WEBVTT - Dear Aus Fashion Week 👗 We Need To Talk 😡 0:00:01.600 --> 0:00:03.400 Flex and Frooms Flex and Firms. 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:05.960 This is the Flex and Frooms catch up podcast. 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:10.320 How bad does the Australian fashion industry have to be 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:13.200 for them to be an active boycott? You have to wonder, 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:15.680 because we already know, and I'm sure people kind of 0:00:15.720 --> 0:00:18.920 know that modeling or fashion isn't really the best industry. 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:20.720 I think a lot of people talk about how it 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:24.440 can feel and come across as quite exploitative or quite uninclusive, 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:27.800 and so to hear that it's gotten worse, you have 0:00:27.880 --> 0:00:28.400 to think, like. 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:30.480 How bad could it actually get? 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:34.120 And I know that people kind of make the statement that, oh, 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:36.200 people know what they're getting into when they go into 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:38.440 certain types of careers. But I would argue that you 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:41.080 don't really know something until you've done it, and you 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:44.519 could really empathize or sympathize or even conceptualize what it 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:47.680 could be like. But if you're actually in there actively 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:49.520 benefiting and you stop your. 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:53.040 Own bag, that's big. That's big anyway. 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:55.240 So over the last couple of weeks, I've been seeing 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:58.360 a lot of unnews articles pop up about black models 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:01.720 in particular boycotting Melbourne Fashion Week and other things in 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:04.600 the Australian fashion industry, and you might ask for what 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:06.920 reason in particular, and why is it just a group 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:10.240 of these thirteen black models. And so they've talked about 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:15.280 how they've experienced blatant tokenism, lack of necessary inclusive practices, 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:17.480 like having people that can actually do their hair and 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:21.560 do their makeup receiving less pay than their non black colleagues. 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:24.640 And the thing that gets to be really tricky is 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:27.320 because a lot of these models have and do work internationally, 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:29.679 so they're not comparing this to like, I've only worked 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:31.680 here and this is really bad and I'm just complaining. 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:34.760 It's more so I've worked everywhere else and this is 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:37.440 not on There was a direct quote and I won't 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:39.440 name the people who are quoting this because we should 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:43.600 protect identities. This is a very tense and tenuous subject, 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:45.840 but this one model said that in London, New York 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:48.080 and Paris you could not get away with what the 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:53.360 Australian fashion industry is doing here, like what and how 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:56.120 it treats black models, but they don't seem to care 0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:59.160 or to want to change. Another person said, black models 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:02.000 doing Australian Fans Week is a form of self destruction. 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:04.080 Babes. These are quotes. 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:08.200 These are not just like these are statements. Another person said, 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:15.880 it's absolutely the most traumatizing, dehumanizing, underpaying, an overall mentally 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:19.120 draining week, and I have no desire to continue to participate. 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:23.080 Now here's the thing about boycotts. You can approach them 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:25.560 in a ton of different ways. You can actively stop 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.040 participating making any money through it. You can boycott certain events. 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:31.440 You can just make statement and encourage other people to 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:34.120 do what they need to do. But in this instance, 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:37.519 I feel like maybe what's caused this conversation to start 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:39.120 is because for the last three years, as though, there's 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:42.240 been this over emphasis on making sure that all kind 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:45.359 of entertainment industries are more inclusive. And we talked about 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:50.200 body inclusivity, disability inclusivity, gender inclusivity, sexuality inclusivity, all of 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:52.400 these things. And so I think what people are getting 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:54.520 frustrated with is that we're learning the rhetoric. We know 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:56.800 what to say, we know how to make people think 0:02:57.000 --> 0:02:58.960 that things are going to get better. And when push 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:02.760 comes to shove for thirteen people, thirteen models, to put 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:08.079 their names and face to these statements, it's not looking good. 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:12.160 It's not looking good. I really, really do employ you 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:14.400 to go check out these articles for yourself. There's an 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:16.600 expertsa currently in the City Morning Herald, and it is 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:20.000 very lengthy and it's very deep and it's very detailed, 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:22.520 and I'm not sure if you'd know what to do afterwards, 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:24.440 because I sure didn't. I was like, Okay, damn, well, 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:25.560 I'm not going to fashion. 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:26.280 Think that's not the one. 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:29.079 But you know, I'm just one person, and I don't 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:31.680 run the fashion industry, and I can opt in and 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:34.760 opt out, and these are this is these people's vocation, 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:36.760 it's their livelihood. Like, yes, I'm sure some of the 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:40.960 skills are transferable, but at this point, choosing like morals 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:44.320 of a livelihood babes. You gotta know it's looking bad. 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:47.880 I feel like I've noticed, which is why this is 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:50.920 surprising from like a consumer point of view that the 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:55.240 fashion industry does have more diversity. But then sometimes I'm 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:59.040 put in situations with like certain brands or certain events 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:00.480 and stuff, and I'm like, oh, oh my god, I 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:01.000 live in. 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:03.000 Everyone's heard this all before. 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:07.360 But like the little microcosm of like following like a 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:11.640 very small percentage of people who would be affected by this, Yeah, 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:15.040 it's like what we saw with like the voice Parliament. Yeah, 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:16.800 like I'm assuming everyone's on the S train in the 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:19.080 next minute. It's like totally not that. 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:19.719 Yeah. 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:22.400 It always surprises me when I when I go to 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:23.960 events or when I hear these kind of things and 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:26.200 you hear these like you can actually see that of 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:28.120 course this is still happening. When it's presented to you, 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:30.880 it is hard to not feel hopeless. But then it 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:33.160 also kind of is one of those things where they're 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:36.359 I think there is actionable things that can happen to 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:40.040 fix this that it actually is like relatively simple, which 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:43.200 is just to continue to include more and more people, 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:43.680 is it not? 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:47.080 No, well, I mean it is simple. Number one. 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:49.640 I think the boycott shouldn't be happening. Like the extent 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:52.719 that somebody would have to literally limit their ability to 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:55.520 live their life, to cut off their own supply to 0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:58.960 money that gives them safety, security, and shelter, to make 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:02.560 a statement so low charge about what they're experiencing insane 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:06.840 like insane. Could you imagine going to your retail job, 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:10.000 going to your office job and being treated so badly, 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:13.600 you and all your other employers of the same ethnicity 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:16.520 being treated so poorly that you were like I would 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:20.440 rather have no job and risk having no home, no 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:23.640 way to feed myself, no way to live, than to 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:27.400 be in this environment. Like you couldn't even fathom having 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:29.720 to make that decision because it would just not be necessary, 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:32.760 Like what could truly be happening to you? That this 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:36.040 is necessary? That's the thing that gets me and I 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:40.200 loved in the expos how they talked about how the tokenism, 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:44.240 because I think that people can't fathom how tokenism isn't 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:48.360 actually good in the sense that what ends up happening 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:50.400 is that it's exactly what you said. It's like by 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:54.000 looking at it, like isn't it fine? Like isn't it fine? 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:56.400 It's like I can't tell you how many times I've 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:59.080 been included in like a makeup campaign for a brand 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:01.280 that doesn't have my shit aid who's just like, oh, 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:02.040 we just want use it. 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:02.760 You don't even need it. 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:05.520 You don't even need foundation or conciller, Like it's just 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:07.880 like beautiful skins, beautiful, you. 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:08.600 Don't even need it. 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:12.480 Or you know how many times I've gone to do 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:15.719 a photo shoot and someone's like, we love her body 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:18.760 positivity and then tries to put me a size twenty 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:20.600 in size twelves and then. 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:23.080 Says, oh, but this is really stretchy. Do you know? 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:26.760 It's like people, it's it's definitely hard to conceptualize something 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:27.719 that you don't experience. 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:29.280 But I think that's the thing. 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:32.320 Like the easy part is to claim, like to claim 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:34.799 that you are aware, to claim that you are inclusive, 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:38.159 to claim that you are not exclusive. The hard part 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:40.839 is to actually be it, because suddenly you're like, oh, 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:43.839 there's so much I hadn't considered. Like if you threw me, 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.239 if you were getting your makeup done and the makeup 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:48.720 artist pulled out all their stuff and did not have 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.600 All they had was foundation that was sixteen shades too 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:54.040 dark for you. All they had was concealer that was 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:56.440 too dark for you. All they had was lipstick that 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:58.279 was too dark for you. You'd be like, oh, that's 0:06:58.480 --> 0:06:59.159 like what is this? 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:01.240 Who is this person? And like how are you qualified? 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:04.120 And that's everything people always ask me. It's like, oh 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:05.520 my god, Like why do you do your own hair 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:07.400 and makeup and shoots? Why do you style yourself? 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:09.000 Why would I do that? 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:12.960 I see somebody recently wanted to do a feature on 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:17.000 me in a magazine and they were like, oh, with 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:19.920 all of our features, we include shoppable links. So like, 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:22.800 you know, let's say you talk about a lip loss 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:24.920 you like, or you talk about a book you wanted 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:26.920 to read, We'll just like include links and then we get. 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:28.040 A bit of a kickback, right. 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:30.760 Part of the discussion was about like what you wear 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:32.600 and how you dress, and like, oh, people really like 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:34.240 your style. I want to be able to link clothing 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:36.800 and things. And so they're like, but we can only 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:40.160 link from a few of our selected partners, like people 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:42.720 that we can get affiliate kickbacks from. So it's going 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:44.760 to choose those people. I said, okay, cool, show me 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:47.360 what that looks like. When you're done. Every single brand 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:50.720 they chose to feature didn't go high than a size twelve. 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:53.600 Oh, and they're like, do you mind. 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:57.520 I was like, yeah, babe, Like, I definitely mind, because 0:07:57.560 --> 0:07:59.520 you're not going to use my likeness so you get 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:03.000 a kickback to sell things to people. Given the impression 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:05.239 that I'm co signing it, I don't get a kickback. 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:07.560 They're like, no, yeah, totally, Like we get where you're 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:09.240 coming from. We sh get realize it to be so hard. 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:11.720 I'm like that's the point though, Yeah, And so like 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:14.040 when we get back to this idea, like it's okay 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:16.720 to not realize it's really difficult. But now that people 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:20.360 are having to cut off access to like livelihoods, what 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:23.560 is the solution? And unfortunately, I don't think the solution 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:27.280 is going to happen because realistically, you take away these 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:30.600 thirteen black models, there are thousand and forty five hundred 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:33.240 million trillion other models or other ethnicities who would die 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:35.280 to be in those spots, who are a different kind 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:37.520 of inclusive who can they just like platform. 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:37.920 Yeah. 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:40.880 Man, that's why I say, you know, you guys are 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:43.520 all anti girl Boss. What do you think that I 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:46.120 have all these businesses, so I'm the one in charge 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:48.959 of how I make money, so at the end of 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:51.360 the day, I don't have to experience these things where 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:54.160 like people are ostracizing me so much that I have 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:56.640 to make these statements to cut off my back. 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:58.760 What I find funny is I was like, from my 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:00.800 time on the insidequote unquote on the. 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:07.160 Inside the womb is like I can see in prison. 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:10.960 I can see on a very like person to person level, 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:13.560 the amount of hot potatoing that goes on in every 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:15.600 single like workplace. 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:17.760 It's not my problem, it's not my problem. 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:20.280 Well I can't do This's like we just we just 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:21.880 make the event, we just make the brand, or we 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:25.280 just did the marketing. And it's true, like it's not 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:29.120 everybody's thing to deal with, but if nobody is looking 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:30.360 after it, then nothing changes. 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:33.000 You've been listening to The Flex and Froom's daily podcast. 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:36.839 For more, tune Indicator on DAB or stream it on iHeartRadio.