British model Leomie Anderson has been modeling for a decade and walked the runway for countless designers including the highly popular Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, but Anderson still isn’t immune to rejection from the fashion industry.
Anderson, who is currently at London Fashion Week, was allegedly turned away from one designer’s fashion show when she arrived for her fitting, and took to social media to share the shocking experience.
On Saturday, Anderson expressed her frustrations on Twitter. “Can’t believe I went to a fitting for 8:40am, got put into a line with six white girls, watch their looks get selected then get told ‘He can’t find anything for you, you can go’ along with a tanned Brazilian model. Once he selected a mixed girl with curly hair the quota.”
In a now deleted tweet, Anderson also said, “Being confirmed for a show then being dropped because the designer doesn’t feel like using more than one Black girl is so sickening.”
Yesterday, Anderson was also a guest on BBC’s Woman’s Hour podcast and further discussed the incident as well as some of the struggles of being a Black model in the fashion industry. Speaking to host Jane Garvey, Anderson said, “At this point in my career, I feel like me being silent is me not standing up for the other young girls who are coming up in the industry.”
“I feel like there have been a lot of situations where Black models have been made to feel like second class citizens during fashion week or during their jobs,” Anderson continued. She also said, “I would say that we are very underrepresented on the runway. If there are 30 girls, then there may be two girls of color, one Asian girl and they think ‘we’ve fulfilled the quota.’”
We truly hope that Anderson never has another experience like this recent one, and that designers become more inclusive on their runways.
Check out the full podcast with Anderson here.
