We Need to Talk About the Lack of Representation of Black Fashion in the World
And why I strongly advocate the creation of an African edition of Vogue magazine.
The #VogueChallenge, a Perfect Mirror of the Willingness of Black People to Be Represented in Fashion ?
I remember posting an important thread on my old Twitter account, in late 2020 — around October or November — , in which I outlined, or rather castigated, my opinion as to why the launch of the Scandinavian edition of the fashion magazine Vogue was an unprecedented aberration and shame.
The announcement, as I recall, was made at the end of 2020, the Black Lives Matter protests had passed, and there had been an air of tension in the atmosphere ever since — I wouldn’t say I didn’t like it, but to say I wasn’t bothered would be lying.
Now listen — I’m a woman who loves fashion immensely, being part of the amazing and beautiful High Fashion [Twitter] (HFT) community on Twitter, and if I hadn’t decided to go to Law school, I would be super excited right now about doing fashion studies to become a fashion designer and start my own women’s clothing brand. Fashion is an integral part of my daily life and I can’t see myself living without it. But I am also a young Black woman, and African.
What Was the #VogueChallenge ? What Was it For ?
All these events have made us, as black people, ask ourselves : « What are we really worth as Black people ? » — After Black Lives Matter, in June, came the #VogueChallenge. The challenge was launched by a young black Norwegian student and model, and serves as a call for recognition, a call for consideration of black people, as they have contributed so much to this world, and especially because we suffer from very little representation — in this case, in the famous fashion magazine Vogue, with editions coming from regions where the magazine is not even published, such as Vogue Africa for example.
I always stipulate that the #VogueChallenge serves as a complement to the Black Lives Matter movement, not only do our lives count equally and just as much as White people’s, but we also deserve to be represented just as much as they are — whether it’s in major fashion magazines or other.
As a fashion lover, Vogue magazine is, of course, my magazine of honour. Now, as a black woman and a lover of the fashion world, the launch — this August — of the Scandinavian edition of the magazine, Vogue Scandinavia, is the Vogue that is too much, the one that (absolutely) does not need to be. Instead, serious consideration should be given to creating a Vogue edition for the African continent.
The Representation of Black Fashion in the World, a Subject That Does Not Please so Much
I’ve read a lot of articles on the subject and these articles massively reject this idea, putting forward arguments of such incredible stupidity that they would make us tear our hair out. The main argument that came out was that the African continent was « too big » and therefore had « too many different cultures » and therefore different fashions that were difficult to exploit. In my opinion, talking like this is synonymous of not knowing the African continent at all, and that is being stupid. Why not, on the contrary, make use of this “surplus” of cultures and fashions to turn them into a strength ? Why not exploit all these so-called « different » cultures and fashions to show something different to the rest of the world, and thus, at the same time, silence the (many) detractors of the African continent a little more and show that we Africans are also worth something ?
Because, excuse me, I would like to know what makes Scandinavian fashion different from French fashion ? The clothing style that we see in the Nordic countries of Europe, the Scandinavians, are the same in France, Germany, and so on.
African fashion should really be highlighted as it is far more interesting than people realize, although it remains (still) sadly unknown to the rest of the world — and the format I imagine for an African edition of the magazine is simple : the magazine will be whole but divided into 4 cardinal points — North, East, South and West — in order to represent each region of the continent, grouping several countries together (‘Vogue North Africa’, ‘Vogue East Africa’, ‘Vogue South Africa’, ‘Vogue West Africa’). And let’s note the fact that African countries have ample resources to run these “sub-magazines”, in addition to having the necessary trained journalists, editorial writers, photographers, stylists, models, etc.
The Launch of Vogue Scandinavia, or the Perfect Demonstration of the Lack of Willingness to Represent Black People in Fashion
Vogue Scandinavia and its launch is, for me, a (sad) attempt to silence Black people and to keep them constantly under the thumb of White people. A will that unfortunately does not date from today. And yet, I’m a big fan of Vogue magazines and the launch of this brand new edition should make me more than happy — but my skin colour and the history it conveys and represents brings me back very quickly to the harsh reality of being a Black woman, a Black person in this world.
Vogue Scandinavia represents, for me, the lack of willingness to represent black people in the fashion world — although after the #VogueChallenge, « changes » have been announced, it’s still an important issue and one that needs to be seriously pondered.
Because what do Black people not have that white people have to bring their personal touch into fashion ? Why is it that the idea that Black people will never make it in fashion is still being propagated by keeping them out of the top fashion magazines — knowing that black culture has always strongly influenced fashion ?
In Conclusion
The serious lack of representation of Black people in fashion and, in particular, the fact that there is no magazine dedicated to us, our cultures, our fashions, that exists is, for me, a shame and a problem that must be addressed. The desire to keep Black people at a lower level than White people must now stop.
Article cited :
‘Illuminating Black culture’s influence on fashion’, by EDITED Magazine’s editorial team, published on June 2, 2020.
