More diversity in the fashion industry does not only apply to the models walking runway, but to all the artists and crew working backstage as well. Unfortunately, Black models continue to face hostile and difficult environments backstage as a result.
This week, international model Leomie Anderson blasted the industry via a viral TikTok video for not hiring enough black makeup artists during New York Fashion Week and having to constantly re-do her own makeup by herself so that it is runway ready.
The 28-year-old model documented the realities of her getting-ready process backstage where none of the make-up and hair artists knew how to work with her skin tone and left her looking like she “works in mines”, using the wrong lipstick shade and styling her hair in a painful way. Eventually leading Anderson to re-do everything by herself.
She ended the video stating that even though she still killed on the runway, she was made to feel very uncomfortable and just wanted to go home after having such a bad experience.
“Please hire more Black hair and make-up artists so we don’t have to go through this," she added.
The video, posted on 25 October, attracted a lot of attention over Twitter with over 1.6 million views and encouraged other Black models to share their own experiences.
One fan replied under the post: “You should absolutely NOT be licensed if you cannot work with black hair and makeup. Absolutely not. Are we unicorns please? Fix up.”
This is not the first time that the Victoria’s Secret model has called out the beauty industry and how they treat Black models backstage. She took to Twitter in 2016 and used the platform to live document her experience at New York Fashion Week where she experienced similar treatment backstage.
One thing for sure is that this won’t be the last time that this issue gets brought up and it will continue until some real changes start to be made.
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