-
NYFW Can’t Handle Texture On The Runway
By Treashure Lewis and Yvette Brown
Video by Yvette Brown The fashion industry has made great strides over the years, but it’s now 2022 and one issue still prevails: representation across every degree of fashion, including beauty. This past New York Fashion Week, numerous Black models shared their experiences with getting their hair done by hair stylists for the shows they walked in.
For model Raven Schexnayder, her first New York Fashion Week was traumatic. She posted a Tik Tok of her experience getting her hair done for the show, in which the hairstylists did not know how to manipulate her textured hair into the style required for the runway.
“I’m literally powerless in this situation. I just felt so isolated,” says Raven.
Raven had shown up early to hair and makeup directly from another New York Fashion Week show to walk for Frederick Anderson. She came with her hair spiked up in a design from that show and knew prior that Anderson wanted every model’s hair to be straightened into an elaborate updo. She was calm while patiently waiting for a hair stylist to come over and start her hair. But after what felt like over an hour of not being seen, she started to get worried.
“ I started to look around and just noticed that people were ignoring me and ignoring that my hair needed to get done. I also noticed that I was the only black model with 4c hair so while they were doing my hair wrong, I tried to give them a little bit of help. After I gave them a few tips on how to slick down my hair, the back of my hair looked nice. Then they just stopped doing my hair and they started whispering things about me,” says Raven.
There are four types of hair- 1- straight, 2- wavy, 3- curly, and 4- tightly curled. Within these four types, there are sub-categories- a, b, and c. People of color, specifically black people usually fall into categories 3 and 4, in any one of those subdivisions. Raven has 4c hair, which is on the end spectrum of textured, tight coiled hair. The hair stylists at the show seemed knowledgeable in every type of hair except the “four” spectrum, which is sadly a common occurrence.
Andre Walker Hair Type Chart Credit: 99 Percent Invisible “I think it really brings up conversations around textureism and colorism within black communities, because what happens is that sometimes [fashion shows] will end up using models with particular textured hair. There’s a perception that looser curls are easier to do, they will sometimes have people able to do that [texture], but they wouldn’t have people for those who have thicker, tighter curls,” says Kovie Biako, a culture and identity writer, as well as the director for the Arts and Culture reporting program at the Craig Newmark School of Journalism.
Raven is not a high-profile model, but even if she were, unfortunately, it probably would not have made a difference in this situation. Last year, Leomie Anderson, Black British top model and Victoria’s Secret Angel posted a video to her TikTok and Twitter, which amassed over 3 million views, calling out this very same issue.
“Being a black model is doing other people’s jobs and not being paid for the extra work loool,” Anderson wrote on Twitter.
Anderson’s video pointed to the lack of diversity within the hair and beauty staff at fashion shows. In the video, she is visibly frustrated as the makeup artists and hair stylists did not know how to properly do her hair and makeup. In the end, she ends up fixing her hair herself, and removing the makeup with the incorrect foundation shade off her skin and correctly reapplying it herself. She writes on the video, ‘Please hire more black hair and makeup artists so we don’t have to go through this.’
Many seemingly qualified hair stylists that are hired for New York Fashion Week come from cosmetology schools that did not teach them how to style textured hair. Unfortunately, those who hire hair stylists for these shows seem to view cosmetology licenses as proper qualification, but most of these stylists only have extensive training in non-textured hair. According to CrownActLaw.com , only 19 states require some sort of formal training in natural hair styling.
Candace Witherspoon, founder and owner of Candace Witherspoon Salon in New York City had to learn how to care for and style natural, textured hair outside of her cosmetology school training. She made it her mission to create a safe space for those with natural hair to come and nurture their curls.
“When I was in beauty school, I didn’t learn about natural hair, there wasn’t any course about that, and I went to beauty school 12 years ago. I got my training with Deva Curl, learning how to cut natural hair,” says Witherspoon.
Candace trimming hair before a treatment. Photo by Yvette Brown Within the twelve years since Witherspoon has completed cosmetology school, there has just begun to be a sliver of change within cosmetology schools’ curricula. Since 1938, the Milady Standard Cosmetology textbook has been one of the leading resources for cosmetology schools. Most schools require students to purchase the latest edition of their textbook to use within their courses.
Just this past April, Milady released the 14th edition of their textbook, which is the very first edition to include a section catered to natural hair styling. That means that only in the last few months have many cosmetology schools touched on natural hair styling within their curricula. Most students who did not venture out to receive training outside of cosmetology schools received their cosmetology licenses without this knowledge.
Credit: Milady’s Transition Guide For The Milady Standard Cosmetology Textbook’s 14th Edition New York Fashion Week’s hiring officials are hiring hair stylists who have the “proper qualifications and licenses”, but most of these “qualified” candidates are not well-versed in all hair types at all, given their schools’ curricula. This is a question that should come up, however, when these officials are looking for hair stylists to represent each show. There are many hair stylists like Candace Witherspoon who have made it their duty to receive extensive training on natural hair after they received their cosmetology licenses. Not using the tools outside of school to learn how to do everyone’s hair, not just some, is a form of voluntary exclusion.
If shows and designers made it their mission to hire more stylists that know how to do all hair types, or to at least hire a substantial amount of stylists for each show that demonstrate that they know how to do textured hair, perhaps more hair stylists would want to obtain specialized schooling on textured hair. If the people in positions of power are not making it a requirement to know how to style textured hair for fashion shows, why would any hair stylist care to learn about it?
Furthermore, New York Fashion Week’s hiring officials can encourage or even help hair stylists who specialize in textured hair to retrieve their licenses.
“Look at the process of cosmetology school, and who gets excluded from that, who is able to afford that. I mean, we know that, in the communities where we go to to get our hair done, sometimes those ladies may not have the proper licenses, but they can do hair. And that’s, that’s just what it is. And I do think it’s important to find a way to support the women in that sort of situation where they need the proper license, the proper paperwork, but actually know how to do it. So I think, you know, whether at the state level or at the federal level, we need to find ways to ensure that that happens,” says Biakolo.
Women getting their hair braided in Harlem. Photo by Yvette Brown New York Fashion Week’s most recent revenue is a whopping $7 million and right now, The Council of Fashion Designers (CFDA) has a grant entitled, The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in which all ten finalists receive mentoring from top industry individuals and $50,000 each to progress their careers. These opportunities are offered for less established designers, why can’t the same opportunities be presented to less established, but talented hair stylists?
It is not only models’ jobs to call for a diverse range of hair stylists at fashion shows, as they are not in the direct positions of power to change the hiring process. There’s way more at stake for models of color to advocate for themselves, than the people in power.
Woman getting her hair straightened. Photo by Treashure Lewis “I feel like there’s a form of intimidation there. Because obviously, as a model, you want to get booked again.Having a consistent client is something that you definitely want. So speaking out and voicing your opinion, you might not want to do that. Because you don’t want to ruffle any feathers with the client and have them not want to book you again because you’re difficult to work with,” says Mauricio Hernandez, a male model.
Black models are asking for a beauty department that feels safe, not scary. In the meantime, like many other models of color, in order to avoid having to ever get into a situation in which stylists don’t know how to do his hair, Hernandez keeps his hair in braids that he gets done outside of fashion shoots or shows. This is a tactic that many models of color utilize in order to avoid a terrible experience in the hair chair. Black models will encourage other black models to come prepared with hair styling tools and products, just in case the wrong products are provided to them.
“I’d rather be safe than sorry,” says Hernandez.
Brown & Lewis Capstone 