Now comes this racially-insensitive gem. Jezebel's Laura Beck has pointed out Numéro magazine's use of a highly bronzed white model in one of its fashion editorials entitled "African Queen."
We'll give you a moment to process that information and pick up your jaws.
Moment over. The young lady in the spread is 16-year-old, blond-haired, blue-eyed Ondria Hardin, who is seen with her skin darkened and striking a pose for the French glossy. To start, we know there are plenty of white people living in Africa -- but Ondria is from North Carolina and we're pretty sure white people in Africa don't walk around in what could be considered a light application of blackface.
With that said, the editorial serves as another sad example of how the fashion industry continually ignores or exploits ethnic diversity rather than celebrating it. And to think how easy it would have been for Numéro to select one of the countless beautiful black models and avoid this justifiable backlash and contribution to an unrelenting problem.
