Fashion Brand Faces Backlash After Sending All-White Models Down Runway to 'Formation'

Beyonce’s politically charged song “Formation” has been dubbed an unofficial anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement. So when Australian brand Misha Collection concluded its Resort 2017 runway show with the all-white cast of models doing their final walk to “Formation” people were pretty pissed off.

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The imagery sparked outrage on Instagram early Monday after IMG posted a video of the show’s finale. Users sounded off in the video’s comment section.

“Why are they walking to formation? Not one black person or POC in sight. Tried it,” one person wrote. “How you gonna use black songs but not black people smh,” and “Vomit, white people belittling the meaning behind ‘Formation'” others said.
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This comes after the Fashion Spot’s seasonal diversity report earlier this month, which showed little improvement in the fashion industry’s inclusion of models of color.

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Despite backlash, brands like Misha Collection continue to co-opt blackness. It makes you wonder, is it just a ploy for publicity or are they really that uninformed? Either way, the evidence is mounting that change is needed sooner than later.

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