Thank you Galileo's Universe for bringing the brazilian models issue. I'm brazilian and used to work as a stylist assistant in São Paulo, and I can tell you that the so called brazilian beauty that you see in fashion is not very accurate. The majority of the models are from the south of the country, where there's a lot of german communities, that explains Gisele and Raquel Zimmermann's type. But this represents only a very small percentage of the population. In fact, I think the south of Brazil is not mixed at all! So I really never understood when people in fashion started talking about the brazilian type/beauty, referring to Gisele, etc. For me Caroline Ribeiro and Adriana Lima are two true examples of multi ethnic population from Brazil. And I still think it's really sad not to have diversity. As a consumer, I can't relate to a brand that only uses a beauty type that is very far from my own.

and Adriana Lima as well !! ......

go to this link to see the piece on this film from nymagazine

nymag.com/daily/fashion/2008/07/naomi_campbell_stars_in_nick_k.html?mid=fashion-alert--20080729

Three Miss Venezuela

This is getting rather interesting ... the theme that started with the aim to point out that black models are not being represented more forcefully in the fashion industry seems to be uncovering a world wide ' malaise' where demographics don't seem to make any sense when it comes to be fairly represented in the beauty industry ...

Miss world for The Netherlands 2006 Sheryl Lynn

I agree with Nick NIGHT
but i think that is another form of racism to use Noemie ,too easy!
Instead WITH HIS POWER IN THE BUSINESS why did not use or give a chance to another black models .

Naomi has brought the issue in the past .... a pity that because of her ' excentric ' temper it does seem to undermine the seriousness of her message .... somehow !
What I indeed find interesting is her idea of starting her own model agency in Kenya , therefore doing something about it herself .... that is a very positive action and that is surely bound to have more direct effect giving her powerful position when it comes to having total media attention ... super !

Naomi has brought the issue in the past .... a pity that because of her ' excentric ' sagas it does seem to undermine the seriousness of her message .... somehow !
What I indeed find interesting is her idea of starting her own model agency in Kenia , therefore doing something about it herself .... that is a very positive action and that is surely bound to have more direct effect giving her powerful position when it comes to having total media attention ... super !

Life & style
Fashion
Naomi Campbell fights racism in fashion
Hannah Pool
The Guardian, Wednesday August 22 2007
Article history
"Black models are being sidelined by major modelling agencies," Naomi Campbell told Kenyan journalists earlier this week. "It's a pity that people don't appreciate black beauty." Campbell, who also complained that she is rarely featured on the cover of British Vogue, is now thinking of opening her own modelling agency in Kenya in an attempt to redress the balance.

She is, of course, not saying anything new. "Racism in fashion industry" is about as surprising a headline as "Pete Doherty arrested". But while she has never been the most likable supermodel around, Campbell is to be congratulated for the fact that throughout her career she has never shied away from talking about the issue.

"There is prejudice. It is a problem and I can't go along any more with brushing it under the carpet," said Streatham's most famous export as far back as 1997. "This business is about selling, and blonde and blue-eyed girls are what sells." Saying this sort of stuff takes guts, no matter who you are; Campbell is not so much biting the hand that feeds as ripping it off at the wrist.

For the record, Campbell has appeared on a total of eight Vogue covers, which is approximately eight more than most of us, but notably less than Kate Moss (a whopping 24). Moss-mania aside, a more realistic comparison might be with Linda Evangelista or Gisele Bündchen (13 and 12 covers respectively) - and while, in Vogue cover terms, she is roughly in the same ball park, it is unlikely that Bündchen or Evangelista has ever been turned down for a job because the designer didn't want a white model.

Of course, Vogue is not the only barometer of the fashion industry's treatment of black women, and Campbell is not the only black model to have faced racism.

It may seem as though things have moved on considerably since the 70s when Iman, the first black supermodel, was pitched as an illiterate Somali goatherd (she was in fact a middle-class multilingual university student), but the fact is that you can still count the number of prominent black models on one hand. While publishers remain convinced that white women won't buy a magazine with a black woman on the cover, it is going to take more than a model with a reputation for having a bit of a temper to change their minds.