What steps could the industry take to make sure that all hair stylists have the ability to work with all hair textures? Because that's really important.

Education. People need to learn how to do hair that is not like their own. I would love to offer that one day, or get some of my colleagues together to teach because it's a disservice to the girl, and it’s a disservice to the brand. If you only know how to do hair or skin like yours then you're in the wrong industry.

You can't rely on the same people to do a certain type of hair just because they know that hair. You need to be able to do that hair as well. I make sure to educate any beauty team that I'm on, or any team of mine so that they know the deal. I also believe that within yourself, if you don’t know something, there is the Internet. You can watch tutorials, you can reach out to different stylists, you can sign up for seminars, etc. I think if you ignore that in this day and age, you're in a bubble and it’s unfortunate.

Now, what's always on my mind are ways that the industry can do a better job of representing diversity and having more diverse castings. We are getting better, but I want more of it, as I'm sure a lot of other people do as well. For the industry, why do you think that this is such a slow process?

What we’re seeing now is a divide between a lot of the older folks, who are trying to hold on to how this industry used to be, and the new, younger people who are coming in and changing it. I think if you worked in this industry years ago, it was easy to form a habit of viewing women and people in a certain way, it became ingrained in your brain that this is what a fashion picture should be. Our generation in challenging that.

On paper, we are seeing things get better; we're seeing companies like Marc Jacobs giving people like me opportunities, we're seeing Burberry give Ibrahim Kamara opportunities, Kerry James Marshall got a solo exhibition at The Met, and Campbell Addy collaborating with Getty. I’ve only just named black artists there too; I haven't even talked about all the beautiful Indian artists, Asian artists, female artists, etc. On a literal ‘what's happening’ level, things are getting worse, but they're getting better too. I'm an optimist.

Also, with the influx of digital media, we now get to see the art that’s not from Europe or America; we can see someone's work from halfway around the world, in a small remote town. I think that can also help with diversity.

Yes, I love these little things that go viral now, like a Japanese artist who is just making sculptures in his room but it means the world to everybody. People need to be seeing that.

Is there an impact that you would like to have on the industry?

Yeah. It's such a hard thing to describe. I think being a young African-American woman, both my parents were born in Haiti and are of Caribbean descent. There are not that many women of color in the industry so I would love to show other young black girls that it's possible. When I was in high school, I didn't really see anyone in my position that looked like me or had the same hair as me. So, that’s really what gave me the drive to become that person for myself and in return one day become an inspiration to others.

I love that. Are there any specific ideas that you have for how we could see more change?

It's such a big conversation because it touches on the topics of race, equality, and class. Not to mention, girls that grew up in poor neighborhoods and didn’t have the same resources as I did. They don't have that same drive because they see it as impossible. It's an issue of our country as a whole. But I do think investing in workshops with these girls could start the change that we want to see.

We all know that diversity is an extraordinarily important topic because it's 2017 and things should be looking a lot better by now. But I think that diversity can also be an intimidating thing to write about as a journalist because you don't want to be misunderstood and you want to get it right. So I was wondering if you had any advice for someone who wants to write about diversity?

I think diversity is a sensitive thing to approach. We write about Campbell Addy a lot. I don't always write about him myself though because his work is very rooted in him being a black gay man. As a white straight female, I don't have the experiences that he has gone through to discuss that with him. Sometimes it’s not my place to discuss that with him, and he should discuss that with someone else who has had those experiences if he feels comfortable. So we will find writers who have similar experiences and pair them with the artist. Writing about diversity is tricky, and we’re always having the conversation of "Can I write about this? Or should I get another voice to write about this?" Of course, I want to, but is it in the best interest of who I’m interviewing and our audience for me to write this just because I want to? You have to think of the artist or the subject and the audience and what’s best for them.

So I’d say find writers that have passion and experiences in that topic. On the other hand, it shouldn’t be gay people can only write about gay stories and white people can only write about white stories, and black people can only write about black stories. I think that's problematic as well, but it’s something we are learning and working through everyday. I don’t have the answers just yet. I’d just say be sensitive and thoughtful.

What you said though made total sense because of course, you can write about it, but it’s really challenging if you don’t have that first-hand experience.

Exactly because what’s most important is to tell that person’s story in the most authentic and sincere way as possible.

Dazed has continually done an amazing job with that.

Yeah, and obviously we do trip up, we're not perfect, but we do have amazing writers in all different areas. The beauty of online is that you can meet people. I can be on Twitter and ask, "Who loves this person? Who loves this artist?" And people will be like, "I do. I have knowledge.” It doesn't always work, but when it does, it’s great.

That's really smart.

It’s about giving other people platforms. The journalism industry is predominately white, and it's probably predominantly male as well if you're looking at it. You need to be giving platforms to different voices. Does a white male need to be writing about this? People shouldn't take these things personally and think, "Well, I want to write about it, why can't I?" You just need to look at the bigger picture and understand what's best for the public that you're writing for.

And that's where your commissioning comes in.

Yeah, exactly.

How would you like to see the industry evolve?

More diversity and more substance. This industry has the power to influence the masses and gives people a platform to communicate their own stories and truths. So it is important that we are including the narratives of people that have been historically marginalized or silenced so that we can continue to make content that accurately represents and speaks to our generation.

I think it already is evolving a lot, but I’d always like to see more diversity. Especially for the people who are creating content and coming up with concepts. Instead of just including marginalized groups to make a campaign more diverse, I think it’s important to give marginalized groups the platform to represent themselves as well. It's always great when you see something in a magazine, and you feel like you can relate to it. It's kind of tricky because the industry, in general, is sort of classist, but the internet is changing that, which is cool.

What are some of the challenges of making castings more diverse?

There are a lot of challenges. I've done casting a few times and it’s really hard because there's always going to be a huge, huge, huge influx of white models because you can find thirty Russian models on the street sooner than somebody will find an African American or middle eastern model that they'll want to sign. It’s just because of stereotypes or image or whatever. It’s disappointing.

On the other hand, I think the industry is trying to be better at diversity and their casting choices and also what it means to be a global brand that represents more than one race. But I do think it's really hard and I do think the agencies don't make it any easier. The brands don't make it any easier. All in all, it's a difficult situation but I think it's getting better.

Why is it important to diversify castings?

Not everyone is a five foot ten, blue eyed, blonde haired woman. Also, no one wants to see a five foot ten, blue eyed, blonde haired woman all the time. People want to see themselves in clothes. People want to see a Latina who's short in a Louis Vuitton dress. People want to see a trans black woman in a Roberto Cavalli dress. People want to see Beyonce in a dress. There are all these different types of people that come from different places in the world that are so beautiful and it's just such a shame that we can't celebrate their lives as much as we celebrate this idea of this Caucasian mold that we are so used to. Not to say that these white models aren't beautiful or aren't gorgeous in their own right, but I think it's totally, totally, totally important to make room for everybody. Not just one mold of model.