Fashion’s drive for equality is taking far too long. People of Colour (POC) continue to remain underrepresented in all pillars of the industry; the issue is widespread and urgent positive change is needed. Over the last decade, progression in terms of diverse visual representation has been made, models, runway shows, ad-campaigns, events create an inclusive appearance: promoting different ethnicities, gender, age, disabilities, and size. Whilst the external faces of fashion may look and feel different, those working behind the scenes has barely changed, only a significant minority of the workforce in the fashion industry coming from a POC background. 

We know, the reasons underpinning this statistic, are twofold, fashion is not seen is a viable career avenue by many ethnic minority communities due to several cultural and social mobility factors and the industry has not historically welcomed ‘Outsiders’. 

Interestingly, there is a talent issue when it comes to the operational side of running a fashion brand. Aside from the macro fashion brands, most of the industry is made of SME brands. Here there is no clear professional training ground for sourcing operational talent to run fashion brands. The skillset built at a macro brand is not necessarily relevant to a smaller entity. 

Jamie Gill

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