Embracing diversity in fashion

A fashion industry expert for over 30 years having co-edited i-D magazine, renowned for its rebellion to conventional views towards art, fashion and music, and presented BBC’s The Clothes Show for over a decade, Caryn Franklin is anything but your ordinary fashion journalist. With no less than four books under her name as well as a range of charitable commitments including Fashion Targets Breast Cancer, and the recently launched All Walks Beyond The Catwalk campaign, Caryn Franklin is an activist, not just in fashion but in regard to the general racial, size and age discrimination that exists in the modern world.

Her latest project, All Walks, founded alongside model Erin O’Connor and former PR guru/fashion journalist Debra Bourne “is an initiative to broaden the body and beauty ideals we currently see in our fashion media”. It promotes inclusivity in the industry “creating a message to all women”.

Although at first to some, it may seem like an initiative against the thin ideals current fashion modelling holds, Ms Franklin assures us that All Walks was not designed to discriminate any group of people:

“We never say ‘real’ women because very thin models are real too, they’re a projection of femininity and beauty our industry prioritises. But they’re not the only body ideal, which is why we’re trying to broaden it. We’re not trying to stamp these women out or get rid of them, as some seem to think!”

After such a distinguished career in the industry, Ms Franklin recognises that there is a lack of ethnic diversity within fashion. “It’s always been institutionally racist. Brands will justify it as it’s what sells. Magazines will be reluctant to feature black cover girls, because they feel they don’t equal the magazine sales of white women. Advertising wants to reach as many customers as possible and feels that it is the Caucasian beauty ideal that sells more for them.”

In fact, Ms Franklin feels that the industry has shrunk in terms of diversity and individuality since she entered it in the 80s when she swapped a life in the army for art college, in part because the shoes were “ugly”. As a result of this, Caryn Franklin’s All Walks models features women who would not otherwise be commonly seen in the industry. From her current favourite Naomi Shimada, generally considered a plus-size model at a UK size 14 that Caryn describes as a “curvy, sassy, clever model who sees beyond modelling”; to the 82-year-old Daphne Selfe and Sheila Atim, an 18-year-old with a “very obvious African heritage”, Caryn’s pick of models for All Walks define diversity.

In the name of promoting such ideals, All Walks has merged politics with fashion, from sparking debates in parliament, putting on live shows during London Fashion Week and creating exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery, to touring the country in order to educate college students. Caryn’s message is spreading.

“Fashion is full of possibilities and opportunities. I love the industry. I’ve earned my living from it, but I can see its faults and that is why I am vocal.”

Of course to assist with such campaigns, All Walks has pulled in the precious voluntary time of fashion’s crème de la crème; from world famous photographers such as Rankin and Nick Knight, to the eccentric Vivienne Westwood – the voice of All Walks Beyond The Catwalk is most definitely not a silent one.