By Rachelle Unreich
Last month, supermodel Naomi Campbell posted a photograph of British Vogue magazine's staff on her Instagram feed. What was glaringly obvious was its whiteness, and that's not a comment on the monotone-coloured shirts worn by a handful of staffers.
"Looking forward to an inclusive and diverse staff now that Edward Enninful is the editor," wrote Campbell, giving a nod to the new editor (he's male! he's black!) about to step into that hallowed fashion position.
Rebecca Vallance says older women are becoming more fashionable.Credit: Paul Jeffers
It's likely that he'll shake things up for the better: nearly 10 years ago, he was part of Italian Vogue's all-black issue, which became a bestseller.
We might be geographically far away in Melbourne, but we're keeping step with Fashion's New Diversity. This week's Melbourne Fashion Week sees model Stefania Ferrario as one of its four ambassador "faces". Ferrario pushes the diversity button in a number of ways. She teeters into the area of plus size (she's a size 12, which is standard for Australian women but is in the cup-runneth-over category for a runway model). She's edgy (Dita Von Teese has used her for numerous lingerie campaigns). And she blurs the male-female distinction by often dressing androgynously, her ultra-short hair and penchant for men's suits allowing her to pass as a brooding teenage heart-throb type.
Winnie Harlow arrives at the Dior gala event at the NGV in Melbourne.Credit: Daniel Pockett
"I'm not mainstream at all," she says. "I was really surprised when I found out I was going to be one of the faces of the festival, because I am a lot curvier than most models, and I have short hair, and I'm alternative, and I'm sexually expressive. But I think the faces they've chosen are a great reflection of where we're moving in the modelling industry. I think diversity is here to stay."
It certainly looks that way. In early August, the David Jones spring/summer collections parade in Sydney featured models that weren't your typical catwalk types. Sarah Jane Adams, a 62-year-old jewellery designer, doesn't normally even model; she has a 155,000-strong following on Instagram, and is known for her hashtag #mywrinklesaremystripes. She was joined by Emma Balfour, 47, and Annaliese Seubert, 44, both stunningly beautiful but best known for their modelling heyday – back in the '90s, a time when models were told their careers were over by 27.
But audiences took note, cheering and clapping when Adams strutted her stuff down the catwalk. For her, the modelling gig is a "social experiment … I'm not doing this to make a living or to prove a point. I've never wanted or expected to be a model."
Adams is outspoken on diversity in fashion, saying, "A lot of younger people are very generously saying I'm representing older women, but there are also a lot of women my age who are envious that I am one of the chosen few. Realistically, I know some of [this show of diversity] is tokenism and only time will tell [if it sticks]. I wonder if I will be doing the same thing and be offered these amazing jobs in two years' time, whether people will still want me or whether I am a token old woman."
Naomi Campbell and Edward Enninful at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala in New York, May, 2017.Credit: AP
She says she has her fair share of haters – many of whom are female followers. "The women-on-women hate, envy, whatever – I've had it all my life because of who I am, or how I've given the finger to mainstream ways of doing things."
And therein lies another point. When the fashion industry makes valiant attempts to be diverse, its target audience isn't always supportive. Harper's Bazaar editor Kellie Hush agrees that Enninful's appointment will herald a possible shift in the magazine industry, but says: "Blonde and blue-eyed is still what people love to see on magazines. That said, the power of China and Asia as a consumer has meant that we've seen an influx of Asian models, as well as black models, but it's still not diverse enough. We've still got a long way to go. There's definitely a shift that people are demanding, but at the same time, as an editor, I can see that the girl who sells magazines is a Miranda Kerr or a Lara Worthington or a Rosie Huntington-Whiteley."
Model Stefania Ferraro says she believes diversity in fashion is here to stay.Credit: Rohan Thomson
Still, these women are definitely not the only ones being represented in fashion – and for a long time, they were. For Melbourne's glamorous Dior gala event at the NGV, one of the best "gets" on the guest list was model Winnie Harlow, who posed alongside fellow invitees Nicole Kidman and US actor Elizabeth Olsen. Harlow's skin condition vitiligo would have once made it impossible for her to model, but after making a name for herself on TV show America's Next Top Model, she has appeared on the cover of overseas magazines Glamour and Cosmopolitan, and has been in campaigns for Diesel and Swarovski. Another fashion reality TV show, Project Runway, has its own diverse "first" in its current season: would-be designers are making clothes for models sized 2 to 22, instead of the usual size 2-4 model (US size).
One of the people best able to gauge the way the Melbourne industry has evolved is Mary Grigoris, who first modelled 10 years ago as a 15-year-old, and will be walking at this year's Melbourne Fashion Week. With her close-cropped hair and boyish-by-choice appearance, she's not your average model.
Sarah Jane Adams, 62, made her catwalk debut for David Jones this month.Credit: Mark Metcalfe
"When I entered the industry, I was always too large, too this, too that," Grigoris says. "I'd never really been so aware of my body up until that point, and it resulted in me feeling quite negative towards it, with my first experience of modelling. I decided to leave that fashion world because I thought that's not where I feel good about myself. Ten years later, I had been working in music, and one of my friends was launching a fashion label. When they asked me to wear their clothes, I agreed to it, because it was all-inclusive wear – it wasn't menswear or womenswear. It was big T-shirts and stuff like that, and I felt like I was able to be in in a place that usually makes you feel like a vehicle for someone else."
That's probably a sentiment at the heart of fashion's diversity movement: consumers want to feel represented, regardless of whether they fit outside the fashion mould in terms of ethnicity, age, size or gender identity. For Grigoris, "visibility is important". "When I was 15, I didn't have any point of reference for anyone being celebrated in that environment that was outside of the traditional standards of beauty set by the fashion industry," she says. "I hope that the increased visibility of all identities in fashion leads to better self-acceptance, and to people being able to celebrate themselves."
And, as Grigoris points out, social media has helped highlight left-of-centre models.
"It's totally about the access that people have – we don't rely on magazines and the runways to show us what's possible. Now, we can access all of the little sub-cultures, and the fashion industry has no choice but to imitate what people want to see, which is realness."
Ferrario agrees, since her exposure came after she used Instagram to post self-created modelling shots.
"The rise of social media and diversity in fashion have gone hand in hand," she says. "In social media, everyone can have a voice and be heard. When I was about 16, I got this sudden urge to start modelling, and I organised photo shoots and created my own shots. That led to getting noticed. A lot of fashion brands are picking people who are different, who are edgier who are outside the box – because people love them. They [appeal to] those consumers who are alternative and want to see themselves reflected."
Hush says: "High fashion has been democratised with the influx of social media and bloggers. Instantly, photos of the Chanel or Dior shows are going up on social media and being shared, whereas 20 years ago, those shows had to be photographed and brought back to the office and printed in the magazine. It's made high fashion more accessible, and that has filtered down. The way we dress has been influenced by that democracy."
Designer Rebecca Vallance says her customers make their preferences known by responding to social media posts with their wallets. "If we've got someone appearing in the clothes that has curves, boobs, butts – that has an instant effect on the customer coming in. But if a supermodel who doesn't have many curves wears our clothes, you can often see no effect at all. American well-known reality stars have a huge impact, whereas models don't have as much."
Her label goes up to size 16, and she ensures that there are plenty of larger sizes in stores.
"I realised that a size 12 and 14 were buying as much as the smaller sizes, and we're not a covering-up brand – we've got a tailored aesthetic, and everyone buys the same thing. I also see that the person who is buying our brand ranges from a 16-year-old girl looking for a deb dress, right up to women in their late 60s that spend 10 times the amount. Are older women becoming more fashionable? Absolutely."
When designer Jason Grech showcases his clothes at this week's Melbourne Fashion Week, he's happy about the fact that there will be curvier models, including Ferrario, whom he dressed for the media launch.
"I posted photos of her on Instagram, and I can't tell you the reaction we had, with people calling or commenting on it," he says. "We probably had around 150 per cent more likes and comments than we normally would have. As a fashion designer, you need to reach out to all markets, so it's more beneficial when you have a parade that shows all types of shapes, sizes and ethnicities. Leading designers are also showing very different people – Gucci has been using models that you wouldn't have seen on the runway years ago, because they just look like real people. And I think that's here to stay."
"I don't think diversity is a fad," designer Christopher Esber says. "I definitely think it's something that will build and stay. There's a sense of realism going on in fashion, and showing things like they are, rather than building a fantasy."
When he casts his runway shows, he uses a mix of models, demonstrated by his New York show in February. "It's all about being able to see what I've created across an array of different types of women, whether it's age or ethnicity. For me, it doesn't make sense that [my clothes] go on really young models. Having someone like Emma Balfour makes more sense – having it on women who are in their peak. If they're older, they're more mature and they know who they are. When you dress these women up, it's still Emma, it's still Annaliese – it's not like the pieces are wearing them. They're their own people. Authenticity is a big part of it."
And is hopefully the part that will stick around. As Ferrario says: "I think sometimes brands will pick a curvier model for headlines or a gimmick, but other times it's because that's their target audience. I hope in the future they use them for none of those things, but because they're just awesome models."
Melbourne Fashion Week runs until September 8. For more information, see mfw.melbourne.vic.gov.au/