Black Model Exposes Racism in the Fashion Industry: “I Was Called a Roach by a Photographer”

Racism has always been a part of the modeling industry. Though many have tried to inspire change, glaring incidents still show things haven’t completely improved. One such situation was exposed by supermodel, Anok Yai, who recounted how she was treated at a photoshoot in 2018.  What Happened at the Photoshoot Earlier this week, Anok Yai, posted about an incident that took place on the set of a photoshoot in 2018. She had worked with the Zara brand before though there was often a language barrier between her and their photographers. In this case, after several days of shooting, the Spanish photographer they’d been working with commented while the make-up artist was powdering her face.  He said “lotion la cucaracha”, which means ‘lotion the cockroach’. To her dismay, a lot of people laughed. Though she wanted to address the horribly racist remark, she held back because she was young, alone and Black. She noted that “anything that I do will affect me, my family, and other Black models.” When she finally expressed her concerns to someone else on the set, Yai was urged to let it go. While she wanted to pursue the matter, it was obvious that there would be...