Colored Girls Rule!

*Gasp!!!* Did she say colored? Yes, ladies and gentles, I did. I also said “negro” – which isn’t so maligned a term, but still has a rather stale ring to it. But before you get your PC panties in a bunch, note that by “colored” I was referring to the dresses… mostly.

The composite photo seen above was clipped from Netaporter.com, a Web shopping portal for fashionistas with pockets deep enough to buy looks straight from the runway. It’s certainly true that these vibrant colors are especially beautiful against golden brown skin and perhaps that’s why there are an unusually high ratio of black models in this collage. Still, I can’t help but wonder if black girls aren’t somewhat of a fashion fetish at the moment.

Vogue Italia’s “Black Issue” last summer was a smash hit. So much so that even after numerous reprints, people are still hawking $50 copies on eBay. The issue set the industry on fire and got people talking (more) about the general lack of melanin on the pages of fashion magazines and on the runways. According to some subsequent shows did feature a sprinkle more black models, but will the change be lasting? And what about print? Will we see more models of color on the Vogues, Elles, and Bazaar’s of the world?

The post-black-issue success of Ubah Hassan indicates that, at least maybe, we will. Ubah is the one of the newer faces of Ralph Lauren.