Models of Diversity is a campaign that highlights the discrimination in the fashion industry and how it is not represented nearly enough with people who are short, plus size, have a disability, are older women or people of color. With a Facebook group of and over 16,000 Twitter followers, Models of Diversity is calling on the fashion, beauty and marketing industries to change this for the good and making a mark.
Models of diversity is a non-profit organization that started few years ago. The inspiration came from Gok Wan’s Miss Naked Beauty which is a UK beauty parade that celebrates women for who they are. Seeing hundreds of beautiful women that threw off the shackles and showing off their beauty no matter what body they were in made the founders of Models of Diversity think about how they wanted women to be represented the fashion and beauty industry and bring about change.
In the UK size 16 is the average size which is why the campaign wanted to see a change happen quickly to represent the normal women that were invisible to advertising executives. Some retailers have seen the light and featured models of a larger size in their advertising campaigns. But there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to the big fashion houses and fashion shows. While using plus size models is slowly growing, the Models of Diversity want a lot more action to be taken when it comes to getting representation for disabled models. As fashion takes on new ideas and different communities use their collective power to force change, the hope is that fashion houses, cosmetic companies and marketing agencies will change the way that they appeal to their prospective customers. With the internet and social media today, it means that the big companies are no longer setting the agenda and smaller groups can make a difference. FabUplus magazine sees a great value in groups like Models of Diversity and the influence they can have on the way people think and the way we can all change the way big business operates.
http://www.modelsofdiversity.org/
https://www.instagram.com/modelsofdiversity/