The Only Black Model In Italian 'Vogue'? Actually A Maid
While American Vogue came up with exactly zero black women in fashion editorial in their October issue, at least Italian Vogue did better in September—they had one! Just one. Except turns out she wasn't a model, as the New York Times assumed.
An article last Sunday about the fashion industry's reticence to use black models referred incorrectly to a black woman in a maid's outfit pictured in the September issue of Italian Vogue. She was, in fact, a maid at the hotel where the pictures were taken, and was included, the Vogue photographer said, because of her attractiveness and her ability to underscore the pictures' theme of a stereotypical rich white woman who hires ethnic servants; the black woman was not a model dressed as a maid.
