by The top jobs in the British fashion industry are still held by white men, according to a new report. While that may be old news, perhaps the business case is not made to better reflect society on workforces.
The inaugural Fashion Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) report, released today, found that only 9% of executive roles and 11% of so-called power roles, including the positions of chief executive, chief financial officer, chairman and creative director. by people of color. 39% of executive teams and 24% of positions of power are women.
Related: Male, pale and out of step: why fashion houses have such a problem with diversity
Among industries, a diverse workforce, he points out, “improves decision-making up to 87% of the time – as a result of increased perspectives”, which, in turn, “puts through the bottom line”. It finds that diverse businesses are 39% more likely to perform better financially, while improving DEI is important for companies trying to attract talent, with “39% of global job seekers [having] refused or decided not to pursue jobs due to a perceived lack of inclusion.”
Additionally, consumers are increasingly choosing to leverage their spending power with companies they feel reflect their values, with about 50% of millennials saying it is “important or very important to choose brands that they have a gender equality position”.
“The whole point now is to reposition DEI as a business imperative and a lever for profitability and financial success,” says Jamie Gill, co-founder of the Outsiders Perspective, a non-profit incubator platform for people of color in fashion. author of the report. In the current turbulent economic environment, he argues, DEI should not be sidelined. “What we need to look at,” he says, is having the right people around the table, having those fresh perspectives from all walks of life.
The report, which is also the work of the British Fashion Council, Minority Report (Fashion) and McKinsey & Company, comes at a time when diversity in the industry is under renewed scrutiny, after Seán McGirr announced Sarah Burton’s replacement. as creative director at Alexander McQueen in October. Although no one questioned his talent, his appointment means that all the creative director positions at Kering, the super conglomerate owned by McQueen, are held by white men. It also follows the men’s fashion week in Paris where the work of designers Martine Rose and Grace Wales Bonner, the two beautiful women, were among the most impressive and interesting shows.
We have said that humanity is needed and that has not come to fruition
Jamie Gill
The need for greater diversity and inclusion goes deeper than good commercial sense, but, says Gill, “we haven’t moved the needle in the last three and a half years, since the conversation was put on the world stage … We’re saying. humanity is needed and that did not land.”
The report also highlights the disagreement of beliefs about diversity and inclusion in the industry. In illuminating but perhaps unsurprising figures, 86% of white men in the industry believe it is diverse, while only 46% of women of color believe the same to be true.
The report highlights that fashion has made some progress in “look-out” contexts, meaning areas such as catwalk representation, but less so for boardrooms and workplaces.
“We really want to highlight and, to some extent, celebrate the fact that the fashion industry as a central group is changing our marketing. Our external space has become very diverse, very representative – catwalks, advertising campaigns, events are very inclusive and representative, which is amazing and shows, in a short time, how quickly we were able to to accelerate that change when we focused on it. .” Now, he says, “We need to look internally because there is such a disconnect with the workforce and move it forward.”
Related: The fashion industry is biased towards white men, a report shows
To shift the dial, the report highlights the importance of leadership, and the need for company leaders to set diversity ambitions – the research shows that commitment to action at board level is more likely to lead to change.
Gaps in the data also need to be filled. “We, as an industry, are not collecting our data,” says Gill. According to the report, there is a lack of specific data on LGBTQIA+, neurodiversity, socio-economic background, size, age, religion and gender. Gill sees this report as a call to action “to gather that data around all underrepresented groups”.
“Fashion is a leader. We’re an industry that’s ahead of everything and right now we’re not ahead of this,” says Gill.
