Jourdan Dunn blasts racism in fashion

OHMYGOSSIP — Jourdan Dunn has vowed to speak up about the fashion industry’s “bulls**t” excuses for the lack of black models on the runway. The British star is glad her strong Twitter presence has alerted people to some of the key issues in the modelling industry, including the lack of black girls hired to walk the runway.

She memorably wrote on Twitter this summer: “I’m normally told I’m cancelled because I’m ‘coloured’ so being cancelled because [of] my boobs is a minor : ) (sic)”

With the advent of Paris Fashion Week and her fellow models Naomi Campbell and Iman speaking out about racism in the industry, Jourdan, 23, has now pledged to tell the truth about what goes on behind the scenes.

She told The Guardian newspaper’s The Fashion magazine: “I want to talk about what goes on. A lot of people are scared to speak up. People think it’s all glamorous and good and that all models get treated the same, but there is still a lot of bulls**t that happens. I speak up.

“I wanted to make a point, but not a dig. Girls get cancelled last minute all the time, but at least it wasn’t because of my skin tone. Which I often get in Paris.”

The model of the moment – who has a three-year-old son, Riley – has called upon the “big dogs” in fashion to make a change and stop making “lazy” excuses about the lack of dark-skinned models being hired.

Jourdan said: “The people higher than me – the stylists, the designers, the casting directors – they’re the ones with the power to change this. There’s where the conversation needs to happen – at big dog level.

“The people who control the industry. They say if you have a black face on a magazine cover it won’t sell, but there’s no real evidence for that.

“It’s lazy. You always hear, ‘There aren’t enough black models’, which is bulls**t. It’s all about these dead excuses.”