Joan Smalls is speaking out about the racism in the fashion industry.
The 31-year-old model, who’s been in the industry for many years, opened up in an Instagram video about how she feels about being the token black woman on the runway.
“Hey guys, there’s a couple things I need to get off my chest,” Joan says at the start of the video before calling on the fashion industry to do better when it comes to racial justice.
“How many times have I been told that my hair was an issue and told to control it? How many times have I had to share campaigns or editorials when I saw my counterparts had the achievements by themselves?” she asks in the vid when recalling the targeted discrimination against her and other models of color. “It was a constant battle no one saw but one that I lived on a daily basis.”
“I don’t need validation from an industry that cast me as the token black girl while ignoring my whole cultural identity,” Joan added.
Many others have spoken out about racism within the industry, and most recently, this model called out a very famous stylist for using her white privilege.
