Editorial Credits: Ellen von Unwerth - Photographer | Jenke Ahmed Tailly - Fashion Editor/Stylist | Tomi Kono - Hair Stylist | Porsche Cooper - Makeup Artist | Vicky Steckel - Makeup Artist | Evan Ellsworth Jourden - Set Designer | Jorge Morales - Casting Director | Daria Hardeman - Manicurist | Ciara - Entertainer | Adesuwa Aighewi - Model | Ajak Deng - Model | Anais Mali - Model | Grace Bol - Model | Iman Abdulmajid - Model | Maria Borges - Model | Riley Montana - Model
As a Fashion Institute of Technology graduate, I am fortunate to have known a number of groundbreakers in the fashion industry. One of which, is acclaimed casting director Jorge Morales.
Jorge was responsible for the groundbreaking L’Officiel Paris September 2016 cover that featured all women of color; something that is virtually unheard of in the world of fashion publications. I had a chance to catch up with him about the iconic cover, and here is what he had to say in his own words:
For this assignment my intention was to explore and showcase all the varied forms of beauty originating in Africa and expand the existing narrative on black beauty. It is important to feature black women but even more so to show that many types of black women are beautiful.
For L’Officiel Paris, I worked with iconic photographer Ellen Von Unwerth and fashion visionary Jenke Ahmed Tailly. Jenke, who is himself from Senegal, was invited by the magazine to be guest editor in chief for the issue. He has worked closely with many legendary black artists that include Beyonce and Kanye West. It was his idea to dedicate the entire issue to Africa and due to my experience and passion for working with black models he called me to be his casting director.
It was important that we use not only black models but also varied ages and talents, that is how we decided on Iman and singer Ciara.
Sophie Theallet as a brand at its core has always embraced diversity in ethnicity and body type. It was this aspect of the brand’s DNA that we decided to explore and expand during the casting process. The list of models we used include:
Veronika Webb - One of the original super models;
Maria Borges - From Angola, has gone on to work with Givenchy, Victoria Secret and is one of the continents top models at the moment;
Shazam Diniz - One of the first black models to ever land a Chanel campaign;
Mari Agory - After appearing on Sophie’s runway she went on to pose for Marc Jacobs campaign;
Lemony Anderson - After appearing on Sophie’s runway she went on to walk in the famed Victorias Secret fashion show;
Grace Bol - Legendary South Sudanese haute couture model;
Ajax Deng - South Sudanese/Australian supermodel.
In addition to the incredible L’Officiel cove, Jorge also had the pleasure of casting Chanel Iman for Revolve Clothing in 2014. This was the first time the brand ever used a black model in their national campaign.
Jorge is an incredible advocate for designers, and models of color, so to see the strides he’s taken in his career has been nothing short of inspiring.
To see more of Jorge’s work follow him on Instagram @castingbyjorge, and visit his website Jorgemoralesny.com.