70 Companies Sign the Black in Fashion Council Pledge to Foster Diversity
Brands, talent agencies and more have promised to increase Black representation in the workplace.
The Black in Fashion Council, an organization founded by publicist Sandrine Charles and Teen Vogue Editor-in-Chief Lindsay Peoples Wagner, has enlisted 70 new companies in a multi-year pledge to increase the number of Black employees in executive and junior-level positions.
Companies that signed the pledge range from brands to talent agencies to luxury conglomerates — Harper’s Bazaar reports that, along with its publisher Hearst Magazines, Ralph Lauren, IMG, Saks Fifth Avenue and Capri Holdings (which owns Versace and Jimmy Choo), have partnered with the council. “The process has been long, but we are determined to see actual change and progress in the industry,” Peoples Wagner told Harper’s Bazaar. ”Creating a new industry-wide standard as far as inclusivity has never been done before, but it’s needed now more than ever.”
Over the course of three years, each company will work with the Black in Fashion Council to foster minority representation in the workplace. One-on-one check-ins will begin this fall, followed by listening sessions with diversity and inclusion executives and experts from the Human Rights Campaign. In 2021, companies will be surveyed on four internal pillars including human resources, talent inclusion, support and corporate spending. The Human Rights Campaign will then review these surveys to generate equality index scores and create personalized action plans for improvement.
Head to the Black in Fashion Council website for more information.
