Gloria Maria is against privilege for black models.

247 - During a visit to São Paulo Fashion Week, Glória Maria stated that she is completely against increasing the number of quotas for Black models at the fashion event. She finds it ridiculous to talk about this issue nowadays because there should be both Black and white models on the catwalk. “I think that when you choose to be a model, whether you are white, Asian, or Black, there has to be a market. It's ridiculous to discuss this today. This is proof that racism and discrimination continue to grow stronger. If they didn't, we wouldn't be discussing this,” she told the website O Fuxico. The journalist also stated that, in the 21st century, there shouldn't be a discussion about increasing the quota for Black people by 20%. “There shouldn't be quotas. I think there should naturally be a lot of Black people and a lot of white people on a catwalk. There have to be people! People who are beautiful. We have to fight for the end of discrimination, not for quotas,” she concluded.

Read below the 247 report on the Educafro NGO's protest against the predominance of white models:

Two years ago, Rede Globo aired its first telenovela with a Black protagonist: the beautiful Thais Araújo, who played a famous model. For over a decade, one of the world's highest-paid models has also been Black: Naomi Campbell. In Brazil, however, there is no famous Black model. And this reality marked the opening day of São Paulo Fashion Week, the largest fashion show in Latin America, whose 31st edition promises to generate R$ 2 billion in business. This is all because designer Oskar Metsahvat, owner of the Osklen brand, said he had difficulty assembling a cast with Black models. The result: they appeared chained at the entrance of SPFW in São Paulo. They wanted to say that in Brazil, a multiracial, democratic country with a dark-skinned population, they are indeed sabotaged by the major agencies. The first shows only featured white models. At the Animale show, for example, there was a moment with 13 models on the catwalk. All white.

The protest by the Black women was loud and forceful. To the sound of slogans calling for a greater presence of Black models on the SPFW (São Paulo Fashion Week) runways, the demonstrators, members of the NGO Educafro (www.educafro.org.br), waved flags with Jamaican colors and distributed pamphlets. The discussion is old, since a quota of at least 10% Black models in all SPFW shows was established several editions ago, but the issue remains current. Osklen is still unsure if it will be able to assemble its casting for the show, which is precisely inspired by the influence of Black culture on Brazilian fashion (folklore aside, the collection promises to bring a new and daring interpretation).

Educafro says the goal of the protest is to propose changes in the way Black models participate in SPFW (São Paulo Fashion Week), urging designers to increase their participation in the event's shows from 10% to 20%. They also state that the current European standardization in Brazilian fashion shows is unacceptable.

Ideally, quotas wouldn't even be necessary. Especially because Black women are beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. And they represent the real Brazil.