The New York Times - USA (2020-06-28)

THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2020 ST 7

On June 1, Tom Ford, the chairman of the
Council of Fashion Designers of America,
sent a letter to the board about its meeting
the next day. He wanted the board to ad-
dress the Black Lives Matter protests
against racial injustice, he said, and sys-
temic racism in the fashion industry.
Almost everyone Zoomed in: Michael
Kors, Virgil Abloh, Prabal Gurung and Vera
Wang among them. Someone who was
there said it was an “animated” but not an-
gry discussion. The group agreed that a
statement would be released and an action
plan written. Everybody was invited to
email their thoughts.
Two days later, the statement appeared.
“Having a clear voice and speaking out
against racial injustice, bigotry and hatred
is the first step, but this is not enough,” it
read, listing four initiatives to follow. Those
included an employment program charged
with placing black talent in all sectors of the
fashion business to help achieve a racially
balanced industry.
But not every idea that had been sub-
mitted was included. And not everyone
liked the result.
Kerby Jean-Raymond, the designer of
Pyer Moss and a CFDA board member, talk-
ing to the website Highsnobiety, said it was
a “watered-down, bubblegum-ass state-
ment that didn’t address the issues.” Specif-
ically, he said, it didn’t address police brutal-
ity and what fashion could do about it. (Mr.
Jean-Raymond was not available to com-

ment for this article.)
More than 250 black fashion profession-
als, calling themselves the Kelly Initiative,
sent a public letter to the CFDA accusing
the organization of allowing “exploitative
cultures of prejudice, tokenism and employ-
ment discrimination to thrive,” and an-
nouncing a more robust plan of their own,
focused on accountability.
Then Aurora James, the founder and cre-
ative director of Brother Vellies, introduced
the 15 Percent Pledge, which calls on retail-
ers to devote 15 percent of their shelf space
to products made by black-owned compa-
nies.
And then it turned out that another orga-
nization, the Black in Fashion Council, was
being created by Lindsay Peoples Wagner,
the editor of Teen Vogue, and Sandrine
Charles, a public relations consultant.
“Founded to represent and secure the ad-
vancement of black individuals in the fash-
ion and beauty industry,” according to the
mission statement, it unites “a resilient
group of editors, models, stylists, media ex-
ecutives, assistants, freelance creatives
and industry stakeholders” to “build a new
foundation for inclusivity.”
Suddenly the debate was no longer just
about systemic racism in fashion but rather
just how far the industry was willing to go to
be at the forefront of social change, and who
was best positioned to lead the charge.
“Revolutions always begin fragmented,”
said Prabal Gurung, a CFDA board member
and designer who was raised in Nepal and
who has been a champion of inclusivity.
“Then, when united, the real change hap-
pens and history gets made.”
But can these distinct groups work to-
gether to reshape the American fashion
world, or will the ideological and strategic
differences that this singular moment has
exposed diffuse their long-term effective-
ness? It may seem like an inter-industry
problem, but because of fashion’s position
as a cultural touchstone, the answer has
broad repercussions.

VIRGIL ABLOH, THE FOUNDERof Off-White
and the men’s wear designer of Louis Vuit-
ton as well as a CFDA board member, said
that as far as he was concerned, the CFDA
needed “to stand for the rights of black peo-
ple in the fashion industry.”
“Anything less than that is a compro-
mise,” he added, “and this is not a time for
compromise.”
For decades, the Council of Fashion De-
signers of America, which was founded in
1962 by the publicist Eleanor Lambert to
promote American fashion, has functioned
as a central industry body. It is most famous
outside of fashion for the annual CFDA
awards, which tend to be called “the Oscars
of American fashion.”
The organization has been active, as well,
in lobbying for such fashion issues as intel-
lectual property protection and immigra-
tion rights, as well as raising money for
scholarships, breast cancer and H.I.V./
AIDS-related issues. In recent years, it has

also focused on issues of model health and

safety.

But though the CFDA is often thought of

as fashion’s “governing body,” it is not. It

has no power to regulate its almost 500 de-

signer members. Nor does it have authority

over retailers or associated industry cre-

atives, like beauty professionals. As a re-

sult, Mr. Gurung said, the “CFDA is doing

the job it always does, and while they offer

support to the industry, in the face of so

much raw and immediate feeling, that job

might not be enough anymore.”

“They are working on plans to put in ac-

tion,” he said. “In the meantime you get a

letter signed by 250 people who want

change right now.”

That letter from the Kelly Initiative —

named after Patrick Kelly, the African-

American designer who in 1998 was the first

American member inducted into the Cham-

bre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter, the French

fashion organization of designers — was

conceived by Kibwe Chase-Marshall, a

writer; Jason Campbell, an editor; and

Henrietta Gallina, a creative director.

Signed by a broad range of black fashion

professionals, not just designers, it de-

manded that the CFDA conduct an indus-

trywide census to collect and publicize the

racial demographics of its member organi-

zations; that those companies work with

headhunting firms to recruit black talent;

and that they participate in third-party au-

dits to ensure accountability and transpar-

ency.

“One of the key elements of change mak-

ing, especially in regard to diversity and in-

clusion, is metrics,” Mr. Chase-Marshall

said. “You need to collect some data, de-

velop benchmarks of what a truly inclusive

space would look like, and then goal-set,

and calendar change as well.”

Ms. James, of Brother Vellies, who was

unaware of the Kelly Initiative, also saw

metrics as the key when she introduced the

15 Percent Pledge.

“The pledge started as an emotional re-

sponse that needed a quantitative fix,” she

said. “I was seeing all of the messages that

people were sharing in my email and on my

grid about these retailers saying that they

stand with us. So while my black woman

was really in a space of despair, my black

business owner self was like, ‘OK, well,

what is the metric that I can associate to the

release of this grief ?’ ”

According to Ms. James, black-owned

businesses constitute 1.3 percent of total re-

tail sales in the United States compared

with the 88 percent of overall sales for

white-owned businesses. Given that black

people compose 15 percent of the United

States population, the pledge is partly about

having equal representation in shelf space.

It is also about creating infrastructures and

networks to sustain black-owned busi-

nesses once they do have representation.

“It is often about lack of access to capital,”

Ms. James said. “Even getting in front of

some of these retailers is really hard.”

The fashion model Joan Smalls has also

gone out on her own, introducing Donate

My Wage and committing half of her salary

for the rest of the year to grass roots organi-

zations that support Black Lives Matters.

IMG, her agency, signed on, and she is ask-

ing fashion brands that hire her to share a

portion of their earnings as well.

“They have the funds to continue the

movement, and you’re going to need those

funds to make it stronger and to make it a

force to be reckoned with,” Ms. Smalls said.

THE EMERGENCE OFthese disparate racial

justice initiatives is both an acknowledg-

ment of the perceived ineffectiveness of the

CFDA, and a response to the various ways

in which racial inequities pervade the fash-

ion industry. But they also reflect the diffi-

culty of galvanizing a community that is so

diffuse and varied in terms of disciplines,

organizational structures and access to cap-

ital and resources.

That is why the Black in Fashion Council

aims to be an umbrella organization for dif-

ferent types of initiatives, while also creat-

ing an index to score brands on progress.

This will be what the founders call a “yearly

public report and report card to hold fashion

and beauty brands accountable for the

great work they’ve done and the areas that

need improvement.” (The council also could

include news media and marketing compa-

nies like Condé Nast, Ms. Peoples Wagner’s

employer, and all member organizations

will have to commit to being tracked for

three years.)

Ms. Peoples Wagner and Ms. Charles

said they already had 400 members signed

up from across the black fashion communi-

ty. “We are in a state of cancel culture right

now, but we want to move to accountability

culture,” Ms. Peoples Wagner said. “Any

brand can pledge $1 million to the

N.A.A.C.P. on Instagram, but who will fol-

low up and check that they did it?”

“There is strength in numbers, and no

point in being divisive,” she continued. “To

effect change, we really need to come to-

gether. It’s a big dream and a big goal, but

we think it’s attainable.”

Though Ms. Peoples Wagner and Ms.

Charles are in contact with the CFDA, they

declined to discuss the Kelly Initiative. And

as of June 23, the founders of the Kelly Ini-

tiative said they had not received any re-

sponse from the CFDA.

Mr. Chase-Marshall said that the only

sense the Kelly Initiative had of the CFDA’s

response to their letter came from a state-

ment given to Vogue Runway. In it, he said,

the CFDA “said that they had been con-

tacted by multiple sorts of efforts, and

they’ve selected a curation that they’re go-

ing to support.”

Bethann Hardison, a former model and

modeling agent who has been active on di-

versity issues for decades and who is also

on the advisory boards of both the Black in

Fashion Council and the CFDA, said that

she understood the tension and frustration.

“I was militant once,” she said. “We used

to put down the N.A.A.C.P. That’s what you

do when you are mad and want change. But

am I glad it didn’t fall under our put-downs

and stood the test of time? Yes, I am. Lots of

people are mad now, I know it. And you can’t

change anger. But I’m going to work with

the CFDA because I can use it. I can use it as

it uses me.”

Given the complexity of the problem,

some believe a multipronged approach may

be the most effective and enduring strategy.

This is why Jason Bolden, a stylist, is on

both the advisory board of Black in Fashion

Council and a signatory on the Kelly Initia-

tive.

“It is about unity for me,” Mr. Bolden said.

“One does not outdo the other. We have to

keep nurturing them all and keep on keep-

ing on.”

TRACY REESE, WHOrecently left New York

to create the sustainable clothing line Hope

for Flowers in her hometown, Detroit, is

vice chairwoman of the CFDA and its long-

est-serving black board member.

“This is a white industry, and unless you

are black within it, you can’t begin to under-

stand what that is like,” she said. “If we are

going to make meaningful progress, there

has to be a joint effort, not a factional effort

— or 20 different efforts.”

“The people forming these factions know

what they want to say — they are brave,”

Ms. Reese continued. “They are stepping

up, and that’s important to do. But it will go

further if we are all working toward a com-

mon goal: equity, equality, antiracism.”

“It’s really a conversation that needs to

be had,” she said. “It’s multiple conversa-

tions, about the present and where we are

and the future and where it is going, and

there are grievances from the past that

need to be heard.”

Racism in Fashion: How to End It?

Everyone thinks the industry needs to change, but they don’t yet agree on the way forward.

By SALAMISHAH TILLET

and VANESSA FRIEDMAN

CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON/EPA, VIA SHUTTERSTOCK

Above from left, Kerby
Jean-Raymond, Prabal Gurung,
Lindsay Peoples Wagner and
Sandrine Charles.

Above from left, Aurora James and

Joan Smalls.

Above from left, Bethann Hardison

and Tracy Reece.

‘Revolutions

always begin

fragmented.

Then, when

united, the real

change happens

and history

gets made.’

ANGELA WEISS/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES DAVID X PRUTTING/BFA

CHARLES SYKES/INVISION, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS BRITTANY GREESON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

JAMIE McCARTHY/GETTY IMAGES

LUCAS BARIOULET/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

BRITTAINY NEWMAN/THE NEW YORK TIMES

NINA WESTERVELT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Virgil Abloh says the CFDA needs

“to stand for the rights of black

people in the fashion industry.”