Erin O Connor set up a 'Model Sanctuary' at London Fashion Weeks where models can go to rest, be advised on health and nutrition and be fed healthy food in between shows.
When you remember that models may be fifteen or sixteen but are self employed/freelance travelling from continent to continent away from their families and friends you see how important this is. Many are also studying in their spare time too.
People don't really get how stressful modelling is. The money at the top is good but most models are not there yet. They are at the mercy of predatory photographers such as Terry Richardson (link here) and the accounts of his activities make chilling reading with top models such as Coco Rocha speaking out about him. They are not encouraged to eat healthily as much as the industry bleats about taking care of them.
And as for racism- Prada was praised recently because it finally used a black model as a 'face' after years of Caucasian faces only. Link here. I am not praising them and neither should anybody else. Instead we should be asking their casting director Russell Marsh WHY he hardly ever uses non white models. They are racist.
Yves St Laurent used black models at a time when they were rarely seen on the runway. He liked the way they looked at a time (still thought now though when it was said that black women were 'too strong' for the clothes; that they 'undermined the clothing'. However look at fashion editorial and runway and how many times will you see the black model wearing the 'Safari' look, Animal Print/ethnic prints/'tribal style' jewellery? It happens a lot.
Each decade/fashion cycle you will see only a few famous black models. It appears to be 'fashion law' that only one is allowed or our pretty little fashion heads would explode. We have an unofficial 'quota' system like Harvard and other leading US universities employed to limit the admission of Jewish students.
In the 70's we had Beverley Johnson the first black woman to get a US Vogue cover in 74 followed by Iman as the decade came to a close;
In the early 80's we had Waris Dirie followed by Naomi followed by Tyra. These women were often 'set against' each other and seen as the interchangeable 'black model although Veronica Webb was the first black model to get a Revlon contract';
In the 90's we still had Naomi but her star waned a little to allow in Liya Kebede who managed to get an Estee Lauder contract in 2003;
Now we have Chanel Iman, Jourdan Dunn and Liya Kebede who still works at superstar level. Alec Wek for me is one of the few black models who is very very dark skinned. Most black models seem to be photoshopped to the degree that they seem to get lighter skinned as their careers progress. She is utterly utterly beautiful.
The fact that I can name pretty much all the non Caucasian models in the directory of top earners in modelling over the last fifty years say it all.
Naomi Campbell might be a pain, aggressive and rudely tardy but she does not have a 'chip on her shoulder'. She is absolutely right when she talks of racism in fashion. Is it deliberate or inherited lazy attitudes? Both, I think. But she is also very much part of the stereotyping of 'the angry black woman' which Michelle Obama has been a 'victim' of in the past. Does she play into the racists hands? At times yes she has sadly. But I won't accept discrediting of her argument and campaign against racism.