Topless Woman Protests Kanye West's Call for 'Multiracial Models Only'

NEW YORK, NY — A woman stood topless on Sunday outside Kanye West's latest open call for models for the upcoming New York Fashion Week to protest what she saw as West's offensive demand for "multiracial models only." The woman, who did not release her full name, had a message written across her naked chest:

"They want black features but not black girls."

West's casting call issued on Instagram but since deleted said, "season 4 casting, multiracial women only, no makeup, come as you are."

The protester issued a statement about her demonstration on Instagram and Tumblr, in which she lambasted the exclusion of black women in the fashion industry.

"This is an indictment of not just Yeezy but the entire fashion and beauty industry in which there is a racialized hierarchy of beauty which is a ubiquitous symptom of the legacy of colonialism," she wrote. "Regardless of whether Yeezy does choose to include darkskinned women in the end, the coded language of the casting call was clear and a part of a broader problem of colorism in the fashion industry."

The woman argued the fashion industry highlights black features on women who aren't black, co-opting while not appreciating the origins of certain styles.

"Black women are constantly told they are too dark, lips too big, hair to ghetto for in all professions only to see these same features or styles on non-Black women receive praise-(braids, gap teeth)-obviously the problem isn't the style but the color of the women wearing it," she said.

Other protesters showed up to the casting call wearing protest signs as well. One sign said, "'multiracial only' = lightskin only...you ain't slick, Ye."

Another protester's sign referenced the time when West called multiracial women "mutts" in an interview with Essence Magazine.

"If it wasn't for race mixing there'd be no video girls," West said to Essence in 2006. "Me and most of our friends like mutts a lot. Yeah, in the hood they call 'em mutts."

[h/t] Coloures

Image by Peter Hutchins/Flickr/CC by 2.0