"Chasing Beauty" and "Picture Me" expose many ills of the modeling and fashion industry, including the nonstop pressure on women to be ridiculously thin; the aggressive recruitment of underage girls who can be paid less and manipulated more easily than "older," more experienced models; and the little-known fact that many models end up deep in debt putting travel expenses on credit cards.
These are important issues that should be addressed, but what these documentaries don't confront is the fashion industry's disappointing lack of diversity. It's as if the industry has re-gressed instead of pro-gressed in the 21st century.
Back in the '70s and '80s, African-American models such as Iman, Naomi Sims, Naomi Campbell, Roshumba Williams, Veronica Webb and Beverly Johnson (recently in the news for joining the ever-growing list of Bill Cosby accusers)
walked the runways for top designers and appeared on the cover of Vogue and other international magazines. But nearly every runway show and photo shoot featured in "Chasing Beauty" and "Picture Me" has a parade of models who are not only white, but blond - as if the fashion industry has adopted some kind of Aryan mentality in recent years.
"Chasing Beauty" does feature an interview with African-American supermodel Beverly Peele, 39, who rose to fame in the '80s and '90s. But rather than offering Peele's insights on how models of color can succeed in fashion, the interview mostly focuses on her erratic behavior, such as using her contacts with the rich and powerful to start an escort service.
Nowadays, models of all races have disappeared from the covers of fashion magazines, replaced by actresses and singers. If there's any hope that the fashion industry will once again embrace diversity, it's that the cross-cultural popularity of black celebrities like Rihanna, Beyonce and "Scandal" star Kerry Washington can't be ignored. They have become the new cover girls.
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