Whether its fashion or the art world, creative industries are known for their racist tropes. It’s only recently that diversity has actually been championed, and even then, true representation is far and few. Non-white creatives are a minority in creative campaign credits, and one Egyptian model hoping for that to change.
Enter: Nouri Hassan. The model and casting director at modelling agency XYNE just launched a directory dedicated to showcasing BIPOC creatives (a recent term that stands for Black, Indigineous and People of Color).
Looking for a makeup artist for your next project? You’ll find one on the directory. Black and brown photographers, hairstylists and models, too.
“Too many companies are only now acknowledging the industry’s inherent racism and are using the [Black Lives Matter] movement as a marketing tactic for optics,” Hassan explained to Dazed why she launched the platform.
“Their insincere efforts of posting a black box or throwing money at an organisation before looking inward at the behaviours of their company are tone-deaf. People need to make space for BIPOC. We need to be at the forefront of this movement and placed in positions of power to create definitive change,” she continued.
The premise of the platform is simple. Once you’re on the site, you’ll choose between six different types of creators. And once you’ve selected a category, you’ll find yourself scrolling through a list of black and brown creatives, along with their contact information.
Hassan runs the directory (which has simply been called the ‘BIOPC Creative Directory’) alongside a group of her friends, but in an effort to expand the network further, Hassan made it clear that they’re always accepting submissions.
