Plus, why fashion can’t wait for consumers to demand sustainability.
These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Friday.
Beauty brands are being called upon to commit to anti-racism practices
While the beauty industry has been patting itself on the back for becoming more inclusive over the last few years, the events of the past week have shed light on broader issues of discrimination and racism that are still prevalent. Brands such as Cover FX and L’Oréal have drawn criticism for performative, superficial messaging on social media, while others like Dior and Flesh have remained silent on the subject entirely. Consumers and creatives are calling on brands to reexamine their internal hiring practices and marketing messaging and enact other, more concrete changes — but how brands will respond to these pleas remains to be seen. {Business of Fashion}
Black creatives on the anti-racism work to be done in fashion
Black creatives in fashion, including Tracy Reese, André Leon Talley, Dapper Dan and Fe Noel, shared stories of their own race-related challenges, perspectives on what fashion brands should be doing from within to combat racism, how the fashion industry can fight police brutality and what makes them hopeful in this moment. {WWD}
Brands shouldn’t wait for customers to demand sustainability
Consumers increasingly say they care about sustainable, ethically-made fashion, but their purchases don’t necessarily reflect those values. However, experts — including investors and consumer behavior researchers — say brands should still prioritize sustainability practices as they look to the long term. As transparency becomes more important to the industry, staying one step ahead on safety and sustainability will be crucial for the future of fashion businesses, writes Rachel Cernasky for Vogue Business. {Vogue Business}
For fashion to fight racism, it must look inward
“When the dust settles, who will people side with: the companies that were vocal in their support, or the ones who were complicit through silence?” asks Janelle Okwodu in a piece about the role fashion can play in fighting racism for Vogue. The story outlines steps fashion brands can take to practice anti-racism: creating grants, practicing non-racist hiring practices, offering internships and mentoring, making financial donations and more. “It will take humility to broach these topics and to invest in long-term advocacy; the path forward will not be easy, but it is necessary.” {Vogue}
Culture writer Mikeisha Vaughn on media’s erasure of Black women in fashion
In an op-ed for Essence, Mikeisha Vaughn discusses Forbes’ recent error in championing a startup for being the “first” to put on a fully digital 3D fashion show. In fact, Anifa Mvuemba, the designer of luxury label Hanifa, had already done so. Vaughn cites this as one recent example of many in which the media has overlooked, minimized and erased the work Black women are doing in the industry. “All too often Black women and Black people are erased from the very narratives they create — from fashion to hair or music….The lack of due-diligence feels intentional,” she writes. {Essence}
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Source: Fashionista.com
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