Is the fashion industry deliberately casting less black models?

She is one of the three non-white models cast.

Nadja sometimes feels like she is just the token black girl in the show saying: "I would love to be booked for shows ... because I am me - for my personality, for the person, for the model I am and not because I will be the only black girl for the show."

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There is a lack of black/colored girls on the runway and Supermodels Naomi Campbell and Iman have decided to launch a campaign to raise awareness of the lack of racial diversity in the fashion industry.

Iman who has been in an interracial marriage with David Bowie for years told CNN: "The absence of people of color on the runways and photography reinforces to our young girls that they're not beautiful enough, that they're not acceptable enough." She believes the diverse world that we live in is not well represented on the runway. Normally, most major fashion houses such as Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Victoria Beckham (to name just but a few) "consistently use one or no models of color" on the runway.

Former model agent Bethann Hardison spearheads this campaign and the trio (Hardison, Campbell and Iman) call themselves the "Diversity Coalition". They have written to the big fashion councils in Milan, Paris, London and New York urging them to end this racism. In the letter, they say: "No matter the intention, the result is racism."

Carole White, a renowned model agent who managed Campbell for 17 years agrees that most designers tend to use white models for their fashion shows. In fact her agency only has 13 black models out of the 300 models she manages. And even in the selection of black models, she says the bar is set much higher. "We're more discerning about the type of black girl we take, because we know they have to be stunningly beautiful, have an incredible body. They have to be actually perfect."

Unless they are flawless, she personally cannot take the risk of taking them on.

"I think clients have this perception that black girls do not sell products, which goes way back to the 50's. I think it's engrained in every magazine editor. There are more products for blonde and blue-eyed girls. Everything is geared to that."

In an article by the Daily Star, Sola Oyebade, founder of Mahogany Models Management, says: "The excuses some labels use range from black models being 'the wrong shape', 'too sexual' and even 'unprofessional'. Some of them say, 'We only want one black model', like they want to fill some quota. It’s not just Victoria [Beckham], it’s all the big, exclusive labels. They employ black models for one show for some publicity and then go back to the old ways."

Campbell finds it heart breaking that we are in 2013 and things have gotten worse in comparison to when she started modeling… then, in ’86, "It was very diverse… there was Asians, blacks, whites, Indians, Chinese…"

Much as designers such as Alice Temperley claim that there is a lack of black "good enough" black models to choose from, Iman also condemns casting directors and stylists for their role in delivering too few black models to designers. "I don't want to ever hear again a young model telling me that [casting directors] have said to her: 'We are not seeing black models this season.' To me that's offensive. To me that's a racist remark."

The Diversity Coalition is seeks to get the conversation going and also create awareness of the situation on the ground – the lack of black models. They hope that this will edge out discrimination in all areas within the fashion industry.

Do you think fashion houses cast those few black models just to fill some quota? Have black models been discouraged over time to the extent that they no longer feel the need to put themselves out there? Is the fashion industry ignoring black models or are they just not there?

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