FASHION NEWS: A few days ago, I was walking to my car from the mall when a Black woman who looks like me approached me, asked, “What are you doing here?”
She was talking about black fashion.
I said, “Oh, I’m working on a fashion column.
I was just browsing the stores for a Black person to talk about.”
She responded, “It’s just for you.”
So I asked her what she thought about the fact that the Black community is so divided.
She said, well, it’s just not the case that Black people want to dress in the same way that everybody else does.
So I started talking to her about the fashion industry and the problems we’re seeing in our industry.
And I said something like, “The problem is that there’s this idea that we’re all just doing this for ourselves.
It’s not true.
We’re all doing this to make a living.
It has nothing to do with fashion.
We have a lot to offer this industry, and we have a chance to do that.”
She said something along the lines of, “Well, you know, I know a lot of other Black people who have jobs in the fashion world.”
I said: Well, you’re right.
You’re not the only one.
The Black community does need a lot more Black people.
And the Black people working in the industry are the ones that we need to be talking to.
So, I think that this is one of the most important pieces of our movement.
FASHIONS NEWS: And the other piece of our story is, the Black fashion industry is struggling, as well.
So why do Black people do it?
Because Black people need jobs.
We need to make more money.
We are in need of better housing, and the Black family needs to get out of poverty.
So we need Black people to make money.
That’s why they’re doing it.
So that’s what we’re talking about.
The other thing we’re saying is that we can make it, because we can do this.
The problem is when we see Black people in the mainstream media, we see the Black person that we see in the media, who has nothing going on, who’s always in the news.
And we see their work and we’re just like, that’s not me.
I don’t have anything to contribute.
So when Black people start saying to the Black media, ‘This is the Black woman that you’re talking to, and I’m the Black reporter,’ we can see that the media is just not looking at Black people the way we need them to look at Black women.
And that’s why we need the Black model that’s out there.
And so, I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing more Black models in the Black runway.
And there’s a lot that we haven’t seen yet.
But I hope that we do see more Black women in the runway, because that’s a step forward.
FOSSIL LEADERS: I think the reason why we’re hearing so much about Black models is that they are getting their first looks.
And they’re not getting their names in the newspapers or in the magazines.
So they’re getting their hands on the runway and they’re really starting to make their mark.
And it’s important for us to talk to Black people about this because it’s not a matter of, ‘Oh, we need more Black designers.
We want Black models.
We don’t want Black people at the runway.’
That’s not what we want.
We just want Black women to be successful and to work in the business.
And this is the only way that Black women can really have a big impact in the future.
FISHER: And this movement is so big, I can’t believe I’m just talking to you right now.
FANS: Thank you.
Thank you for coming in.
And thank you for being with us.
And good luck.
Thank God for your dad.
And thanks to the community for the support that they’ve given us.
Thank goodness for this amazing Black community.
And God bless you all.
FOSTER: Good luck. [APPLAUSE]
