Jodie Turner-Smith calls for more diversity in fashion
'White Noise' actress Jodie Turner-Smith will use her position as CFDA mentor to push for more diversity of underrepresented designers in fashion.
Jodie Turner-Smith has called for more inclusivity and diversity in fashion.
The British-born actress and model is of Jamaican descent and was “thrilled” to recently step into her new role as mentor for the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).
She told InStyle: "As creative[s] of color, we've been shown a world that only includes certain types of voices.
"And I think we're all quite exhausted of that. We all want to see what happens when we let more people come to the table, have a seat at the table, and bring their visions into the world.
"As a person who is black and a woman, I think it's important that we create space for all different kinds of voices. Anything we can do to do that, it's important to be a part of.”
The CFDA and Genesis House AAPI Design + Innovation Grant, which was announced this summer, is a five-month program that provides education, mentorship and $40,000 worth of funding to up and coming designers of Asian American and Pacific Island origin.
Jodie, 36, added: "One approach to these things is, 'Oh, look at the way in which we're going to change this person's life,' but what excites me more is [how] people already in the business will be exposed to all this new talent and new ideas. We are all gaining so much more than the person receiving the grant, by being exposed to their gift."
The fashion chameleon, who’s exudes confidence and energy with her bold sense of style, credits her mum for teaching her the art of self-expression.
She said: "My mother was very fashionable, and I grew up looking at her and her attitudes about costume and expression of self through wardrobe.
"As I've said many times, I feel that clothing is costume, but I think that it moves in both directions. On the one hand, the energy that I have inspires the clothes that I wear, and sometimes the clothes that I wear inspire the energy that I have."
