Modelling agency chief says magazines only want white faces

Carole White co-founder of Premier Model Management agency told The Independent that magazines have ‘gone into reverse’and that editors think that only white faces sell at news-stands.

White started her company in 1982, at a time when Naomi Campbell and Pat Cleveland regularly featured on the cover of magazines.

She said: ‘Whenever I ask the question, it’s always about sales and the idea that blue eyes and blonde hair sells. I’m not sure I believe that. If fashion editors were a bit braver and tried out black, Asian and Chinese models, our eyes would be easier on that look. They don’t give the opportunities to these girls. Given that there are so many variations of skin, particularly in London, it’s a backward step being taken if no one is brave enough to give ethnic girls a chance.”

Earlier this year Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman told Press Gazette that she didn’t have much time for British supermodel Naomi Campbell’s claims last year that the industry was sidelining black models.’We are a multicultural society here, but we are still predominantly Caucasian, so it’s not surprising that most magazines have white models on the covers,’she said. ‘I guess in fashion, people do sell to their territories; Japanese Vogue features Japanese girls on the cover. I don’t think it’s ideal, but I don’t think it’s illogical.”