African-American supermodel Jessica White is used to sticking out wherever she goes. She is a model, after all, who has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Edition and walks the runways for some of the world's top designers.
She is also one of a select few black women in her position, and in a brief interview with the Daily News, White says she's tired of it.
While at DKNY’s 25th Birthday Bash, the 29-year-old beauty told Confidenti@l that African-Americans are struggling to be accepted as models and designers in the upper echelons of the fashion industry.
“Fashion is constantly changing from decade to decade, but I don’t see a change in how many black faces I see on the runway, and it’s something we should talk about because it’s a problem,” said White.
The subject of White's complaint, it seems, is a hot-button issue during every Fashion Week. Bethann Hardison, a former model and chair of the Diversity Coalition, has also been a vocal critic. She most recently wrote a letter to the Council of Fashion Designers of America, which oversees Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, highlighting the industry's ongoing neglect of models of color.
Read more at the Daily News.
Jozen Cummings is the author and creator of the popular relationship blog Until I Get Married, which is currently in development for a television series with Warner Bros. He also hosts a weekly podcast with WNYC about Empire called Empire Afterparty, is a contributor at VerySmartBrothas.com and works at Twitter as an editorial curator. Follow him on Twitter.