1. IMAGESGettyImages/GalloImages
accessorytoaredVersacegownshewore
during Milan Fashion week in February
2013. She claims that her psoriasis,
which only ever happens during fashion
week, has made her the talk of the town,
especially for couture brands. Her
Instagram bio says it all: “Don’t worry,
be happy. Embrace your weirdness, stop
labelling,startliving.”
Famously known for launching
supermodels such as Naomi Campbell,
Calvin Klein would of course not be
excluded from the trend. The brand
took it a step further and cast
plus-size models for their plus-
size underwear collection.
Another brand celebrating plus-
size models is Lane Bryant –
her lingerie line #ImNoAngel
featured plus-size models shot
in a very alluring and desirable
monochromaticstyle.
Gender is the next frontier.
Discovered by Givenchy’s
Riccardo Lisci, Lea, a Brazilian-
born Italian-raised model, has
become one of the most visible
transgender models in the
fashion industry. Even though
transgender models are not new
on the scene, they’re growing in
numbers over the years and have
beencastinmorerunwaysshows.
Isis King was the first trans
contestant on Tyra Bank’s
ANTM and has also been cast in
a American Apparel campaigns.
Ines Rau, also a trans model, set
the fashion world alight with her
shootforFrance’sOOBmagazine’s
shoot with male supermodel
TysonBeckford.
Sociologist Asanda Benya
says the fashion world influences
society immensely. “It sets trends and
standards. It defines what the norm is – I
would go as far as saying that it starts by
constructing what the ‘norm’ should be
andsustainsitasthestandard,”shesays.
Benya explains that although it may
looklikethereissignificantchangeinthe
fashion world, designers still follow the
same aesthetics when making clothing.
Thin, tall and glamorous is still the ideal
and the uncommon beauties are not
necessarilyattheforefront.“Theyarenot
mainstreammodels.Theyarefeaturedas
the ‘other’. Even when they are featured,
the fashion campaigns usually try to
‘normalise’ them, or even objectify them
at times. They objectify them by drawing
our attention to the fact that they are
different and so it becomes about the
campaign rather than a fundamental
change in how marginalised people or
bodiesarerepresented,”sheexplains.
She says socially these campaigns don’t
achieve much for the marginalised
communities as a whole, but arehelpful
on an individual basis. “I think on an
individual level it does create a shift,
but I’m not sure if the shift is socially
significant. What I mean is that for a
young girl with albinism to see someone
who looks like her in a fashion magazine
or on a runway makes a difference,
but not for the rest of the mainstream
audience.
“The reason is because the ‘rest’ of
society hardly gets to a point where they
look at her as ‘just a model that happens
to look different’. It remains ‘a person
with albinism who is a model’ and not
a talented model.” There’s definitely a
novelty factor at play here as the fashion
andbeautyindustryhasopeneduptothe
idea of the new unconventional beauties
representingtheirbrands.
Major fashion houses aren’t the
only ones who realise that trend.
Beauty house Dove has been using the
“self love” strategy for years now, with
every ad campaign showing women
how beautiful they are naturally. Their
latest campaign, #ChooseBeautiful,
shows women walking through one of
two doors, one marked “Beautiful” and
the other “Average”. It’s astounding to
see just how many women walk
through the “Average” door, some
almost absentmindedly, whereas
others have to be persuaded to
walkthroughthe“Beautiful”door.
Dove has been breaking
down that illusion, campaign
by campaign. While the fashion
community was still getting
a hang of these “uncommon”
beauties, fashion giant Celine
broke all the rules with their
typically hyper-raw style ad
campaign with Joan Didion, an
80-year-old American writer, as
theirmodel.
Designer Kate Spade used
93-year-oldfashioniconIrisApfel
as the face of their campaign.
Jeweler Alexis Bittar’s spring
campaign also featured Iris
alongside18-year-oldbloggerTavi
Gevinson,breakingawayfromthe
notionthatyouthistheideal.
These campaigns encapsulate
all that is considered “chic” right
now: the clothes are understated,
the colours are muted and their
unique uncommon quality is not
hidden but celebrated. There’s
definitely a cultural shift in how
the world is viewing what is considered
“beautiful”. Yes, while the botoxed,
skinny, big boobed, pure skinned looks
will still rule some fashion and beauty
quarters, now there’s an acceptance of
the “self-love” world, where people are
invited to feel absolutely comfortable in
theirownskin,acceptingandowningthe
traitsthatmakethemdifferent.
Refilwe says that the change in the
fashionworldisrevolutionary,onewhich
sheishonouredtobepartof.“I’mwriting
historyandhopefullyIwillleavealegacy
behind,”sheadds. ■
SHAUN ROSS IS THE
FIRST MALE SUPERMODEL
WITH ALBINISM.
118| OCTOBER 2015 | WWW.TRUELOVE.CO.ZA
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