Black Women Are Not A Trend

In the recent September issues I witnessed so many beautiful black women gracing the front covers of top mass market magazines. I felt for a brief second that this is exactly what the fashion industry needed to do to move forward, include a group of people that they've appropriated and exploited before and give them representation.

As you can see influential women of color were the face of the most important issue of any fashion magazine, the September issue. They're the biggest-selling issues, they attract advertisers and they make big statements about autumn/winter fashion trends and for many years no one wanted to cover a black woman because the fear of not selling. The past 5 years have proven and debunked this myth that "black people don't sell" this is old and untrue. It's safe to say the comfort of putting women of color, specifically black women, on the cover is a reflection of the world we live today. It's more than tolerance of one another but an appreciation... right?

"Magazines reflect culture and our culture has changed, which is incredible" quote by editor-in-chief of Porter magazine, Lucy Yeomans.

Throughout American and even global history, black women's beauty have been stripped down to adhere to European or Western standards of beauty, so giving black women an opportunity to shine light with their natural beauty is good... right?

It's hard to tell of this is a sign of the industry's input into the cultural shift or tokenism? It's interesting to read and see how some magazines haven't featured a black person on the September cover in over 102 years or who overlook black models in artistic decisions who are being praised for doing so now. Black women are not a trend and magazines shouldn't be praised for doing what they're supposed to do. I need magazines to not just feature but hire and collaborate with black women. Prove that the industry is changing, on the cover or not.