The British Fashion Council has pledged to “double” its effort to tackle
\nsystemic racism within the fashion industry, following the Black Lives
\nMatter protests for change after the tragic and senseless death of unarmed
\nblack man George Floyd at the hands of police in the US.<\/p>\n
In a statement on social media, Caroline Rush, chief executive of the
\nBritish Fashion Council said: “It is four months since the last London
\nFashion Week (LFW), the global showcase of British design, and the world
\nhas changed immeasurably since then. <\/p>\n
“Covid-19 has put a huge number of fashion businesses and jobs at risk,
\nbut it has also forced us to adapt and innovate. Like every other industry,
\nthe pandemic has given us pause to reflect and recognise that we need to
\nre-set, to do things differently. <\/p>\n
“The recent events in the US have shown that none is more urgent than
\nthe need to fight racial prejudice and discrimination. Where before, much
\nof the dialogue in our industry was focused on tackling climate change, we
\nmust now also double our efforts to take on racism in all its forms and
\nreflect why it has taken these extremes to galvanise the industry into
\naction.”<\/p>\n
Rush added: “This work must start with listening and challenging one
\nanother to ensure that there is no conscious or unconscious prejudice in
\nour industry. By listening to BAME designers, colleagues, friends and
\nfamily members, there is much more that we can do.<\/p>\n
“11 years ago when I came into this role, I could count on one hand the
\nnumber of BAME designers on the LFW schedule. Today, the talent that comes
\nthrough our support schemes is much more representative of the society that
\nwe live in. The models on our catwalks are much more diverse and represent
\nour multi-cultural society. But just like with climate action, we need to
\ndo more and we need to do it now.”<\/p>\n
To ensure that the British Fashion Council tackles racism, Rush
\nannounced an action plan, including broadening the diversity of its board
\nof directors, auditing all advisory boards and committees to ensure
\ndiversity is “better represented”, as well as reviewing its recruitment
\nprocesses and policies to address why its workforce does not have more
\nrepresentation from the BAME community.<\/p>\n
“We will listen to the BAME community in our industry to look at where
\nwe can improve, what the industry can do better and create programmes and
\nguidelines to address this, that we will share on the IPF and BFC websites
\nso that we can be held accountable,” concluded Rush. <\/p>\n
The British Fashion Council’s statement follows an signed by chairman Tom Ford and president Steven Kolb that
\nlaid out initiatives to bring about “systemic change”, including creating
\nan in-house employment programme and mentorship scheme for black talent, as
\nwell as making donations to charitable organisations aimed at equalising
\nthe playing field for the black community including the National Association
\nfor the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Campaign Zero.<\/p>\n
Image: courtesy of British Fashion Council – London Fashion Week<\/p>\n