Fashion has a diversity problem. We know this, and plenty of people in the industry have been tackling it, including the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), which published a diversity report in 2019. However, amid all of this activity, the actual issue has often been sidestepped. And that issue is racism.
Over the past few weeks, multiple brands have taken to social media to share their messages of solidarity with Black Lives Matter. The difference, this time, is that these messages have been met with more than heart emojis. Instead, former employees and other industry insiders have called out brand after brand claiming some have toxic, often racist, working environments and business practices.
