Sunday kicked off the beginning of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Australia. Misha Collection gave a high performance runway show led by Bella Hadid with an army of models stomping the catwalk behind her. The finale was supposed to leave the audience in awe of how badass the models and designers are. Instead, it left a sour taste in most viewers’ mouths. This was due to Beyonce’s “Formation” playing in the background, which would’ve been an impactful score had there been at least one black model on the runway. There were none. We’ve talked about diversity in fashion before and it’s something we’ll always revert back to. To some this may be another slap in the face. By some, I mean black people in the fashion community.
There’s plenty of commotion surrounding how “Formation” is to be enjoyed by everyone, and that’s true. But it’s pretty clear that Beyonce created that song for black people. The lyrics are full of empowerment and allude to Black Lives Matter, becoming an anthem for today’s black community. So when you hear that song being played at a runway show, it’s natural to expect some sort of representation of black people. Yet, as you scan the group of women strutting on the catwalk, you see that each one is white. It’s pretty bold for Misha Collection to be so singular in their casting as Demna Gvasalia (creative director of Vetements and Balenciaga) is gradually shedding the shame he received for sending all white models down the Balenciaga runway during NYFW. The last thing Misha Collection needs is the Beyhive outraged by its all-white antics.
This could’ve been an innocent slip up or ignorant slap-in-the-face. It was definitely perceived as the latter. All we can hope for is that one day the exclusivity of fashion doesn’t pertain to race.