blog dialogue: colorless

Last month, clothing label Lovers + Friends selected 10 fashion trendsetters and sent them an animal print blouse to style with their own personal touch and featured each look on the REVOLVE web site.

In February, Glamour debuted their “Young & Posh” blogger network, consisting of 17 fashion bloggers.

In January, Tumblr announced the Tumblr 24, the 24 tumblrs chosen to attend New York Fashion Week.

Last December, StyleList (AOL’s style blog) began creating their StyleList Network, which initially consisted of 19 influential personal style bloggers but has now grown to a network of 40 bloggers.

Last November, Fossil released their 2010 Holiday Lookbook, consisting of four bloggers modeling pieces from Fossil’s clothing line.

Last September, Forever 21 featured five fashion blog bigwigs and their Forever 21 fashion picks.

Last May, Coach teamed up with 4 personal style bloggers to create limited edition handbags, and in November, partnered with 10 bloggers for their Holiday 2010 Blogger Campaign.

Brands are taking the influence of fashion bloggers very seriously and it’s no doubt that bloggers are making waves in the world of fashion. From invitations to Fashion Week to television commercials to editorial gigs, bloggers are receiving unbelievable once-in-a-lifetime opportunities never thought of. But as I continue to see bloggers partnering with brands and participating in these opportunities, I always have one burning question:

Where’s the diversity?

None of the partnerships or campaigns above include an African-American fashion blogger, with the exception of Glamour’s blogger network, which boasts the staggering number of one. I can’t help but feel a bit saddened at the scarcity of color not only in the campaigns I listed above, but in other brand and blogger collaborations.

Unfortunately, the lack of diversity in the fashion industry is not a new development. For example, it’s alleged that the fifteen-year feud between supermodels Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell was incited by the fact that they both felt they were each vying for the one vacant spot available for models of color on the catwalk. Even now, rumors of a runway rivalry among models Chanel Iman and Jourdann Dunn run rampant, even though the two are close friends. Also, in the world of American fashion magazines, there’s only one African-American senior-level fashion editor, Teen Vogue’s Accessories Director, Shiona Turini.

If you read fashion blogs on a regular basis (and even if you don’t), you’re probably familiar with the so-called fashion ‘super bloggers’—these are the bloggers who have countless followers, posts with endless comments, and inboxes overflowing with e-mails from brands, public relations firms, and readers. In other words, they’re considered to be the cream of the crop. Now while there’s no doubt that the ‘fashion-blogger elite’ have tremendous clout in the industry, I have to admit that I’m not influenced to purchase what they’re promoting. Simply put, as an African-American single mother from Dallas on a tight budget, I can’t relate to them. As a woman of color, I would be interested in seeing a wider variety of cultural representation in these campaigns and collaborations, especially if these companies are partnering with bloggers to increase revenue. Last year, online magazine coco & crème published an article--9 Black Fashion Bloggers Worth Bookmarking—shining the spotlight on a fashionable and influential group of African-American bloggers, so it isn’t as if minority talent isn’t readily available. And if you really want to talk about influence, the numbers say it all. Research has shown that African-American women spend heavily on cosmetics and clothing compared to the general market and according to Black Enterprise, black buying power is on track to reach $1.2 trillion in 2015 (who wouldn’t want a piece of that to add to their profits?!). By excluding African-American bloggers from these collaborations, brands are doing a disservice to a demographic that could increase their bottom line considerably.

For many brands, their reasoning for the lack of diversity in their campaigns is marketing; for many of these companies, the simple reality is that minorities aren’t part of their target market, but brands need to make a concerted effort to expand their reach and diversify their campaigns and collaborations. Just like diversifying their campaigns is good for a company’s bottom line, so is targeting a wider audience. For example, Forever 21’s line now includes contemporary, maternity and plus size clothing, which I’m pretty sure did nothing but add to their profits.

When it comes to brands collaborating with fashion bloggers, the lack of multiculturalism isn’t the only diversity deficiency; there’s a shortage of variety in regards to the bloggers they choose to partner with. Brands continue to collaborate with many of the same bloggers, which results in several campaigns simultaneously featuring the same bloggers, sometimes diluting the quality of the project. Personally, I don’t feel that these collaborations accurately represent the real world (and maybe they aren’t meant to), and sometimes question if brands are even interested in combating this lack of diversity. Instead of simply partnering for popularity, why not choose fresh faces? New perspectives? Different styles? Minorities?

From the different styles to the distinctive viewpoints to the unique authors, diversity is the essence of the fashion blogging community. In an ideal world, campaigns would reflect that variety and celebrate the diversity that not only exists in the blogging world, but also in the real world. Needless to say, we don’t live in an ideal world. We live in a world where companies disregard the influence of minorities, color on the catwalk is nearly nonexistent, and fashion magazines attempt to appease the minority community’s desire for diversity with an occasional ‘Black Issue.’ We can only hope that in the future, companies will begin to be more open-minded in regards to their collaborations, campaigns, and partnerships and marketing to minorities becomes a more promising endeavor. Or we can just call them out.

Brands, I’m calling you out. Are you listening?