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i-D magazine features four black models on its cover this month and it refreshingly doesn’t feel like such a big deal (compared to the media earthquake that the first all-black Vogue Italia edition sparked.) We’ve been seeing Arlenis Sosa, Sessilee Lopez, Chanel Iman and Jourdan Dunn all over the place this past year, from the runways to magazine editorials. The simple fact that fashion has room for four major models of color to work at the same time — compared to just two years ago when the industry only had a proverbial slot for one — is a sign of change. Granted, the industry still has a long way to go. “There are loads of black models working and the idea that there’s only a few of us, or four of us, to let in as top models at any one time is just bullshit. It creates an unnecessary competition when we should be standing together,” Dunn tells i-D.

Bethann Hardison, who initially shed light on the dearth of nonwhite models in fashion through her panel discussions in New York, has also noticed a change. “I find that the September magazines overall are much more reflective of what we look like. With Arlenis, Chanel, Jourdan and Sessilee, we’re seeing four girls who all have different types of beauty,” she says over the phone from her home in New York. But she’s quick to acknowledge that “there’s still work to be done.” She adds, “I’m still disturbed when editors come up to me and say, ‘Well you can’t have any more complaints now’. We have to keep promoting awareness of diversity until it becomes an everyday thing.” Hardison will be hosting a private mixer with models, casting agents and stylists tonight at Deitch Projects gallery in Manhattan.

As for the skinny model debate, it’s unlikely that fleshier thighs will replace protruding hipbones on the runways within the next six months. But if enough women speak up about it, you never know what might happen.