dispersed across time and space an attritional violence that is typically not viewed as violence at all although nixon s discussion of slow violence focuses on environmental catastrophes like industrial pollution and the aftermath of chemical warfare his concept can be extended to the particular relation of gender and violence that women and girls experience every day because girls from a very young age are conditioned to believe their identity and self worth is tied to their appearance to please others and to seek out the approval of others they are especially vulnerab...