Eau de Diversity
Once a wallflower at the school dance, diversity has finally taken a ubiquitous place on the dancefloor. But in doing so, has the term become watered down like cheap perfume?
Diversity In Fashion
Historically speaking, fashion earned its bad rep for being, well let’s say—less than diverse.
In a career study conducted by Zippia, on runway model demographics, the findings from 2016 to 2019 show a slight increase in Latinx models over that four-year space, but a slight decrease in the number of Asian and Black models, while White models had a slight increase in the four years.
In 2020, the New York Times conducted a diversity study where they reached out to 64 designer brands asking them to answer questions and supply diversity data from their company’s standpoint. Only 4 of the 64 would fully answer or respond to the request: Tony Burch, Coach, Kate Spade, and Christian Siriano.
While numbers tell a fraction of the story, the human experience tells the rest. In 2018 Saks Fifth Avenue faced a race and age discrimination lawsuit and Ferragamo was called out in 2020 by Tommy Dorfman in an interview who said, “They have said heinous transphobic, body phobic, and racist things directly to me.”
In spite of the issues the fashion industry has faced in the past, in the last two years, we believe we are seeing fashion actually step up its game somewhat. In the wake of the 2020 #blacklivesmatter campaign, many brands are finally stepping forward to publicly admit that there is “more work to be done” regarding diversity and inclusion.
Are We There Yet?
The Spring/Summer 2022 season ushered in the most racially diverse season of record. 48 percent of all model appearances during fashion week were models of color. Huge gains were also made in the way of models’ size and gender representation.
Brands like Christian Siriano, Eckaus Latta, and Telfar have always made diversity part of their brand.
Siriano is known for diversity in his runway shows in both size and ethnicity.
Eckhaus Latta, prefers their collections to be gender neutral, featuring models from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
Telfar sports the tagline, “it’s not you, it’s for everybody” and has been creating unisex collections since 2006.
Not Yet Arrived
Although today’s consumers want to see more representation and are rejecting the stereotypical marketing campaigns that cause visual dysmorphia, as a whole, we are not quite there yet.
The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) was asked a series of questions in regard to diversity. They were asked to reveal statistical data that might support or refute claims that the fashion industry has indeed made strides in its diversity efforts.
CFDA President CaSandra Diggs had this to say on the subject, “Quotas can undermine the confidence of Black talent and erode their true value to companies as their presence is branded ‘tokenism.’”
To that statement, we agree. Quantity does not equal quality. We should all be looking ahead to the day when diversity isn’t an “effort” and we don’t need to put measurements in place to see how far we’ve come.
The Bigger Picture
The larger conversation here is not just about diversity which is an invitation to the party, but also one of inclusion or being asked to dance. “Diversity for show” waters down the purpose, but consistency and purposefulness in hiring positions that make authoritative decisions are keys to making permanent changes.
In fashion–as in life, diversity and inclusion should be the norm and not the exception.