In every industry, diversity and inclusion bring different people, talents, experiences, and ideas together in order to create the best possible products and services. However, demographic trends in retail and the fashion industry suggest that it’s not as diverse as we may think, or want it to be. In 2018, total US employment was 155.76 million, and all of fashion and retail employment accounted for 1.5% of that, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. White people account for more than 72% of employees in clothing, shoe, jewelry, and leather goods stores, and women account for more than 64% of total retail employees. Meanwhile, Latinx employee statistics range from 18-26% (depending on clothing, shoe, or jewelry retail), African Americans or Black employees range from 9-14%, and Asian employees are roughly between 4 to 7%.

But when it comes to the education system, the programs lack in diversity as well. At Parsons, The New School, the enrolled student population of both undergraduates and graduates is 32.7% White, 10.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.95% Asian, 6.3% Black or African American, 3.41% Two or More Races, 0.144% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.125% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders. The majority of students enrolled at The New School in full-time undergraduate programs are primarily white and female, according to Data USA. While at the Fashion Institute of Technology, students in both undergraduate and graduate programs are 44.3% White, 18.8% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 9.27% Black or African American.

It is clear that BIPOC in the fashion education system and in the retail industry are very underrepresented and this poses a systemic accessibility problem. According to Fashion United UK, the new CFDA report details the inequalities the education system faces. There is a lack of awareness within certain communities of the career possibilities within the fashion industry. It’s no secret that low-paying or unpaid internships play a large factor in determining future career opportunities for fashion students. This not only creates a large accessibility gap between low-income and middle to high income households, but also for BIPOC communities. “Low-paying or unpaid internships, par for the course for fashion graduates, exclude candidates who find themselves forced to choose a job paying 15 dollars an hour over moving to NYC and not earning for an indefinite period. Black students surveyed expressed skepticism of lasting change despite the current conversations, sharing the opinion that Black culture is trending now but will pass, while their concerns about pursuing a career in the fashion industry will remain.”

So, if this accessibility gap is very apparent in the industry, why aren’t there financial aid, scholarship, and additional lower-income and BIPOC school funding possibilities? According to WWD, there are more than 60 million Latinx people in the U.S. The Latinx population has a median age of just below 30 and they have more than $1.5 trillion in spending power. While Latinx incomes lag the national average by 17%, Latinx consumers spend 9% more than the average on apparel and services. This information is readily available to the public, companies know the spending power of Latinx, but they don’t tap into these consumers and hire more diverse employees.

As for leadership, white women represent the majority of the industry, but only 10, out of the 40 women who occupy c-suite positions at Fortune 500 companies, lead fashion companies. It is difficult fo white, female fashion students to strive for these positions when there is a lack of representation. Additionally, women of color only occupy 3% of c-suite positions, so the same, if not more, can be said for BIPOC women. Natalie O’Neal, a graduate student in the MPS Fashion Management program at Parsons, The New School for Design; her capstone thesis focuses on the lack of women in leadership positions in the fashion industry. “While it’s true that women dominate the retail industry, if you climb the ladder towards C-suite you find less and less women. There are a lot of reasons for this, but a couple of the main factors are bias and a lack of assistance for women who have children,” says Natalie. “Women are constantly feeling pressure from every direction and they’re forced to choose between their family and their career, and when it comes to a promotion, it’s most likely going to go to the one who doesn’t generally face this pressure: men. This bias coupled with insufficient resources for mothers is a significant reason why we don’t see more women executives in the industry.”

It’s a proven fact that diverse organizations are more successful. But the fashion and retail industry is not doing enough to be diverse enough. Co-Founder of ShedLight, Cheryl Stallworth weighed in on this topic on the Retail Revolution podcast, “I think that diversity breeds diversity. So, if you have a diverse team at the top of an organization, you're going to automatically attract a lot of different kinds of people, both intellectually and in terms of culture. And I just think that we're not working hard enough at that as corporate people, and it's not that difficult. You just have to decide you're going to do it." Not only will diversity in ethnicity, race, and gender make an organization more successful, but so will the thought and intellect that comes with it.

How Diverse is the Fashion Education System & the Retail Industry?

Transcript - Sass Brown

Transcript - Samata Pattinson