this comment has nothing to do with "no holes in the runway, please."

i actually want to know if you styled "gardens, grass, and separated glass." if you did, you fucking suck, marjorie skinner. i'm so freaking tired of hip portland conveniently forgetting that this town is not completely composed of white people. while we're not brooklyn, for instance, hip folks of color do, in fact, call stumptown home. your lily white fashion pullout is a slap in the face. you couldn't find someone black, asian, latino/a, native, or of mixed race to make your spread a little less monochromatic? poop on you, marjorie skinner. opening up the mercury and the ww is a weekly lesson in being ignored by advertisers and journalists who should be courting me just as much as my white, 20-something, college educated, hip brothers and sisters. if i see one more gilt or lille ad featuring the same boring, white girls [or get one more crosseyed look from a patron when walking into le pigeon], i'm going to commit jigai in their fucking establishments.

love,

a stylish axe-grinder in se

p.s. if you haven't already, check out guy trebay's recent nyt article on the bleaching of designer fashion. it rings true for the major designers and, yet, is entirely applicable to your fashion writing for the mercury.

SWADE: I am well aware that there are people of different ethnicities in Portland, and have always been conscious about including people of various ethnicity in my fashion spreads (and sizes for that matter—I've only very rarely used professional models). Check the archives—it's always been a consideration.

The models in this week's issue were chosen because of who they are: prominent PDX designers who are not on the Portland Fashion Week schedule, but without whom you have an incomplete picture of Portland fashion. It is entirely coincidental that they are white. (Perhaps a more precise question is why there aren't more designers of color in Portland?)

I did read the NYT article, and have noticed in going to the shows at Portland Fashion Week over the past few days that the whitening of runways the article addressed does not apply here—the models showing this week's collections are far more diverse than those who showed in the first-tier cities—something Portland should be proud of, considering that it's a common perception of outsiders that this part of the country IS all white.

Please email me to discuss further: marjorie@portlandmercury.com