The BAME fashion influencers inspiring our wardrobes
In the past few weeks, you may have seen a call out to #DiversifyYourFeed on Instagram, in a bit to highlight different accounts to the ones that fill your feed already.
Sophie, of the @officialmillennialblack put it simply, 'If the people on your fee all look the same, have had similar experiences, and have the same views as each other (and you) you're missing out on the diversity of thought that comes from different lived experiences. Having your thoughts and beliefs reinforced and amplified back to you is easy, it's comfortable. And it's a terrible way to learn. Get uncomfortable. Keep on Learning.'
I will hold my hands up and admit that in the past my feed has not been very diverse, and posts from the same influencers, who looked like me, have come up on my feed time and time again. I followed them because I loved their style, or felt it was similar to mine, without ever thinking about it.
I still love their content, but I've discovered so many more stylish accounts in the past few weeks, some of which I highlight in a round-up of the best black fashion influencer accounts.
UK-based American blogger Nicole Ocran also explained this beautifully, by posting the following: 'Thank you for joining if you’re here to diversify your feed. I can’t stress how important this is as the algorithm is inherently racist. A quick tap over to your explore page will make you see that as plain as day. It serves you only what you like, save and comment on. So as you follow all of these new Black creators, creatives, educators and advocates make sure you engage with them and their lives and show that while diversifying your feed is great - learning and interacting is also important.'
With that in mind, I thought I would share some incredible BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) fashion influencers, some that I've been following for a few years, others that I've discovered thanks to the #DiversifyYourFeed hashtag.
Paola Mathé from Finding Paola
Zeena Shah from Heart Zeena
Marta Lungo from The Style Thesaurus
Monikh Dale
Trishna Goklani
Claire Most
Ciinderella Balthazar
Bella Thomas
Chiara Perera from Chiara's Atelier
Shini Park
Jessica Torres
Asia Jackson
Eva Chen
Soraya De Carvalho from Style Is My Thing
Gavyn Taylor
Soraya Bakhtiar
Amira from Modest Mira
Jiawa Liu of Beigerenegade
Yasmine Simone of Enimsay
Masoom Minawala
Sebinaah
Susie Lau from Susie Bubble
Gina from Gina Goes To
Aleali May
Elaine Welteroth
Anum Bashir from Desert Mannequin
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Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.
Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).
Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.
However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.
Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.
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