Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
The partnership, which also includes professional networking group In The Blk and model Joan Smalls, will release a template for fashion companies to use when they’re hiring on-screen talent, stylists, makeup artists, publicists or any creative role both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. The goal is to facilitate hiring from under-represented backgrounds.
Dubbed the #ChangeFashion Inclusion Rider, the legal document will be released Sunday, Feb. 13 as part of the In the Blk runway show featuring the latest collections from labels House of AAMA, Khiry and Third Crown. This runway production will be the first show to implement the strategies outlined in the inclusion rider, including working with a third-party expert to help identify goals in the hiring process and review its outcome. The document also rejects hiring quotas, instead urging companies to make “conscious efforts to overcome historical bias in the industry.”
Color of Change, an online racial justice organisation, promotes inclusion riders in other creative industries such as music and film. The #ChangeFashion inclusion rider will be the first of its kind.
“The fashion industry needs to acknowledge that Black style and culture have had an immense influence and impact on fashion, yet Black people far too often do not benefit from their output,” Color of Change president Rashad Robinson said in a statement. “We are calling on industry brands to sign on to #ChangeFashion in order to move from rhetoric to action.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Learn more:
Why Some Black Founders Are Uneasy About Fashion’s Diversity Initiatives
Over the last year, unprecedented industry support has helped to level the playing field, but Black founders still face plenty of hurdles
