Was it only a season ago that fashion was in a flap about the all-black edition of Vogue Italia? That was the issue in which the photographer Steven Meisel attempted to redress the negative effects that a virtual shutout of black models over the past decade has had on how beauty is perceived in the industry.

Without any particular difficulty, Mr. Meisel was able to cast an entire issue of the magazine exclusively with black models, stars of former years and contemporary beauties as well. The normally reticent Mr. Meisel has even been speaking out lately about what he judges to be racism in fashion, notably in a long interview in the Berlin-based culture journal 032c.

A better headline for the cover of Urban might have been “Whiteout,” to judge by the paucity of black faces on runways after three days of presentations and shows. While Giorgio Armani notably cast some black models for his Emporio Armani show, as did Donatella Versace for hers, there was not a single black (or Asian or Latino) face to be seen on the runways at Jil Sander, Missoni, Burberry, Trussardi, Bottega Veneta, Gianfranco Ferre, Roberto Cavalli or Prada.

“Maybe they think it’s too obvious” to feature an ethnically inclusive runway casting in the week of Barack Obama’s inauguration, Franca Sozzani, the Vogue Italia editor, said of designers. “It has nothing to do with a racist attitude,” the editor insisted moments before the start of a Gucci show in which, as it happened, all of the models were white.

Frida Giannini, the Gucci designer, said after the show, “I think it would be great if there was an industry initiative on this issue, because I am always looking for black models, or even Chinese or whatever, for the shows.”