“Using Black Bodies To Convey Diversity”

Inside the CATWALK backlash

“Part of the reason CATWALK gets called out and caught out is because they’ve done something explicitly, whereas other shows are regularly doing it in subtle ways that are just infuriating to us.” Like many within the St Andrews student body, Isaac Pickrum, a member and former president of the St Andrews African-Caribbean Society (ACS) has a lot to say about Catwalk 25. To Pickrum, however, it’s important to highlight that CATWALK is just a small part of a wider problem. 

On 25 January, CATWALK announced the theme for their annual charity fashion show. In a post captioned, “One ever feels his two-ness, two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body,” they revealed their theme of double consciousness. The quote is from the African American civil rights activist W.E.B. DuBois — except, it’s incomplete. 

“I was looking at this quote, and I was like, no, no, no, that’s not it,” Pickrum said. In between “his two-ness” and “two souls” should be the words “an American, a Negro”.  

Over the past month, CATWALK has faced backlash for their theme from groups like ACS and the wider student body. They have since removed their promotional material, posted an apology, taken down said apology, and announced a new theme. I spoke to Pickrum to explore the idea of double consciousness, why it didn’t belong on the CATWALK runway, and how this instance speaks to general racism within the St Andrews fashion show scene.

“I’d never heard of double consciousness before,” Damien, a second-year model for CATWALK, told me. When the CATWALK committee presented the theme to the models, they mentioned its racialised origins but said it had a broader meaning beyond race. Damien went home and researched the term to find that wasn’t really the case. “That was, I’d say, when the first alarm bells started going off.”

Through double consciousness, DuBois describes the experience of African Americans who did not choose to go to the United States. When they were emancipated, they were emancipated into the state which enslaved them, confronted with all of the social stereotypes and pressures of the oppressive white society. Double consciousness captures an identity caught between being African and American while never fully being either. 

Pickrum described the frustration that this wasn’t being interpreted in the correct way or even a genuine way. Rather, that it was simply being used to “bolster the aesthetic visions of a certain show [...] [and] that really does take away from the legacy of what’s being discussed”.

For the models, there was confusion paired with a feeling of helplessness. “I was definitely confused. I knew it was a fundamentally African American concept, and they mentioned that in the briefing as well. So I was certainly a bit hesitant, but it seemed like they’d done the research and I felt like it wasn’t my place to speak out,” Avery, a fourth-year CATWALK model, told me. “I think I talked to two other models who were also concerned about the theme like I was, who were questioning if it was the place of a mostly white committee with no African Americans to be making this choice. But, like myself, they didn’t feel like it was their place to say anything about it.” 

After ACS posted a statement critiquing CATWALK’s use of double consciousness, representatives from both committees sat down to discuss the situation. 

“It was clear in that meeting to us that they did not understand double consciousness,” Pickrum explained. “Double consciousness is not synonymous with duality or self-consciousness, which I think is really what they were getting at. And I think those were really good themes. The issue was simplifying DuBois’ concept in order to make a certain argument — undermining the histories of colonial violence and enslavement tied to it. There was just something lost in translation between understanding that concept in the academic sense and then transposing it onto a fashion show.”

Damien expressed frustration at the way CATWALK’s committee handled the situation. “We’re meant to have a photo shoot in two days. Somebody messaged today asking if we’re still doing that, and they were like, ‘Yeah, please come along if you can.’ It just feels like they want to gloss over all that has happened.”

“The problem for us is that, as models, we have absolutely no input in any of the creative decisions, but we’re the entire face of CATWALK,” Damien said. When anyone goes on to the CATWALK Instagram, they see the models; in the magazine, they see the models; during the fashion show, they see the models. “If we’re taking part in that, the creative decisions of other people are reflecting on our persona.” 

For Pickrum, CATWALK’s theme led to important conversations on a broader culture of fashion shows perversely using black aesthetics. “What I mean is using black bodies to convey diversity, using black music like hip hop to convey coolness, using aspects that can be attached to black fashion [...] to sort of also convey coolness or something synonymous.” 

“I’m not suggesting that those things need to be policed, but really the problem is that those things are used and pandered without those spaces respecting black people,” explained Pickrum. Many shows don’t invest in the right supplies or expertise for makeup for black models, for example. Similarly, Avery described doing her own hair, owing to similar concerns: “Last year I was quite worried about it so I left my natural hair for the entire show.” 

“CATWALK is not even the tip of the iceberg in terms of the cultural insensitivity problem at the Uni,” Pickrum said. “Fashion shows insert models of colour in a perverse way. It’s essentially to augment and highlight white beauty standards, which I think is really weird. I say that both as a cultural critic, but also having heard people on the committees express this directly to other people.”

“It can be really difficult for people of colour to just go into an industry, which, for however long, has basically just been white people,” Avery said. “Not just the models, but also the people behind the scenes — the crew, the committee. Being diverse is really important; I think slowly but surely that can encourage people of all ethnicities, genders, sizes to join.”

“I’d really like to see, in a few years, the committee of CATWALK take what’s happened this year and use that to build a more inclusive space for everybody who’s involved.” Damien imagines a process where committees reach out to groups like the Disabled Students’ Network, BAME Student Network, and Saints LGBT. “We want to make our show more inclusive, how would you recommend that we go about making sure that the people that you fight to represent can be represented on our stage?” 

Illustration by Calum Mayor