rebirth

        Tall. Thin. Tan. The perfect model. Not according to influential Italian designer brands like Valentino, Versace, Prada, Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Marni. As of the 2019 Prada Winter Walk, the traditional cookie cutter Gisele Bundchen had been replaced by the desire for individuality, the model being the statement piece, as well as the look. We see Hypopigmentation , albinism, and heterochromia on the runway so everyone can be represented. This runway inclusivity movement is being considered the rebirth of the modeling industry.

          “We need to look further than diversity on show,” says Charlotte Williams, founder of boutique marketing agency SevenSix, which champions diversity and inclusion. How many people of cooler and Black people were behind the scenes? Was there a make-up artist that has experience with darker skin tones, or a hairstylist that can work with afro hair and protective styles? Did the photographer understand the lighting needed to capture a darker skin tone properly? These are all questions that still remain unanswered, but the Prada Winter Walk is a step in the right direction in the world of inclusivity in fashion, but we still have a long way to go. 

      This issue dates all the way back to the 14th century. The first thing to acknowledge is that the concept of a trend, or the idea of changing your look regularly, has been around for a long time. The idea first came to the fore in the 14 ^th century when rotating fashion trends were used by the echelons of society as a way of displaying their wealth, success and status. It all began 2,400 years ago in Rome, when the West's standards of beauty were set. "But the Romans knew that there was more to a person than just a face," says Dr. Dietrich von Bothmer, chairman of the Greek and Roman department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. "Beauty was considered an excellence, like honesty or bravery. Physical beauty was important, but it had to be coupled with goodness of spirit as well."

     The role of women and the concept of beauty has changed much since the Roman's time. Perhaps the most telling example of how much the ideal beauty has evolved begins in the last century with Sir Francis Galton. He constructed a model of beauty by superimposing hundreds of pretty faces and decided that the composite was the ideal face of the time -- one with regular, average features. The ugly face, by contrast, was "full of surprises." A face "full of surprises" not beautiful "Unfair, untrue, absurd" says Kobal today. "Look at the faces of Gloria Swanson and Georgia O'Keefe. A nose or mouth of a different turn is often what's needed to capture our interest and our heart. It's the hybrid that we find truly captivating." Thus the craving for individuality was born. 

Prada. "Winter Womenswear Show." Youtube.com. Published 19 February, 2021. Accessed 17 October, 2021.