Fashion Week: Who Are The Models?

Naomi Campbell

Kate Moss

I'm enjoying this crazy fashion week that has started in New York; admiring fabulous upcoming collections for Spring/Summer 2015 from big names, industry favorites, and new designers such as BCBG MAXAZRIA, Rebecca Minkoff, Monique Lhuillier, Carolina Herrera, Zang Toi, Michael Kors, Christian Siriano etc. New York fashion week set up a show that started on the 4th and will continue till the 11th of September, and then will move on to London, Milan, and Paris. It's thrilling to watch and see all the models in action in these new designs. I have seen the super-models prepare and talk about what they're looking forward to during  fashion week and which name brand they'll be walking for. It's been exciting to fashion lovers like me but I started to think differently about the whole thing when I watched an interview with Shaun Ross, best known as the first male albino fashion model. 

Shaun, like any other model, was excited about fashion week but the point he made that stuck with me was how models of these days are not known and how they do not represent anything. They are not made muses or shown any importance by the fashion industry. We don't know most of their names or give them fair identities. "They are just like blank canvases" and I agree with that. I have written about models once and I thought that they were treated like 'walking hangers.' It's all about what they have on and nothing else.
 

It feels as though the days when models were recognized, like the days of Naomi Campbell, Tyra Banks, Kate Moss, and Tyson Beckford, are over. I think models should be regarded highly; I'm not saying they should be worshiped. These people are clothed in anything and try to make those things seen while they disappear in the background. Can you imagine that nerve-wracking moment when they know they're supposed to strut in front of a crowd and hope not to fall? It's hard enough for a person to walk normally in the center of a gathering. While I applaud the designers for creating amazing fashion, I mostly applaud the models for presenting it to the masses. Also, the fashion industry should remember that models are humans and the size drop is alarmingly sad. Sometimes, I wonder how these people are able to walk, but that's another topic for another day. Happy fashion week! 

Jourdan Dunn

(ukoemem  - Author; Ola Y - Editor)