The spring 2008 fashion shows, which ended on Friday in Milan and continue in Paris, went off as usual, with breathless editors and retailers surging through the streets of the Italian fashion capital in search of the next new thing. The models were the typical young thoroughbreds, some of them still in their gawky teen-age years.

And, as usual, models of colour were an uncommon sight. At the Jil Sander show, the models were so homogeneous that they were virtual clones: overwhelmingly tall, thin, pale and with hair ranging from platinum blond to honey blond to the occasional warm brunette. There is such a runway tradition of “white preferred” at this house that one wonders whether anyone at Jil Sander has noticed that brown people exist.

Similar whiteouts occurred on the runways of Prada and Marni and Calvin Klein. The explanation for these choices always comes down to aesthetics. The models have been chosen because they fit easily into the samples. Because they have a certain look. Because they do not distract from the clothes.

Sitting along the runway in Europe, one realises the power the fashion industry has in shaping our vision of beauty. A single room contains the image makers: the designer, magazine editors, photographers and stylists whose job it is to tell you how you’ll want to look in six months. They sell fantasy, romance, sex appeal and power.

Beauty — unfairly or not — has its privileges. And by defining which people are beautiful and which people are simply in visible, the fashion industry helps determine how much cultural currency someone has at his or her disposal.

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