Melanin is probably one of the most universal attributes in fashion. You ask how does melanin and fashion even relate in the first place? Well…consider this, while designers make clothes, shoes and accessories they are all pieces used to adorn a canvas. The most common canvas in fashion is the female body.
All humans have varying levels of melanin in their skin. For a quick science lesson: melanin is a pigment that is produced by specialized cells called melanocytes, this is what gives our hair, eyes and skin their color. Now historically, more melaninated peoples were rarely seen on major fashion runways. However, I do believe that strides are being made to showcase more people of color. I am glad this is happening as something magical happens between a garment of bright color against darker skin. Frankly, I believe that some garments just show better on highly melaninated skin.
While I do not discriminate against anyone with any level of melanin… I wanted to give a special shout out to some creatives who are doing a great job at creating a beautiful intersection of fashion and art for our more heavily melaninated brothers and sisters.
