Fashion Education's Diversity Issue
Among the many other issues surrounding diversity and inclusion within the fashion industry, it's important to acknowledge the failings of the system that produces fashion industry practitioners; the university.
On June 29, 2020, Vogue Business News Editor Annachiara Biondi, wrote an article entitled, “White staff and a white curriculum: Inside fashion education,” which highlighted the fact that “black students and faculty remain underserved and underrepresented in the field.” This story is one that I very deeply resonate with as a fashion student and graduate teaching assistant at one of the top fashion schools in the nation. The fashion education systems diversity issue is one that is now starting to be acknowledged by the industry and is far from separate from what’s going on in the fashion industry.
The cultural and artistic references that many fashion brands pull from are rooted in black culture. However, these influential black fashion figures are not integrated in the fashion curriculum, across disciplines such as design, merchandising, fashion studies and journalism. This is especially problematic due to the fact that there are many black fashion students who change their majors because their work isn’t embraced by their professors. A while back, I had the opportunity to speak with the black undergraduate fashion students on campus about their experience at The Fashion School and by the end of the event, they were all in tears. Academia has to do a much better job and the task forces and conversations are beneficial. But it really comes down to hiring black, tenure-track faculty members so that students can feel free to see themselves in their work.
Fashionista: Alain Jocard/Getty Images
BoF: Shutterstock
Report: Julian Randall
At the rise of Covid-19 many of us first questioned the timeline of fashion week and would we see the regular calendar continue - the question weighed over many of us for months! It was refreshing to see design houses and designers across the globe take advantage of the uncertainty and plow into production mode - thus my interest in Jerri Reid New York - The Black Designer based in Brooklyn New York wow’d instagram with his latest collection paying homage to the Black Is King film which debuted earlier this year in July. I was taken aback at quick of a turn round the young designer produced and released his well crafted designs reflecting some of the films most memorable moments.