We’ve got a lot of work to do.
Everyone should be included. Each person should be able to see themselves represented in some way, shape, or form when it comes to fashion. That is a mind-blowingly simple concept, yet we cannot seem to get there at all.
Ask someone to picture a model in their head and describe what they saw. Most likely, they are going to describe someone who looks like Candice Swanepoel, Christie Brinkley, Tyra Banks, Naomi Campbell, or Kendall Jenner. Women who “won” the genetic lottery when it comes to facial symmetry, height, and body composition. The problem is not that these women are being celebrated. The problem is that other women are not being celebrated too.
Beautiful does not equal blonde, tall, thin, and white. It can equal that combination of factors, but it could also encompass an athletic build, medium height, dark hair, and skin from the South Pacific. There are millions of combinations that equal beautiful because women around the globe are, in fact, beautiful.
So, we are surrounded by all of this beauty, but we have yet to harness it.
Body diversity courtesy of Lane Bryant ad via Instagram.
Women across the globe are interested in fashion, but instead of marketing fashion to them as something that will help them be better versions of themselves, fashion is marketed as a means to get from where they are to who they are not. Instead of from who they could be, it is to who they should be.
That should not be the case.
So, enter movements like RunwayRiot. A place that should make you feel comfortable to check out that new trend without making you feel that your self-worth is dependent upon how it looks on you. Community is a big part of creating a safe space to explore trends, workouts, and beauty tips that make you feel better about yourself.
We wish it was not a movement; we wish it was just reality.
But it isn’t. And it won’t be unless we all demand it. Demanding it not just from brands who refuse to show people that look like you and your friends, but also from us.
If you ever feel like you are not being represented, tell us. We want to do better so that you have better. Because you are wonderful, just as you are.
So, shout out to the skinny chicks who were ever told to eat a burger, the curvy girls who were told to put down the french fries, the athletic ladies who were ever told they weren’t pretty because they didn’t have curves, and everyone in between. Love to the ladies whose ancestry is European, the women whose melanin glows because their roots are in Africa, our Hispanic wonders, and Asian women whose beauty spans the skin rainbow.
Fashion is for you, and we are going to prove it.
