SUPERMODEL "TOO BLACK" FOR SA MAGS

International supermodel Oluchi Onweagba says she has been snubbed by some top South African magazines — because they won’t put blacks on their covers.

The Nigerian-born beauty, who won the first Face of Africa competition in 1997, claims that local editions of Glamour and GQ magazine — which belong to the Condé Nast Independent Magazines stable — refused to have her on their covers because she is black.

Oluchi said: “As a Nigerian and an African I have done so much in my career to represent everything African in Western countries. There is a diverse group of people in South Africa, be it black, white, Asian.
‘‘What baffles me is them saying they can’t put a black person on the cover of the South African edition.”

She said GQ had scheduled an editorial shoot with her in Cape Town but cancelled at the last minute. A GQ South Africa insider revealed that the magazine has never had a black model on its cover.

GQ editor Craig Tyson said: “I am not responsible for bookings, my creative director is, so I will have to consult him before making a comment.”
Oluchi admitted that though she could not make the date for a Glamour shoot, this was used as an excuse to exclude her, even though she was willing to reschedule.

Pnina Fenster, editor of Glamour magazine, said: “We were desperate to shoot her, but it was most unfortunate that she was not available on certain dates.
‘‘We would be crazy to turn her down, but she was otherwise engaged.”

Fenster added that Glamour had booked a photographer who had previously worked with Oluchi. The New York-based model has graced the cover of the Italian edition of Vogue, was selected as a Victoria’s Secret “Angel” and has walked the ramp in New York, Paris and Milan for top international designers, including John Galliano, Christian Dior and Giorgio Armani.

Andy Davis, the former editor of SL Magazine, a student publication aimed at 19 to 24- year-olds, said he left the magazine because it was “not representative enough”.

“I am not surprised by Oluchi’s statements. There is an unwritten dogma in the consumer magazines industry that black covers don’t sell. The lack of frequency of black covers proves this, unless it’s a magazine like True Love."

In the late 90s, people buying magazines were your white, upper-LSM audience and publishers did not want to lose that market.”

Davis said that, though there were “token [black] covers”, the publishing industry needed to take risks and be proud to be African. SL Magazine’s current editor, Louise Gamble, admitted that there have been “very few black covers over the past 15 years”.

“I’m going to put my neck on the block here and say that we have not been representative enough in terms of covers, writers and contributors.” Oluchi said magazine editors should fight for change. She said Brazilian and eastern European models were appearing on the covers of South African magazines and “making it big internationally”.

Oluchi said: “Their careers are given a huge boost. Why can’t the same be done for girls from Africa? If you pick up Vogue India everything about it, from the first page to the last, is very Indian.

‘‘I would like to see that in South Africa. They [magazines] need to embrace diversity and show more love.”
Oluchi arrived in Johannesburg last week to model for fashion labels Marianne Fassler, Sun Goddess and Stoned Cherrie at the Johannesburg Fashion Week.

She said: “I’m down here to help the [local] fashion industry the best that I can … it’s nice to support the fashion industry.

“It doesn’t give me joy to pick up a copy of South African GQ and feel like I’m reading American GQ,” Oluchi said.

Source: The Times


[Ed's note: Having worked in the publishing industry for a number of years now, I unequivocally share the sentiments expressed by Oluchi. If you want evidence of how biased magazine editors and publishers are, all you have to do is take a closer look at the newsstands. Magazines such as FHM, GQ, Elle and Fairlady rarely feature a black cover, despite the fact that a large percentage of their readers are black. As an avid reader of GQ I can honestly state that I'm disgusted at the fact that they have such a low regard for black models and cover subjects. It goes without saying that they have just lost a loyal reader.

What do you guys think about this issue: does it matter that these magazines don't feature black covers? Should we continue supporting them or should we shun them until they transform? Please write to me at nickk@encoremag.co.za and I will publish your comments in their entirety in a follow-up article]