Example Of Essay On How I Plan To Become An Agent Of Change By Tackling The Lack Of Racial Diversity In The Fashion Industry

(Student’s Full Name)
“We [in the fashion industry] live in the elitist bubble and we’re not aware of what’s happening in the world in the way of diversity.” –Beverly Johnson, former supermodel and black fashion icon
The above statement reveals the perpetual problem of racism and lack of racial diversity in the fashion industry. This statement was made by Beverly Johnson during an interview on HuffPost Live. Johnson, who is a fashion icon, was voicing her impressions of the industry as it relates to racial diversity. Indeed, it can be argued that although recently there have been some efforts made by the fashion industry to include models of color on the runways and in fashion magazines, racism is still a problematic issue experienced by persons of color working in the fashion industry because key players in the industry help to perpetuate this attitude towards lack of diversity by focusing on models of a certain ethnicity and there is strong evidence which shows that there is a lack of diversity on the runways and fashion magazines. As a fellow fashionista, I will like to use my influence in this industry to become an agent of change as it pertains to the lack of racial diversity in the fashion world.
According to Jenna Sauer’s (2013, para. 2) blog post, “Fashion Week’s Models are Getting Whiter,” “82.7%” of the 4, 479 looks presented at New York Fashion Week of 2013 were shown on white models. Sauer (2013) noted that thirteen companies had no models of color in their shows at all. Bethann Hardison, who is also a fashion icon, former model, and owner of modelling agency, complains of “tokenism and lookism” within the industry, as highlighted by the Eric Wilson (2013) in his article. James Scully, a casting director whose clients include Tom Ford and Stella McCartney, named Dior, Saint Lauren, Louis Vuitton and Chanel for not having a diverse cast at its runway shows in the Fall Season 2013 (Wilson, 2013).
(I got rid of a paragraph right here. This also helped to get rid of the quotes. You can delete this later on. This is just to show what I got rid of.)
Bethann Hardison, who was recently recognised by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) for her activism work in the fashion industry, has created the Diversity Coalition and published open letters on behalf of the coalition to the directors of the CFDA and relevant bodies and authorities (I got rid of quote here) in London, Paris and Milan (Schneier, 2014, para. 14). These letters named the designers “whose runway shows included no or only one token model of color” (Schneier, 2014, para. 14). In addition, to writing letters Bethann Hardison has intended to produce a documentary on the lack of diversity in the industry and helped to facilitate the development of a “social media campaign to bring public awareness” to certain designers who do not use models of color (I got rid of a quote here) (Schneier, 2014; Wilson, 2013, para. 11).
I also plan to create and upload videos related to lack of racial diversity in the fashion industry on video sharing sites. The video sharing sites that I plan to share these videos on are Youtube, Vimeo, Daily Motion, Veoh and Metacafe. I also plan to implement, with the help of my coalition, strategies which will create incentives which will motivate key players in the industry (such as designers, bookers, casting directors, photographers, stylists and modelling agencies) to allow models to be hired at fashion shows and magazine photo shoots.
Furthermore, I plan to enlist the help of leading models of color in the fashion industry to add their voices concerning the lack of racial diversity in the industry. I could use these opinions as part of a documentary or mini-movie to also help to bring public awareness to this crucial issue in the world of high fashion.
In addition, I would like to have an award show which will honor key players who consistently hire persons of color. This, of course, will be one of the incentives to motivate fashion industry’s key players to hire models of color in the industry.
Furthermore, most persons of color are at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, and do not have the financial resources to access high fashion clothing. Personally, I will use my influence as a creative fashionista by ensuring that high quality materials used to make high fashion clothes are obtained at an affordable cost. Additionally, I will ensure that certain mechanisms are implemented that high quality tailoring and haute couture labor can be accessed by affordably by the designer. I believe that this will ensure that persons of color will be able to afford high fashion clothing.
(This paragraph is includes the idea you mentioned about most persons not being able to buy high fashion clothing. I also tied this idea to the topic of the essay. You can change the red to black later on.)
In conclusion, I believe in order for me to be an agent of change in the industry as a creative fashionista, I need to create incentives that will motivate key players in the industry which will ensure that models of color are seen on runways and in and on the cover fashion magazines. Additionally, it will also like to bring awareness to the public as to the designers and fashion magazines that refuse to higher models so that consumers will be convinced to not continue to financially support them. Moreover, I will ensure that persons of color are able to purchase high fashion clothing by implementing mechanisms that will make this type of clothing more affordable.
(You now have six paragraphs that have personal opinions in them.)

References

Fashion Week’s Models Are Getting Whiter. (2013, February 18). Retrieved January 16, 2015, from http://jezebel.com/5985110/new-york-fashion-weeks-models-are-getting-whiter
Schneier, M. (2014, March 15). Walking the Walk to Increase Diversity. Retrieved January 16, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/fashion/Fashion-diversity-bethann-Hardison-diversity-coalition.html?_r=0
Wilson, E. (2013, August 7). Fashion’s Blind Spot. Retrieved January 16, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/fashion/fashions-blind-spot.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
(I got rid of a source and left just three.)