First, the groundbreaking July 2008 Vogue Italia all black models issue, which hits stores today in Europe, and  just two days ago, June 24, 2008, DSquared2’s Milan Fashion Week Menswear Spring/Summer 2009 show featured virtually all black models on the catwalk, including supermodel Tyson Beckford. Are we witnessing a fashion revolution?  The buzz is everywhere.

Dean and Dan Caten don’t miss a trick when they’re putting together a show. Back in the Days, Jamel Shabazz’s photographic history of hip-hop, was a starting point, which meant that a barbershop (practically a Harlem community center) was a logical backdrop. And the break-dancers made the point stronger.

The Italian fashion industry has all of a sudden turned diversity into a cause—as you may have heard, the new issue of Vogue Italia is cover-to-cover black models—and the Caten twins extended the idea onto their catwalk. They did it not just with the models but also with the sounds and the styles they offered. Anyone who remembers the bad old days in the Catens’ hometown of Toronto was transported straight back to the Twilight Zone, a seminal nightspot in the boys’ Personal Growth.

The show itself was a very smart re-appropriation of a re-appropriation. The original hip-hoppers sucked up the style of the tennis club and the golf club (Sergio Tacchini, anyone?), and Dean and Dan spat it back out, polo shirts, gym shorts, argyle socks, gold chains, Run DMC’s Cazals and all. And every detail was exact, down to the original fit.

Source: Dsquared²

According to Fashionista’s story,  ‘Changes on the Runway‘ “Now, there’s a delightful rumor on COACD, that next week’s Lanvin show will have an “all ethnic” line up.”  The well-sourced Fashionista was first to break the story of the Vogue Italy all black models July issue.

See also:

• White Models Mostly Absent From Dsquared2 Show, and Could Be From Lanvin, Too

Related posts:

• Photos: Preview of “Vogue” Italia July 2008 All Black Models Issue
• Vogue Italia’s History-Making July Issue Will Feature All Black Models

Top photo: Dean and Dan Caten, the design duo of DSquared at Milan Fashion Week Menswear SS 2009
Photo credit: Getty Images

Here is video of Dsquared2 at  Milan Fashion Week Menswear SS 2009

Photos & Video: Black Models at DSquared2 Milan Fashion Week Menswear Spring/Summer 2009