Work For All | Week 8: The Colour of Beauty at Schema : more than ethnic

A stunning and statuesque black woman struts down a busy urban street in the opening credits of Elizabeth St. Philip's film The Colour of Beauty. In the next shots the same woman is touched up by make-up artists and hairstylists as she poses for fashion photographers. Going by the title and opening scenes alone, you might think that this film is a tribute to the successful career of the black model, and to the changing face of the fashion industry. Wrong. The first words out of the model, Renee Thompson's mouth are, "I think sometimes it's so blatantly racist it's disgusting." The camera pans to a breathtaking head-shot of Renee in her voice-over saying,

"You're constantly under the scrutiny of something you can't do anything about...This is the skin I was given, this is who I look like, this is what I look like...you know, I'm sorry."

Can someone seriously be contesting this woman's beauty?

"I'm sorry" - The Colour of Beauty, NFB, 2010

The Colour of Beauty is St. Philip's contribution to the National Film Board's Work For All series, which explores racism in the workplace. The film follows Renee, a Canadian model of Jamaican descent trying to get ahead in the business, as she walks down the streets of New York meeting with agents and auditioning for casting directors.

The film also interviews prominent figures in the industry including Renee's New York and Toronto agents, the Editor-in-Chief of Flare magazine, fashion photographer Dallas J. Logan, and Jeanne Beker, the host of Fashion Television. Renee's goal is be the it girl of New York's Fall Fashion Week, but the conventions of the fashion industry are working against her.

"Fashion," says Mann, Renee's hairstylist, "is stuck in 1955." The attitudes on display in this film reveal just how ingrained racism is in the fashion world. Renee explains that it isn't uncommon in her line of work to hear, "we're not looking for black girls," or "we want white girls only." Comments such as these are frighteningly similar to the hiring policy of employers in any industry circa 1950: Blacks need not apply.

Because white models have been the standard for beauty for so long, there is an overwhelming reluctance, and even fear, within the industry to branch out and try to represent an image of beauty that reflects our multi-ethnic world. The unanimous opinion in the film is that if a black model is going to succeed in the industry she has to look like "a white girl dipped in chocolate," because apparently, white sells and black doesn't.

The nonchalant acceptance of racial discrimination in the industry is shocking to see. Renee's meeting with Maurilio Carnino, the casting director for Fall Fashion Week is a disturbing example of this entrenched racism. Carnino praises Renee's beautiful face and her perfect catwalk strut, but then goes on talk about her figure, commenting that she'd be great but she's also,

"...slightly, slightly, slightly wide on her hips...Black models then tend to be a little wider hips and a little bit more like...round..and so sometimes, you know like the face is amazing, she has a fit problem."

Now, the fashion industry is notorious for setting impossible standards of beauty no matter what your skin colour, but Carnino's criticism seems unreal even by industry standards. Astounded that anyone could foresee a "fit problem" with the almost impossibly slender woman on the screen before me, I did some investigation on Renee's measurements. Her hip size, according to her profile on fashionmodeldirectory.com is 35 inches!

In some ways, the film is a tribute to Renee, but sadly not because she has taken the fashion world by storm and revolutionized the colour of the fashion industry. Rather, it is a testament to her unbreakable spirit because despite the rejection, bigotry, and prejudice she faces, she has carved out a career for herself in the industry that she is passionate about. Renee perseveres not only for herself, but for all models who don't fit the industry-sanctioned mould and who need someone to look up to.

You can watch the entire film this coming Sunday, May 16th at the Museum of Vancouver and be sure to check out Work For All's blog post on the film!

Click here for details on the Screening & Panel. Also! Don't forget about the..

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS!

Send us your stories, perspectives, experiences and thoughts about how race plays a role in fashion, beauty and identity. All submissions will get published on SchemaMag.ca, and the top three submissions will be showcased on NFB's website and read at the panel discussion on May 16th.

Schema Magazine

Work For All | Week 8: The Colour of Beauty

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