The Color of Beauty Featuring Renee Thompson

Renee Thompson essaie de se tailler une place dans l’univers des grands mannequins à New York. Elle est belle, ambitieuse et possède la démarche des mannequins. Or, elle est noire et dans cet univers, la femme blanche représente le canon de la beauté. Les agences recrutent rarement des mannequins de race noire. Et lorsqu’elles le font, elles veulent des filles qui ressemblent à « des blanches saucées dans le chocolat .

The Colour of Beauty follows Toronto model Renee Thompson, a striking, determined 24-year-old who wants to make it in New York.

"It's really just a glimpse of the fashion world. I was only with her for a few days," says St. Philip.

"The aesthetic of the fashion industry is out of step with the rest of the world. All around you in cities like New York and Toronto, you see diversity. People are comfortable with it."

The Colour of Beauty includes interviews with industry insiders such as FashionTelevision's Jeanne Beker and Lisa Tant of Flare Magazine, who note that the fashion industry seems to be spurning diversity.

"It's a crazy kind of racism. I hate to call it that," Beker says on-screen, while Tant points out that many of the growth markets for fashion are in the Middle East and Asia.  Read more here.

A lot of good points were brought up in this documentary but I do not feel that racism is the main reason behind the lack of black models in the fashion industry. If racism was the no 1 reason then Arlenis Sosa would not have a contract with Lancome. Sessilee Lopez & Chanel Iman would not be ranked no13 on the top models list over at models.com which also makes those two the no 1 & 2 ranked black models currently in fashion. Naomi Campbell would not have had a career that has lasted over 2 decades, and I could list tons of other models who are getting work on a regular basis or who have risen to a high status.

Ultimately every female who becomes a model won't always end up becoming the "it" girl of fashion, the majority of models are European and all of them "do not" have major beauty contracts, "do not" have any major contracts with luxury fashion houses, and many of them may never become an it girl of the fashion industry. Some models regardless of race can have more success in one market vs another or in one country vs another. Renee Thompson is a beautiful and great model and has had a great career and I wish her all the best at becoming even more successful in modelling, if Renee doesn't become a "it" girl of modelling that doesn't mean she won't be beautiful anymore, because she has a great personality and character and a lot more to achieve in the fashion world.