Fixing Fashion #1
Still in 'Covid captivity,' I'm asked to comment on the broken fashion system. Since I worked on a feature for Vogue Business that wasn't used, I've recycled it here and split it into 3 bite sized posts...
Fixing Fashion#1
Fixing fashion requires acknowledgment that one size doesn’t fit all - in product or in message. Brands are at least understanding that basic starting block. Now they’re looking around to see how that actually translates but they’re hampered by what they don’t realise they don’t know, ha.... the unknown unknowns.
If you are a white male there are many unknown unknowns. Anecdotal and study evidence (below) confirms the majority of advertising leadership is populated by white males; Drapers confirms the same for retail in its annual Top 100 .
As white people we have been conditioned to assume our knowledge covers everybody
But let's look at it from a race perspective. As white people we have been conditioned to assume our knowledge covers everybody because our dominant culture perspective is centred. Everyone else’s voices have been marginalised. We mostly come into contact with people who either mirror our aesthetic or who have contorted themselves to fit our aesthetic. Dear creatives... a homogenous team can never create a diverse or smart marketing offer.
Dear creatives... a homogenous team can never create a diverse or smart marketing offer.
Dolce & Gabbana are a brilliant example and it’s unlikely that they will recover their ranking. By attempting to infiltrate China with a message that was both arrogant and ignorant they failed. Mostly because not one member of that team represented the enormous audience base they were trying to reach; also because they were oblivious to their unknown unknowns.
So they invested in a multi-million pound marketing campaign and retail expansion programme without understanding the complexities of respectfully engaging with another culture. They made an assumption that their knowledge was adequate and they have paid for it. Many designers have made this mistake.
What we have to undo first of all, is a recognition that the people at the top right now, are the right people.
Another lazy assumption that brands make is believing that they can get away with operating a tick box system, that they just need to move people in strategically to be absorbed briefly or presented as tokens of the culture they want to speak to. So how do we begin dismantling the system?
What we have to undo first of all, is a recognition that the people at the top right now, are the right people.
See Fixing Fashion # 2
- Windels, K., & Lee, W.‐ (2012). "The construction of gender and creativity in advertising creative departments”,. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 27 (8), pp. 502-519
- Zayer, L. T., & Coleman, C. A. (2015). Advertising professionals' perceptions of the impact of gender portrayals on men and women: A question of ethics. Journal of Advertising, 44 (3), 264-275.