The World's Next Top Models?

The cover story in the new issue of Vogue is about ten young women who a lot of people feel are the new crop of supermodels: Lily Donaldson, Hilary Rhoda, Doutzen Kroes, Sasha Pivovarova, Jessica Stam, Chanel Iman, Coco Rocha, Raquel Zimmermann, Caroline Trentini and Agyness Deyn.

There's a lot of excitement in the industry about the "return of the model." Over the last seven years, or so, the trend has been to keep the focus on the clothes and not to make stars of the models. According to the article, written by Jonathan Van Meter, people who work in fashion haven't been happy with this, and they're dying for models to be stars again.

I don't have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is that if these women are really the new crop of supermodels, it's a sad commentary on how little the beauty and fashion industries have changed over the years. Here it is the 21st century and still, only one woman of color at a time is allowed to come to the party. Of the 10 women featured in this article, 16-year-old Chanel Iman is the only woman of color, and she's one of the five on the inside cover, not the front cover.

Though Jennifer Hudson is not a model, I thought Vogue took a big step forward when they put her on the cover a few months ago. Now they've taken a major step back, in my opinion. So much for progress.

Buzzing off for now...