Has Fashion Taken a Step Back On the Quest For Diversity?

As the Spring/Summer 2024 fashion marathon season came to an end in Paris, Alexander McQueen and Kering announced Sarah Burton‘s successor following her departure from the label after 13 years: former JW Anderson Head of Men’s Seán McGirr. The appointment of McGirr almost instantly sparked criticism from industry insiders, but not because of his design chops; rather, the outrage stemmed from the French fashion conglomerate’s roster of creative directors now being composed entirely of Caucasian men. Social media was quick to point out the lack of diversity in Kering’s top creative choices, which include Italian designer Sabato De Sarno succeeding Alessandro Michele as Gucci’s newest creative director, Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga, Norbert Stumpfl at Brioni, Anthony Vaccarello at Saint Laurent and Matthieu Blazy at Bottega Veneta.

1Granary, a social media account founded by Central Saint Martins graduate Olya Kuryshchuk, gathered quotes from industry insiders on the topic. A senior designer who shared their thoughts after hearing the news that McGirr would be succeeding Burton was amongst the first to post about 1Granary’s observation, which was later picked up by Diet Prada, igniting a slew of conversations amongst peers and fans within and out of the industry, all calling for conglomerates like Kering to do better.

“I literally don’t know a single woman of my generation even approached for a job like this. All these women have given up everything to service men paid 10x their salary. It is insulting to every woman working in the industry- not him being appointed but having a full portfolio headed by men.

I think so many women just give up because the route is so impossible. This appointment proved it.”

Fashion fans from all over began taking to social media to voice their opinions on the matter with one calling for action, “While I’m happy for Sean McGirr’s achievements (he’s undeniably talented), I can’t help but find this image to be a rather bleak and backward vision for the fashion industry’s future. Kering must do better.”

The blatant realization that Kering now has a house full of only white men at the creative helm of each of its fashion labels has led to fervent online and offline discussions about the industry’s disparaging gender representation and the age-old topic of diversity. While brands have publicly voiced their pledge to improve upon this point, it seems that most of the commitment has been for marketing strategies’ sakes. The situation at Kering refocuses the spotlight on an industry-wide issue that has seemingly been covered up by the noise of celebrity news and viral moments on a season-to-season basis.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by 1 Granary (@1granary)

In an industry that likes to boast it’s moving forward with the times, appeals to “woke” culture and aims to encompass a broader awareness toward social inequalities, incidents like Kering’s seem to suggest the opposite — that the industry is in fact still in need of progress. Peeling back the curtain at the industry’s top fashion houses, it is more than evident that this is not just a Kering problem. For instance, LVMH‘s top creative talents are mostly of Caucasian descent with many of its designers of the male sex. Within the entire LVMH portfolio of creative directors, nine out of 33 positions are filled by women (all of which are Caucasian) and only two of the 33 are of non-Caucasian descent — Pharrell Williams for Louis Vuitton and NIGO for KENZO — who are both coincidentally the only two non-white creative directors amongst the three big luxury fashion groups: Kering, LVMH and Richemont. Beyond the conglomerates, only 22 of 64 shows during Milan Fashion Week SS24 were helmed by women and only two women designers on the Milan calendar were actually hired by the brands for the top creative role.

Words like “inclusivity” and “diversity” have become part of key marketing and SEO terms. While conversations surrounding “awareness” happen, there is little action that amounts to major changes. Despite hires like Virginie Viard at Chanel or Pharrell at LV, fashion’s racial diversity and gender parity still persists. Arguments can be made from these brands that the lack of gender and racial diversity is due to structural factors and are attributed to time since most of these European fashion companies did not become global companies until the ’90s. However, their reasoning forces fans to wonder how brands can appeal to global consumers if they are unwilling to learn from different perspectives. How can luxury groups target all genders and serve racially diverse groups when their creative talent picks come from a restricted candidate pool?

When more than 60% of luxury fashion sales are dominated by women shoppers, gender inequalities must be challenged by the industry as a whole. In order to intentionally and meaningfully represent the global customer base, brands will need to increase efforts to improve its diverse talents at a leadership level, tackling all issues from gender to race. Consumers are holding labels accountable and want to see the brands that they love realistically and truthfully stand for what they said they would do. In this situation, Sandrine Charles’ (of Black In Fashion Council) words ring loud and clear, “It has been the norm to have one Black person or one Asian person included in company quotas. The work now needs to be more of the world we live in, the types of people we see on the Subway, as well as going on vacation. Having one person of color in a fashion show is not reflective of the world that we live in.”

In the age of social media where a single post can cause a brand’s PR team to go into full defense mode, it is high time for brands to re-evaluate and put words into action beyond just a marketing strategy. Having a difficult conversation and broaching the topic at a surface level is just the bare minimum.