Spotted on Ebonyjet The Colour of Beauty is a short documentary about racial discrimination in the fashion industry. Director Elizabeth St. Philip follows a young and fiercely talented Black model, Renee Thompson, as she navigates the fashion world as a visible minority.
This film asks: Why isn’t the multi-cultural society that we live in reflected in our magazines, on billboards and on the runways of fashion shows? And who are the parties involved in this industry’s lack of diversity? Does the answer lie somewhere in the back rooms of fashion magazines or in the offices of casting directors of fashion shows? Is it something that is discussed at advertising agencies, or between designers and modelling agencies? Whatever the answer, the fact is that models of colour work less, and their chances of success are very low.
Renee Thompson: "It does get very discouraging, It gets to a point where you feel like you're constantly justifying your worth… You can only take so much beating up every day and constant rejection — or that fear, that when you walk through that casting door, you're going to be reminded, yet again, that you're a black girl. But quitting to me seems like you're giving in…"
Link: The Colour of Beauty