#Change
Fashion
A Roadmap and Resources for Racial Equity
#Change
Fashion
A Roadmap and Resources for Racial Equity
#Change
Fashion
A Roadmap and Resources for Racial Equity
Changing the Legacy of Fashion from Exclusivity to Inclusion
#ChangeFashion is a vertical within the Color Of Change #ChangeIndustries initiative dedicated to eradicating racism in the fashion industry.
In partnership with the Black In Fashion Council, IMG, and Joan Smalls, its goal is to rally companies and talent across the fashion industry to restore equity and advance racial justice by moving from rhetoric to action. The norms of the fashion industry profoundly shape the perspectives of millions of consumers. Those norms also impact the livelihoods of people whose work makes fashion possible. The fashion industry can be a force for good in society, but only if fashion’s biggest institutions fully embrace structural change instead of performative activism.
#ChangeFashion empowers fashion industry allies to embark on the journey of systematically addressing inequity and the exclusion of Black artists in the fashion industry.
The roadmap
The Roadmap is a guide to move beyond conversation and intention, implementing tangible steps to advance racial justice. It is an invitation to artists, modeling agencies, fashion magazines, designers, photographers, stylists, and talent to step into their full power as culture makers and take action to ensure the industry is working toward racial justice rather than against it. The five universal steps are:
Black people, Africa, and the diaspora have provided the inspiration and foundations of fashion – our precious metals, our fabrics, our style and choreography, even our bodies – yet we have been treated like raw materials, denigrated and stripped of our humanity. By investing in Black talent, careers, and content, #ChangeFashion seeks to reveal and restore dignity to reach equity by increasing the presence of Black artists, models, designers, talent, and a diversity of stories, editorials, and coverage of Black life and culture.
You prioritize what you measure. This broader workplace equity step requires complete and accurate data collection on Black workers in the fashion industry at every level, including within companies, unions, on boards, and associations.
The current rules of cultural production appropriate and marginalize Black people, Black stories, and Black contributions, and perpetuate racism and stereotypes. The rules must be rewritten to prioritize accurate and authentic content about social issues and Black life created by Black people.
Our country needs to change the narrative on policing, and the fashion industry plays a crucial role in perpetuating harmful stereotypes about Black life and culture and that Blackness is only beautiful or meaningful when interpreted through a white gaze. Divesting from police and prioritizing Black safety – physically and mentally – is crucial to undoing racism in America.
If the rules around whose communities we support stay the same, none of these steps are possible. The unwritten rules keep the Black community under siege, robbed of resources, equal access, visibility, and rights. The fashion industry must invest in the Black community by aligning and partnering with the Black community, promoting civic advocacy and participation, and influencing politics to enhance racial justice.
