Forever 21 has become a staple for fun and fashion forward affordable wear for the young and fabulous. When you don’t want to spend tons on a wardrobe items, Forever 21 is the place you go to get something cute and low cost. Always keeping in with the trends, the retailer has amassed a large following of would-be fashionistas who identify with the brand. Add to that a growing plus size line with Faith 21 and you have major options for the fashion inclined. So you would think that a huge retailer such as Forever 21 would make sure to include at least one blogger of color in their “Meet Our Bloggers” segment on their website, but alas, according to the picture hanging in most of the retail stores across the country, there are no multi-cultural faces in the group.
This was pointed out to me by my travel companion, Jessica, when we visited Chicago a few weeks ago. While waiting for me to arrive, she visited the huge location on Michigan Avenue near our hotel, and found the poster staring back at her disconcerting. I had the opportunity to view the poster myself when I was in the mall last week. Sure enough, there wasn’t a representation of a Latina, African American, or Asian woman in the picture.
Not good.
Why would a company like Forever 21 ignore the multi-cultural woman? On their website, they make sure to have a representation of minority women modeling their clothes and accessories. The fashion blogging community is filled with many bloggers of color so that cannot be the reason. Is it simply that this wasn’t thought of or maybe it wasn’t important enough in the higher ups?
Whatever the case, I think this is a major fail. We are a diverse culture, so that should be represented in the brands that we purchase. Blogging is a global form of communication that has been embraced the world over, and I think this was a major miscalculation on the part of Forever 21.
I personally have a few tops from Forever 21, but I don’t shop there often. If I decided to boycott, my dollars would not be missed, so I am not even going to go that route. I just wanted to bring this to the forefront in hopes that when other companies look for bloggers or ambassadors for their companies, they are looking at their true consumer base, which is comprised of all races and creeds and should be represented as such.
What do you think?
Photo of the “Meet Our Bloggers” in the Forever 21 window at West County Center here in St. Louis, Missouri
As with most things in this world, minorities are an after thought or not a thought at all. Most of my favorite brands rarely if ever have minority models and it annoys me. I have written letters of complaint to some top fashion and beauty brands but alas, I’m just one voice…
I totally feel you. What is weird about this though, Kim, is that Forever 21 has many models of color and employs a lot of minority women in their stores. They get that us seeing ourselves represented in their clothing will make us want their clothing. But when it comes to the blogosphere, they missed the mark. And that is truly unfortunate.
I have noticed that Forever 21 employs a lot of minorities, however, I personally cannot wear their clothes. I’m a size 10 and even if I buy the biggest of their sizes, I still cannot wear them. So I guess being a woman with curves and hips, I would never have noticed their lack of advertising with minority models. But as with any store that does not at least have one minority model representing them, I find that to be wrong and at some point, I do not think it’s an oversight. There is a lot of thought put into advertising, marketing, etc. How can you not have a minority in your advertisement without being consciously aware?
Ding, ding, ding! I agree w/ you totally. Believe it or not, though, Forever 21 does have pieces for us. I wear a 10/12 as well and I am top heavy and I have several tops and a skirt or two from them and they fit fine. I always get them dry cleaned and don’t wash them in my machine because they shrivel up to nothing. LOL. Thanks for commenting 🙂
Interesting point you bring up here. So now I’m thinking what about those of us who spend the last dollar of my pay check in forever 21. I don’t think there is a day that goes by without me dawning a forever 21 piece. But I guess them shouting me out on their online magazine should be enough right lol