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1. Corcoran Goes Multicultural at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture on 22 Apr 2008 at 10:00 am

   […] was reminded of the recent Old Navy television ad featuring ebony-skinned black model Nina Keita with a white male (quasi-) love […]

Comments

1. Arturo wrote:

   Uh, your formatting seems to be a little wonky on this post …

   Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 9:12 am ¶

2. Carmen Van Kerckhove wrote:

   Fixed - thanks

   Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 9:19 am ¶

3. Arturo wrote:

   thanks much … I have a question: do these designers use “projecting the brand” as part of their justification? Do they think that using Moss, Gisele, et al attracts “the right clientele”?

   Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 10:10 am ¶

4. islandgirl550 wrote:

   I think the designers use Kate Moss, Agyness Deyn, and Gisele as not to alienate the masses to specific products. Maybe too many “other” faces would make fashion insiders and the average consumer uneasy. Who knows…

   A lot of the ethnic models used on the runways are so striking and like Brigitte I do pause and notice the model way before the clothes. But, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s just because ethnic models aren’t booked for a multitude of shows like Gisele, for instance.

   During the past fashion week in NYC, I attended shows where I knew the designer used or would be using ethnic models. For me, seeing women that resemble me or people in my family is a deciding factor on whether I will buy. I tend to look at designers who have been outspoken about the lack of diversity in fashion as worthy of my attention. I guess this works in the opposite fashion for many mainstream shoppers and it’s unfortunate that it does.

   Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 10:35 am ¶

5. Phrone wrote:

   As glad as I am to see a non-white model in a mainstream ad, one thing kept bugging me as I was watching: why couldn’t she do anything for herself? Almost all her actions seemed to stress that she was almost childlishly dependent on your her (white) friends. The pay phone, the purse, the gate…

   It was definitely…strange. I’m not sure if it was intentional or if I’m “reading too into it”, but I couldn’t help notice it.

   Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 11:03 am ¶

6. Eva wrote:

   I didn’t read that much into the ad Phrone, because when I was young I was just like her.

   Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 11:16 am ¶

7. Cynthia wrote:

   It’s interesting. Many Asian women, especially those in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore and Shanghai are very, very fashionable and buy from European labels that have never (or rarely) feature an Asian face. Maybe it’s because they see lots of local celebrities wearing certain brands and don’t feel that they need to see models who “look like them” in ads? I’m “from here” and feel the same way. It’s more important for me to see someone shaped like me than someone who looks like me. After all, I wear Lilly Pulitzer.

   Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 11:26 am ¶

8. Jasmine wrote:

   “I’ve read many a designer complain that if they use a black or other non-white model in an ad or on the runway, then the consumer will pay more attention to the model than the product.”

   I’ve read that before, too. I don’t buy it, personally. That particular “argument” sounds like an accusation to me — how dare these non-White models be so, well, ethnic as to distract away from the product?

   I’m interested in seeing non-White models because, well, I’m not White, and I’m interested in seeing how designer offerings could work on me. Of course, there’s an additional issue, in that I wear plus-size clothing. I may actually start paying attention if any clothing companies start using plus size models in the ads they run in mainstream media venues.

   Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 11:32 am ¶

9. esperanza13 wrote:

   Does anyone think that maybe part of the reason that “the consumer will pay more attention to the model than the product” is, simply, that designers so rarely use POC as models that it is arresting when they do so?
   I feel like this may tie into a fairly recent comment from American designers that I read in the NYT. Right after Spain, India, Australia and Brazil decided to ban models who were “too skinny” (with unhealthy BMI’s) from being shown on t.v., American designers announced that they wouldn’t do so because it would be “wrong not to hire someone because they were too thin” (even though they regularly chose not to hire people for bein “too large”). They then asserted that “someday” a more athletic curvey build would be in style again, at which point they would use more athletic or curvey models to show off their clothes. To me, it seems like they’re saying it’s completely out of their control what is deemed “beautiful” and what “fashionable” - even though they are the arbiters of beauty and fashion.
   Similarly, saying consumers will pay more attention to “ethnic” models than the clothese they are modeling seems to me, at least, to argue that they have no control over this. Instead of acknowledging that if they chose to use more POC as models, perhpas it wouldn’t be such an arresting rarity, but would be just as commonplace as seeing Giselle (or any other tall, super-skinny white woman).

   Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 11:59 am ¶

10. G.D. wrote:

    this is a mind-bogglingly long commercial.

    (Not that i’m mad. That is a *bad* woman.)

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 12:01 pm ¶

11. Sulyp wrote:

    Cute (long) ad. They picked a great main model.

    I still wouldn’t buy Old Navy clothes… nice try though.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 12:10 pm ¶

12. Cynthia wrote:

    esperanza13,

    It’s unlikely anything will change (or at least not change much) in fashion unless Anna Wintour of US Vogue leaves or changes how she looks at things. And I really doubt she’s going to do that any time soon.

    On another note: Rei Kawakubo has been picked to do H&M’s next designer collection. Rei is the second woman (after Stella McCartney) and the first designer of Japanese descent chosen.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 12:14 pm ¶

13. Keke wrote:

    When I first saw this commercial, my friends and I were all busy making plans for the weekend. The tv was on in the background and when the commercial came on we all stopped what we were doing and someone shouted, “The Black woman is headlining the entire commercial!” We excitedly turned up the television and watched the commercial completely entranced.

    After it was over, we were all like “They actually used a dark skinned model.” It was sad that moments like that reminded me of how my mother was when she was growing up in the 50’s and 60’s. Whenever she and her family and friends saw a Black woman or man on television they would turn up the volume and watch because it was so rare. It hurts a little to think that it’s possible that we haven’t come as far as we think.

    It’s also a cop-out to me that designers don’t use more ethnic models. I’d love to see not just more Black models, but more Indian and Asian models as well. The world is a very diverse place and I would think that designers would be hard pressed not to represent the world outside on the runway. As a former model, I’ve heard all the excuses, and I usually only got called in when they wanted someone who “looked exotic and ethnic.” When they wanted the “All-American” girl, forget about it.

    Most of the designs I see during a typical fashion week are easily forgotten. I too would think that by using a model that grabs a person’s attention, a designer would be in a better position to sell their clothing.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 12:25 pm ¶

14. esperanza13 wrote:

    “As a former model, I’ve heard all the excuses, and I usually only got called in when they wanted someone who “looked exotic and ethnic.” When they wanted the “All-American” girl, forget about it.” - Keke
    Keke, thank you for bringing this up. It’s such a shame that “All-American” always means white - and not just white, but blonde with blue eyes. And again, this is a construction of the fashion (and marketing) insdustry. Most people in this country don’t have blonde hair and blue eyes, and so many Americans are non-white. It’s truly disheartening that “All-American” still has connotations of Aryian (that is the bloned and blue eyed) features.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 1:11 pm ¶

15. lunanoire wrote:

    Cynthia, yessss! It is so hard to prefer “avant-garde” looks like Rei Kawakubo, Jil Sander, etc. b/c they rarely have knock-offs.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 1:20 pm ¶

16. Michelle wrote:

    Keke, thanks for bringing up the point about how far we have come. I did the same thing when I saw that commercial. And remember when we used holler through the house, “There’s a Black girl on TV!”

    But, why was her weave kinda busted? I mean, they used her and she was beautiful, but her hair was just terrible.

    I will buy Old Navy. Just for this commercial.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 1:55 pm ¶

17. Kat wrote:

    “Does anyone think that maybe part of the reason that “the consumer will pay more attention to the model than the product” is, simply, that designers so rarely use POC as models that it is arresting when they do so?”

    Exactly. And models are often used to make some sort of statement or fit into a fashion show’s theme anyway. Fashion shows are NOT just about the clothes. Music, make up, hair and the looks of the model are all selected by the designer to project a statement. One recent show had the models walk out of a massive Chanel jacket, and articles focused on that aspect of the show more than anything else. If it was just about clothing, it would make more sense for the clothes to be put up in a gallery, or at least for their to be no props, makeup or excessive lighting and music, and celebrities sat all around the stage during shows, because those things all distract from clothing much more than a little melanin does. Ads wouldn’t have exotic locations or try to be avant garde or put tons of make up on their models if the clothes alone was the point.
    The “Sorry black people–it’s all about the clothes!” argument just doesn’t hold water when you look at it like that. Neither does the “95 pounds and 15 years old under please” argument, but that’s another story.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 2:05 pm ¶

18. Jenn wrote:

    Old Navy knows they have a lot of black customers, they have a store in Harlem. I have more respect for them now, so many businesses never represent the diversity of their customers in their commercials

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 2:11 pm ¶

19. Sulyp wrote:

    @Michelle…

    Please explain what you mean by… for my lack of better terminology… “horrible hair”.

    I don’t see how her hair was unkempt, it looked very polished to me. I actually remarked to a friend how cute and care-free her haircut was.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 3:39 pm ¶

20. marge twain wrote:

    From sometimes watching the Janice Dickinson Modelling Agency I’ve learned some other euphemisms designers use to specify “white” and rule out the brown girls that are also lined up. All-American is a popular euphemism. Ironically they usually pick the blond Russian girl for this one. There’s also Girl Next Door, Up-Market or Upscale, and California Beach Girl.

    I do notice in a positive way when I see black models used. Designers obviously use models to draw our attention to the clothes. They want to use beautiful girls and they have a sadly racist idea of what beauty is.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 4:04 pm ¶

21. ILLAIM wrote:

    “Keeping You from Thinking Free…..”

    I dunno.. Sometimes my outlook of “I don’t care who dates who”, faces a strong battle from the perceived, rightly or wrongly, view that the media likes to propose White Men as the Ideal mate for black females.

    Even tho I had been there since day one in 91 I had to give up on the real world because of that ish, and nare a couple weeks pass by without another article, announcing the ills and dearth of black men, and the seeming new found affinity for white men by black women crosses my eyes..

    —————
    “I’ve read many a designer complain that if they use a black or other non-white model in an ad or on the runway, then the consumer will pay more attention to the model than the product.”
    —————
    Who is that “consumer”?

    Capitalism and the zeal for profit often strangles what might be “right”, in the sake of advertising I would guess right would be what some would call fair images.

    I’ll look at this ad as, they probably had this comerical already made up and just wanted to find a model, and happened to think that this model who happened to be black was a very good fit for the role.. Assumption? Yes…so to go along with that assumptiom I’m going to presume that the white lead model was already cast or won out because of his “talent”
    While I believe in such a scenario, I’m fully aware that if they matched up Nina Keita with a fellow black person, potential sales garnered from this Commercial would be substantially lower.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 4:36 pm ¶

22. Tasha wrote:

    I for one was glad to see her.

    cynthia - you pointed out a curious thing i noticed in anime, characters many times appear to be white, does this traverse over to fashion are the cover girls in asia white as well?

    then you pointed out something else - size representation, this is something that will probably never ever happen in proportion to the average size that is in america and for of all clothing brands old navy, they really need to get on that dove

    i guess that is the next wait.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 5:06 pm ¶

23. Lisa wrote:

    “But, why was her weave kinda busted? I mean, they used her and she was beautiful, but her hair was just terrible.”

    I think the same thing every time I see her in a commercial. Personally, I think it’s the texure with her features. She so beautiful but I think she’d look better with afro-textured hair or no hair at all.

    Anyway, the first time I saw this commercial I was so excited. I think I even rewound it a few times. Usually she’s just kinda in the background and the camera shows her for a 1/2 second before it switches back to one of the other white models.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 5:20 pm ¶

24. Cynthia C wrote:

    Tasha,

    For Asian editions of international magazines, I’d say that yes, there are more white covergirls than there should be, especially for homogenous countries like Japan. I may be completely wrong, but the “fashion” look seems to be reserved for models with more European features, while models with more Asian features are reserved for commercial. My mom was watching a television show from HK about a woman who runs a fashion (or maybe it’s a lifestyle) magazine. The models on the show are all Asian and are portrayed as very girl-next-door and cute.

    As for size: I’d actually like to see designers who specialize in larger sizes or in sizes that cater to shorter people get more publicity in mainstream magazines. Unfortunately, most major fashion people look at me as if I had green skin with purple polkadots when I bring the subject up.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 5:40 pm ¶

25. DivergentDana wrote:

    I thought the commercial was completely fine at first, but then… I heard the music. Is the “white” refrain weird, or what? And “the ethnicity takes away from the clothing” is a crock, up there with “we’re just not being sent any non-white models/there just aren’t any.” I’ve seen runway models’ features, I’ve seen the “dollface” craze come and go, I’ve seen how the hair and makeup is often employed, and as a result, I know better. Folks should respect our empirical skills and go with the “the subset of consumers that matter the most to us don’t dig it” excuse… it rolls off of the tongue much better.

    “I always thought that this set up put way too much pressure of the black friends.”

    And the most screwed up thing? People try to recreate this in RL.

    “It’s more important for me to see someone shaped like me than someone who looks like me.”

    But aren’t you a petite activist, Cynthia? Doesn’t the blatant, ubiquitous height discrimination in the modeling industry bother you at all? Out of the models that I’ve heard of, only Devon Aoki and Kate Moss have ever come anywhere near the pinnacle of success in the industry — and they’re women of average height!

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 5:50 pm ¶

26. Cynthia C wrote:

    DivergentDiva:

    Yes, the height thing bothers me a GREAT DEAL. That’s why I have my blog! I’ve tried very hard to get people most do not. I actually spoke with a bunch of people about this issue and let’s just say that they thought I was green and purple. I think we need one of two things: A designer who is already famous decides that he or she would only use different sized models (or only non-white models) by making his or her samples a different size OR in the case of non-standard size modeling, crazily promote a designer who only makes these sizes. I think in order to see any real change, it has to come from the designers. If all designers start using say, 5′6″ size 8 models and only 5′6″ size 8 models, then Anna Wintour can’t do anything about it. She’ll have to use these models whether she likes them or not.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 6:10 pm ¶

27. Michelle wrote:

    @Michelle…
    Please explain what you mean by… for my lack of better terminology… “horrible hair”.
    I don’t see how her hair was unkempt, it looked very polished to me. I actually remarked to a friend how cute and care-free her haircut was.

    Okay, sure. IMO, I could tell that she was wearing a weave. I felt like the part down the middle of her hair, showed obvious sort of stray hairs that are shorter and seemed that they were kinda gelled down. IMO, if you are going to wear a weave, the object is to make it look as real and as natural as possible. I can attest to the lack of hair stylist in the fashion and entertainment industry that don’t know how to do Black hair of any kind. It seemed that someone just slapped some gel on her hair and flat ironed the weave hair.

    Also, I think that Lisa’s comment was perfect, and far more eloquent than my “busted” comment.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 7:26 pm ¶

28. RainaWeather wrote:

    I saw this commercial about two weeks ago and was also caught in the headlights. my sister and I talked about how glad we were that not only was the Black girl the star, but she also wasn’t paired with a Black guy. Yay for diversity, and reality. And that model is beautiful.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 7:56 pm ¶

29. B wrote:

    Phrone, I always assumed she was playing the “damsel in distress” to get the guy’s attention, or rather, give him an excuse to have an interaction with her. (Such maneuvers probably work when one’s young and cute, male or female.)

    I’m coming late to this… so I’ll just say thanks for the post, and that the comments are interesting.

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 10:34 pm ¶

30. michelle wrote:

    cute commercial and it was nice how the black model this time was not in the background as usual

    Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 10:59 pm ¶

31. Linda wrote:

    Cynthia I agree with your statement, ” I think in order to see any real change, it has to come from the designers.” The designers lead the industry, and the booking agents know exactly the type of models the designers want.

    I’ve seen Nina Keita in many of the old navy ads, she’s in a lot of their print ads. It’s refreshing to see a non-ambiguous Black female be the lead!

    Posted 04 Apr 2008 at 7:40 am ¶

32. Linda wrote:

    * unambiguous*…..too early in the morning….I need my coffee

    Posted 04 Apr 2008 at 7:44 am ¶

33. annie wrote:

    Beautiful model, and I’m also amazed — happily so — that she’s the focus of the commercial.

    I think the key to increasing diversity in fashion is to have the demand for it. I used to be a magazine editor in Chicago, which has a very diverse, if very segregated, population. Part of my job involved casting models, and I insisted that we cast people of color in a way that wasn’t tokenistic.

    Easier said than done.

    We’d call Ford and Elite and ask them to send us comp cards for Asian models. And we’d get three total. We’d ask for a Latina model and we had two to choose from. There were a few more black models, but not many. And so, in a professional but direct way, I often had to express my disappointment that the agencies were unable to provide us with the range of models we were looking for.

    I think that if we’re going to see real racial diversity on the runways and in media, designers and editors have to ACTIVELY look for POC to feature. Not just here and there, but as a regular activity. And when an agency doesn’t have many POC to cast, or when a designer says that he’s looking for “a certain look,” we have to tell them that it’s not acceptable.

    And I also think that when a company DOES cast a beautiful black woman like Old Navy did, we should drop them a line. Not that it should be a situation where we’re like, “Oh, thank you so much for doing something you should be doing anyway!” But a little encouragement goes a long way.

    Posted 04 Apr 2008 at 11:47 am ¶

34. Michelle wrote:

    Yes, and buy Old Navy.

    This is a real way to create change. There are people whose job it is to find out if the ads are making people go buy Old Navy. Go, this weekend, to Old Navy. Go buy some socks, something for a niece or nephew, a change purse, a gift card, something! But if in the next few weeks they see their sales increase (in a slumping market no less) someone will put it together. We have chosen Old Navy over all the other similar stores because Old Navy did something everyone else thought was impossible. It will certainly make an impact!

    Posted 04 Apr 2008 at 2:22 pm ¶

35. Gorgeous Black Women wrote:

    I don’t think using a non-white model distracts from the ad. When flipping through magazines while in line at the grocery store (30 minutes, totally worth it for the $25 savings each week), I do stop when I see models of color. I also look at it for long enough to actually see the products they’re wearing. It has the same effect as a celeb ad. The celebs they choose might be nothing special but I’ll still stop if I recognize a face. I don’t see them complaining about Halle (Versace), Demi (Versace), LiLo (Marc Jacobs, Dooney, etc) and other celebs stealing attention from their clothes. If I stop to look at the model, I will also look at the clothes. The only other way to get me to stop long enough is to do Tom Ford-like ads.

    I remember the clothes from the Old Navy ad not that it’s a good thing in their case :/. I’ve gone through magazines with friends and roomies of various backgrounds. Whoever is holding it will stop when they see something interesting. One of my current roomies and I do this. When we see a person of color (which is rare if it’s not a celeb), we stop and exclaim “a colored girl!” “a Negro!” “an Oriental!” “an Arab!” (pronounced AY-rab) or “a Mexican!” so I know it’s not just me who stops for the non-white models. Yes, we get funny looks but I think those outdated and/or insulting terms accurately reflect the mindset of the readers. Anna Wintour surely wanted to hush those uppity heifers from Jezebel up by putting THREE “Negroes” (Lebron, Olympic athlete and Jill Scott), and an Oriental (a fashion designer) all in one month. It also makes the other magazines they analyze look bad in comparison. Surely, Ms. Anna (and Mr. Andre) deserve an award from the NAACP or one of our colored people groups. I’m sure they’ve had Chanel Iman at least once this year, killing two birds with one stone.

    Posted 04 Apr 2008 at 6:22 pm ¶

36. withoutscene wrote:

    I’m way late on this, but I agree with DivergentDiva about the song. It weirded me out big time. I know they are promoting springtime and such, and I tend to overanalyze, but seriously…everything about advertisements are intentional, and if so, what is the song trying to communicate?

    Posted 06 Apr 2008 at 8:18 pm ¶

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