She insists racism has nothing to do with
it, but admits the world of fashion has a predilection for Eastern European
models with their "blonde hair and long legs."
"Of course they are very beautiful, but they also kind of look all
alike," said Franca Sozzani, editor of the magazine, Vogue Italia.
During her 20 years in charge of style-bible Vogue's Italian edition, Sozzani
has earned a reputation for a culture-savvy take on cutting-edge elegance.
In the past, Vogue Italia has focused on topics the fashion industry, it would
seem, prefers to ignore, including the growing use of plastic surgery.
Few however, were prepared for Sozzani's most audacious move to date: the July
2008 issue of her magazine which features a cast exclusively made up of black
models, including actors and music industry stars.
The idea, Sozzani told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in a recent interview, first
took shape a year ago during a conversation with supermodel Naomi Campbell, one
of the few non-white models who has managed to emerge and dominate the catwalk
over the last decade.
"Then I was in the US for Super Tuesday," she said, referring to the
Democratic Party presidential primary showdown in February.
The event catapulted black candidate Barack Obama ahead of the then favourite,
Hillary Clinton, and into the spot of top contender.
"We saw something was changing, so we said: why don't we try to do the
same?" Sozzani explained.
Stressing however, that US politics was not the only source of inspiration, she
added: "There was also the wish to offer space to another type of
beauty."
Back in Milan, Sozzani set about transforming her American dream into reality
with the help of celebrity photographer Steven Meisel, known for his work with Madonna
in the 1992 book "Sex".
Established supermodels including Alek Wek, Iman, Tyra Banks and Campbell were
chosen, along with emerging faces like Jourdan Dunn.
Their images and those of others grace the 170 pages of the magazine which goes
on sale next week in Italy and abroad.
Still, while American voters may be ready for a black president, are magazine
buyers in Italy, or elsewhere for that matter, drawn, to pictures of non-white
models?
British-born Campbell, a former girlfriend of Italian Formula One manager
Flavio Briatore, enjoys diva-like status in Italy, but in Milan as in New York, London and Paris, black models a rarely seen on the catwalk. They are rarer still
on magazine covers.
A long-held view in marketing circles is that advertising agency clients are
reluctant to associate their products with non-white models for fear of
alienating affluent consumers in the West.
Campbell has been vocal in claiming that black models face growing
discrimination.
In 2007 she repeatedly accused the British edition of Vogue of subscribing to
the view that non-white models don't sell, and revealed that she made the cover
of French Vogue, only after the late designer Yves Saint Laurent had threatened
to break off relations with the magazine unless it featured her.
"A precise choice like this one always has its risks," Sozzano told
dpa of her decision to publish Vogue Italia's "all-black" issue.
"People can like it or they can hate it. I personally think they will like
it ... Obama's 'wave' has also been felt over here.", dpa reported.