Vivienne Westwood Slams Racist Fashion Magazines

15-10-2007 13:18

Dame Vivienne Westwood has slammed fashion magazines for being racist and demands that editors should be forced to use black models in their pages.

The outspoken fashion designer is the latest industry legend to shout about race equality in fashion. Naomi Campbell accused magazines of being racist earlier this year.

Speaking to the telegraph, Westwood recalled a conversation she had recently with a magazine editor; "She said that what you always have to have on a magazine cover is a face, that is what sells the magazine, and she told me that you could not put a black person on there because sales halve."

"They have to be prepared to take a drop every now and again and then people would get used to it and think, 'I should buy this magazine because there is a beautiful black girl on it'," she continued.

Westwood also described Naomi Campbell as the 'most beautiful girl' however she has only appeared on the cover of Vogue 8 times compared to Kate Moss's 24.

This summer Naomi vowed to set up her own modelling agency in Kenya to help battle the lack of black models being used in fashion.

"Black models are being sidelined by the major modelling agencies,” she said at the time, “It is a pity that people don’t appreciate black beauty."

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